Latino Legal Giant Cruz Reynoso Visits Thomas Jefferson School of Law

<figure id="attachment_5212" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-5212" style="width: 300px" class="wp-caption alignright"><a class="highslide" onclick="return vz.expand(this)" href="http://laprensa-sandiego.org/wp-content/uploads/2010/03/Cruz-Reynoso-01… loading="lazy" class="size-medium wp-image-5212" title="Cruz Reynoso 016" src="http://laprensa-sandiego.org/wp-content/uploads/2010/03/Cruz-Reynoso-01…; alt="" width="300" height="243" srcset="https://dev-laprensa.pantheonsite.io/wp-content/uploads/2010/03/Cruz-Re… 300w, https://dev-laprensa.pantheonsite.io/wp-content/uploads/2010/03/Cruz-Re… 400w" sizes="(max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px"></a><figcaption id="caption-attachment-5212" class="wp-caption-text">Reynoso receives the Presidential Medal of Freedom from President Bill Clinton in 2000.</figcaption></figure>
He is soft-spoken, smiles easily and so many Latino lawyers in California and the rest of the nation stand on his shoulders.
He is Professor Cruz Reynoso, a law professor at UC Davis School of Law who was once an associate justice of the California Supreme Court – the first Chicano ever to serve on the court, and one of the first Latino law professors in the U.S.
Professor Reynoso appeared at Thomas Jefferson School of Law on March 11 at “An Afternoon with Cruz Reynoso,” presented by The National Lawyers Guild, TJSL’s Center for Law and Social Justice, TJSL La Raza, The San Diego NLG Chapter and La Raza Lawyers.
As the filmed showed, he literally did sow seeds, growing up in the San Joaquin Valley as the son of Mexican immigrant farmworkers and working the fields himself.
After being the only Latino in his law class at Boalt Hall, he went to the Imperial Valley to practice law and was one of the founders of California Rural Legal Assistance which represented farmworkers and poor people in their struggles. It was there he first met César Chavez, who along with Dolores Huerta would form the United Farm Workers (UFW), famous for its strikes and boycotts in the 60’s and 70’s.
The film also chronicled Reynoso’s groundbreaking career as he clashed with former governor Ronald Reagan, whom Reynoso publicly accused of trying to sabotage the NRLA by cutting its state funding. Reynoso prevailed.
Speaking with TJSL students, professors and other guests after the screening, Professor Cruz was asked why the CRLA had such great success representing its clients.
<figure id="attachment_5217" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-5217" style="width: 150px" class="wp-caption alignright"><a class="highslide" onclick="return vz.expand(this)" href="http://laprensa-sandiego.org/wp-content/uploads/2010/03/Cruz-Reynoso-02… loading="lazy" class="size-thumbnail wp-image-5217" title="Cruz Reynoso 021" src="http://laprensa-sandiego.org/wp-content/uploads/2010/03/Cruz-Reynoso-02…; alt="" width="150" height="150"></a><figcaption id="caption-attachment-5217" class="wp-caption-text">Professor Cruz Reynoso</figcaption></figure>
“It wasn’t that we were such great lawyers,” he said. “The violations were so clear that we couldn’t lose.”
In 1986, then-Associate Justice Reynoso was removed from the California Supreme Court by the voters, along with Chief Justice Rose Bird and Associate Justice Joseph Grodin in a bitter political episode.
“A political defeat does not defeat a person,” Reynoso says in the film. His post-Supreme Court career has been highly distinguished, including being Vice-Chairman of the Federal Civil Rights Commission, and receiving the Presidential Medal of Freedom from President Bill Clinton in 2000 – the nation’s highest civilian honor.
“Cruz Reynoso is pioneer, an advocate, and a friend of hundreds who he has helped and inspired throughout the country,” said TJSL Professor Luz Herrera who came to see Professor Reynoso. “As a Latina professor, a board member of CRLA and a community lawyer, I am proud to be a recipient of his legacy in the legal profession.”