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LatinoJustice PRLDEF
Founded1972
FounderJorge Batista, Victor Marrero, Cesar A. Perales
FocusUsing law, advocacy and education to protect opportunities for all Latinos to succeed
Location
OriginsPuerto Rican Legal Defense and Education Fund
Key people
Cesar A. Perales, President & General Counsel
Websitehttp://www.prldef.org/

LatinoJustice PRLDEF, long known by its former name the Puerto Rican Legal Defense and Education Fund, is a New York-based public-interest law group with the goal of changing discriminatory practices via advocacy and legislation.[1] Privately funded, nonprofit and nonpartisan,[2] it is part of the umbrella Leadership Conference on Civil Rights.

History

The Puerto Rican Legal Defense and Education Fund was founded in 1972 as a non-profit organization by three lawyers, Jorge Batista, Victor Marrero, and Cesar A. Perales.[3][4] It was inspired in form and purpose by the high-profile NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund, which Thurgood Marshall had formed in 1957.[5][6] PRLDEF (pronounced "pearl-deaf")[2] had $300,000 of initial funding from foundations, government sources, and private corporations.[7] U.S. House of Representatives member Herman Badillo was on its first Board of Directors, and at the fund's initial press conference he said, "There is plenty of room for change in our society, and much can be done through the medium of class actions."[7] Perales was the fund's first president.[5] It grew to have a Litigation Division, a Pro Bono Cooperating Counsel Division, and an Education Division.[2] It was typically staffed by young, idealistic attorneys from premier law schools.[4]

ASPIRA of New York, with the support of ASPIRA of America and the representation of the Puerto Rican Legal Defense and Education Fund, filed Aspira v. New York City Board of Education in 1972.[8] The lawsuit was the fund's first,[9] and one that led to the ASPIRA Consent Decree.[8] The decree, signed August 29, 1974, established the right of New York City public school students with limited English proficiency to receive bilingual education, and was central to a bilingual education program spreading throughout the New York City school system.[9] PRLDEF has continued to be a key factor in the installation of bilingual education in New York schools.[1] It also brought about the publication of some federal and state forms in Spanish as well as English.[1]

By the late 1970s, PRLDEF had become the nation's most important legal advocacy group for Puerto Ricans in the mainland.[10]

In 1981, PRLDEF achieved its most visible early triumph when it achieved federal court intervention to block a city Democratic Party primary election on the grounds that New York City Council boundaries diminished the power of minority voters.[4][9] The council district lines were redrawn in consequence of the ruling.[9] A similar action was taken in 1991 to forestall a planned redrawing, and subsequent negotiations with the U.S. Justice Department resulted in changes to the redistricting.[9]

In 1981, the fund began activity in opposition to reinstatement of the death penalty in New York State, with its board saying that "capital punishment is associated with evident racism in our society."[11] The fund was also active in highlighting cases of police brutality.[4]

During the 1980s, PRLDEF changed its focus somewhat, moving beyond traditional civil rights cases to address more economically-focused issues such as wage disparities.[12] A major target became civil service exams, which the fund believed were unfair to Latinos and other minority groups.[12] In 1984,[12] the fund sued the New York City Police Department, saying that its promotion exams discriminated against Latinos and African-Americans.[4] The case was settled when the department agreed to promote an additional 100 black officers and 60 Latino officers to sergeant rank.[4][12] The fund also filed separate suits against the New York Fire Department and the New York City Department of Sanitation.[12]

The fund actively opposed the 1987 Robert Bork Supreme Court nomination, "because of the threat he poses to the civil rights of the Latino community,"[13] and worked on joining anti-Bork coalitions.[14] The same year, the fund teamed with ACORN on behalf of affordable housing for low-income Puerto Rican families in East New York.[13] It also met with editors of the New York Daily News to complain about "negative images of Puerto Ricans presented by the News' staff," including from popular columnist Jimmy Breslin.[14]

Future federal judge and U.S. Supreme Court nominee Sonia Sotomayor was an active member of the board of directors of PRLDEF from 1980 to 1992.[4] More commonly, board members were chosen for their wealth or their political connections;[10] members of the board have included U.S. Attorney General Nicholas Katzenbach, Senator Jacob Javits, Ambassador William vanden Heuvel, Manhattan District Attorney Robert Morgenthau, New York State Attorney General Robert Abrams, and federal judge Jose Cabranes.[15] Co-founder Victor Marrero became a federal judge and returned to serve on the board as well.[15] The extent to which the board's Litigation Committee had control over which fund lawsuits went forward varied over time and was a subject of intermittent discussion.[16]

The group endured financial strain several times, and in 1984, private contributions suffered due to a dispute between management and staff over control of the fund.[5]

In 1998 the group merged into a strategic alliance with the Institute for Puerto Rican Policy,[5] which functioned as the Fund’s policy research arm. In 2005, the two split apart again, with the other renaming itself the National Institute for Latino Policy. In the 2000s, PRLDEF collaborated with the New York Legal Assistance Group, suing the United States Government for delays in the processing of immigration applications.[17] PRLDEF has also been known to collaborate with the Hispanic National Bar Association.

By 2003, the group was in severe financial crisis.[5] Perales, who had since gone on to become a high-ranking official at the city, state, and federal levels, was brought back to serve as president.[5]

After the town of Hazleton, Pennsylvania passed an ordinance to punish landlords who rented to illegal immigrants and businesses who hired illegal immigrants, the American Civil Liberties Union and the PRLDEF sued Hazleton, saying the ordinance was unconstitutional.[18][19] On July 26, 2007, a federal court agreed and struck down the Hazleton ordinance; Hazleton's mayor promised to appeal the decision.[20] The Hazleton challenge became PRLDEF's most visible work of that period.[21]

In addition to its other efforts, the Education Division of PRLDEF also encourages Latinos to become lawyers by offering LSAT prep courses, internships, and mentoring relationships.[1][2] Those endeavours have led to as many as 300 Latino and African-Americans students a year and led to a generation of minority lawyers.[5]

In October 2008, the group changed its name to LatinoJustice PRLDEF.[21][22] This reflected that its clients were coming from Bolivia, Colombia, the Dominican Republic, Ecuador, Mexico, Peru, and the like.[22] Perales said that "there is a coming together of identification in a common struggle,"[22] especially in regards to immigration issues.[21] But the change was also motivated by broad demographic shifts; when the organization had first been formed, Puerto Ricans comprised about 63 percent of the overall New York Latino population, and this figure had now fallen to about 34 percent.[21] The move would open up additional fundraising opportunities, but also caused some Puerto Ricans to criticize the group for forsaking its heritage.[21]

In December 2008, LatinoJustice PRLDEF filed an unusual international petition with the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights of the Organization of American States, charging that the United States was failing to protect Latinos living within its borders and was thus falling short of several human rights manifestos.[23]

The PRLDEF received new national attention in mid-2009 with the Sonia Sotomayor Supreme Court nomination, with Republicans saying Sotomayor had been involved in a radical organization while Democrats defended it as a mainstream civil rights operation.[24] Perales said, "You have a reputable group that has stood up for the civil rights of Latinos for 37 years. To suddenly be accused of being something bad, and that anyone associated with it should not be allowed to serve on the Supreme Court, to me is shocking."[6] Mayor of New York Michael Bloomberg came to PRLDEF's defense, saying "While we have not always agreed on every issue, the group has made countless important contributions to New York City."[6]

References

  1. ^ a b c d Schultz, Haynie, McCulloch, Aoki (eds.) (2000). Encyclopedia of Minorities in American Politics: Volume 2: Hispanic Americans and Native Americans. Oryx Press. pp. 505–506. ISBN 1573561495. {{cite book}}: |author= has generic name (help)CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  2. ^ a b c d Cordelia Chavez Candelaria, Arturo J. Aldama, Peter J. Garcia (eds.) (2004). Encyclopedia of Latino popular culture. Greenwood Press. pp. 649–650. ISBN 0313322155. {{cite book}}: |author= has generic name (help)CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  3. ^ "About Us". LatinoJustice PRLDEF. Retrieved June 3, 2009.
  4. ^ a b c d e f g Hernandez, Raymond and Chen, David W. (May 28, 2009). "Nominee's Links With Advocates Fuel Her Critics". The New York Times. Retrieved June 3, 2009. {{cite news}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  5. ^ a b c d e f g Navarro, Mireya (August 11, 2003). "A Civil Rights Struggle for Survival: Leader Returns to a Hispanic Legal Group Facing Financial Ruin". The New York Times. {{cite news}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
  6. ^ a b c Hajela, Deepti (July 11, 2009). "Hispanic rights group at center of Sotomayor fight". Tulsa World. Associated Press. Retrieved August 5, 2009. {{cite news}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
  7. ^ a b "Legal Defense Unit Is Established Here For Puerto Ricans" (fee required). The New York Times. July 30, 1972. {{cite news}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
  8. ^ a b Ruíz, Vicki and Korrol, Virginia Sánchez (eds.) (2006). Latinas in the United States: A Historical Encyclopedia. Indiana University Press. p. 68. ISBN 0253346800. {{cite book}}: |author= has generic name (help)CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  9. ^ a b c d e Berg, Bruce F. (2007). New York City Politics: Governing Gotham. Rutgers University Press. pp. 144–145. ISBN 0813541913.
  10. ^ a b Zajac, Andrew (June 6, 2009). "Sotomayor was nudged into judgeship, associates say". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved June 7, 2009. {{cite news}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
  11. ^ Rosen, Jeffrey (June 11, 2009). "Where Sonia Sotomayor Really Stands on Race". Time. Retrieved June 16, 2009. {{cite news}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
  12. ^ a b c d e James Oliphant and David G. Savage and Andrew Zajac (June 15, 2009). "Sotomayor embracing affirmative action, then and now". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved June 15, 2009. {{cite news}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
  13. ^ a b Davis, Julie Hirschfield (July 1, 2009). "Group advised by Sotomayor campaigned against Bork". Thesouthern.com. Associated Press. Retrieved July 1, 2009.
  14. ^ a b Mears, Bill (July 2, 2009). "New Sotomayor documents detail work of Puerto Rican rights group". CNN. Retrieved July 7, 2009.
  15. ^ a b Arroyo, David (June 5, 2009). "Letter to the Editor: Sotomayor's Service With a Latino Rights Group". The New York Times. {{cite news}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
  16. ^ Savage, Charlie (July 2, 2009). "Republicans Question Sotomayor's Role in Puerto Rican Group's Legal Battles". The New York Times. Retrieved July 7, 2009. {{cite news}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
  17. ^ Preston, Julia (March 7, 2008). "Latinos Seek Citizenship in Time for Voting". The New York Times. {{cite news}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
  18. ^ ACLU of Pennsylvania, Lozano v. City of Hazleton webpage, including links to press releases, complaint, and other materials.
  19. ^ Tom Head, "Top 10 Civil Liberties News Stories - Aug. 22, 2006 Edition", About.com.
  20. ^ Preston, Julia (July 27, 2007). "Judge Voids Ordinance on Illegal Immigrants". The New York Times. {{cite news}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
  21. ^ a b c d e Semple, Kirk (October 5, 2008). "Civil Rights Group Stays Puerto Rican at Heart, but Now Has a Broader Reach". The New York Times. {{cite news}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
  22. ^ a b c "New York's Puerto Rican defense fund expands". New York Daily News. Associated Press. October 6, 2008. {{cite news}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
  23. ^ Barnard, Anne (December 18, 2008). "Rights Group Accuses U.S. of Failing to Protect Latinos". The New York Times. {{cite news}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
  24. ^ Davis, Julie Hirschfield (July 1, 2009). "Bad news for Sotomayor? Puerto Rican group sends docs to Senate". The Salt Lake Tribune. Associated Press. Retrieved July 1, 2009. {{cite news}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
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