Irma (Sarah Baker) Roth, wife of George Knox Roth, testified before the Commission about how her husband’s defense of Japanese Americans during WWII led to his professional ruin and lifelong stigma. She illuminated the collateral damage faced by allies who stood against mass incarceration.

• Defending Loyalty: George Roth used his radio program to defend Japanese Americans’ loyalty. When pressured by the California Committee on Un-American Activities to name Nisei supporters, he refused and was convicted of contempt.

• Professional Blacklist: No attorney, not even the ACLU, would defend him. Found guilty in Los Angeles court, he was fined $200 and branded as disloyal — later even mislabeled a “Communist.”

• Lasting Punishment: The Retail Merchants Association called him a traitor; school boards refused to employ him. Despite his dedication as a teacher, he was shut out of California classrooms. Irma often became the family’s sole breadwinner, raising four children under strain.

• Expunged, but Too Late: After 28 years, his record was cleared, but by then his potential as a teacher and public servant had been lost. Irma described the continuing atmosphere of shame and suspicion that shadowed their lives.

• Parallel to Japanese Americans: While careful to note their suffering was not equal to those incarcerated, she spoke of the stigma, shame, and silence imposed by prejudice — a pain she understood firsthand.

• Call for Justice: She urged cash compensation for Japanese Americans who endured far worse, and called for permanent legal safeguards to prevent such abuses of power in the future.