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LatinoJustice PRLDEF
LatinoJustice PRLDEF, long known by its former name the Puerto Rican Legal Defense and Education Fund, is a New York–based national civil rights organization with the goal of changing discriminatory practices via advocacy and litigation. Privately funded, nonprofit and nonpartisan, it is part of the umbrella Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights.
The Puerto Rican Legal Defense and Education Fund was founded in 1972 by three lawyers, one of whom, Cesar A. Perales, became the president of the group for much of its history. PRLDEF played a key role in the installation of bilingual education in New York City schools, and soon became the most important legal advocacy group for Puerto Ricans in the U.S. mainland. The group became known for the part it played in redistricting battles, for its opposition to civil service exams it thought discriminatory, and for its attempts to combat anti-Latino sentiment especially as arising from the debate over immigration to the U.S. It changed its name to the current one in 2008 in order to reflect demographic shifts in the Latino population in New York and elsewhere.
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, with Perales the fund's first president. It was created as a privately funded, nonprofit and nonpartisan organization with the goal of changing discriminatory practices via advocacy and litigation. It was inspired in form and purpose by the high-profile NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund, which Thurgood Marshall had established in 1957. PRLDEF (pronounced "pearl-deaf") had $300,000 of initial funding from foundations, government sources, and private corporations. 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." The organization soon grew to have a Litigation Division, a Pro Bono Cooperating Counsel Division, and an Education Division. A typical staffer was a young, idealistic attorney from a premier law school.
The fund's first lawsuit was filed on behalf of the Hispanic educational improvement organization, ASPIRA of New York in an action against the New York City Board of Education. It led to the August 1974 ASPIRA Consent Decree, which established the right of city public school students with limited English proficiency to receive bilingual education. The decree was a key factor in bilingual education spreading throughout the city school system. It also brought about the publication of some federal and state forms in Spanish as well as English. By the late 1970s, PRLDEF had become the nation's most important legal advocacy group for Puerto Ricans in the mainland.
In 1981, PRLDEF achieved its most visible early triumph when a federal court intervened to block a city Democratic Party primary election on the grounds that New York City Council boundaries diminished the power of minority voters. The council district lines were redrawn in consequence of the ruling. (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.) Also 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." The fund was also active in highlighting cases of police brutality.
During the 1980s, PRLDEF changed its focus somewhat, moving beyond traditional civil rights cases to address more economically focused issues such as wage disparities. A major target became civil service exams, which the fund believed were unfair to Latinos and other minority groups. In 1984, the fund sued the New York City Police Department, saying that its promotion exams discriminated against Latinos and African-Americans. The case was settled when the department agreed to promote an additional 100 black officers and 60 Latino officers to sergeant rank. The fund also filed separate suits against the New York City Fire Department and the New York City Department of Sanitation.
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," and worked on joining anti-Bork coalitions. The same year, the fund teamed with community organizers ACORN on behalf of affordable housing for low-income Puerto Rican families in East New York. It also met with editors of the New York Daily News to complain about "negative images of Puerto Ricans presented by the News' staff," especially those coming from popular columnist Jimmy Breslin.
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. Board members were often chosen for their wealth or their political connections and 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 José A. Cabranes. Co-founder Victor Marrero became a federal judge and returned to serve on the board as well. The extent to which the board's Litigation Committee had control over which lawsuits went forward varied over time and was a subject of intermittent discussion.
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LatinoJustice PRLDEF
LatinoJustice PRLDEF, long known by its former name the Puerto Rican Legal Defense and Education Fund, is a New York–based national civil rights organization with the goal of changing discriminatory practices via advocacy and litigation. Privately funded, nonprofit and nonpartisan, it is part of the umbrella Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights.
The Puerto Rican Legal Defense and Education Fund was founded in 1972 by three lawyers, one of whom, Cesar A. Perales, became the president of the group for much of its history. PRLDEF played a key role in the installation of bilingual education in New York City schools, and soon became the most important legal advocacy group for Puerto Ricans in the U.S. mainland. The group became known for the part it played in redistricting battles, for its opposition to civil service exams it thought discriminatory, and for its attempts to combat anti-Latino sentiment especially as arising from the debate over immigration to the U.S. It changed its name to the current one in 2008 in order to reflect demographic shifts in the Latino population in New York and elsewhere.
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, with Perales the fund's first president. It was created as a privately funded, nonprofit and nonpartisan organization with the goal of changing discriminatory practices via advocacy and litigation. It was inspired in form and purpose by the high-profile NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund, which Thurgood Marshall had established in 1957. PRLDEF (pronounced "pearl-deaf") had $300,000 of initial funding from foundations, government sources, and private corporations. 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." The organization soon grew to have a Litigation Division, a Pro Bono Cooperating Counsel Division, and an Education Division. A typical staffer was a young, idealistic attorney from a premier law school.
The fund's first lawsuit was filed on behalf of the Hispanic educational improvement organization, ASPIRA of New York in an action against the New York City Board of Education. It led to the August 1974 ASPIRA Consent Decree, which established the right of city public school students with limited English proficiency to receive bilingual education. The decree was a key factor in bilingual education spreading throughout the city school system. It also brought about the publication of some federal and state forms in Spanish as well as English. By the late 1970s, PRLDEF had become the nation's most important legal advocacy group for Puerto Ricans in the mainland.
In 1981, PRLDEF achieved its most visible early triumph when a federal court intervened to block a city Democratic Party primary election on the grounds that New York City Council boundaries diminished the power of minority voters. The council district lines were redrawn in consequence of the ruling. (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.) Also 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." The fund was also active in highlighting cases of police brutality.
During the 1980s, PRLDEF changed its focus somewhat, moving beyond traditional civil rights cases to address more economically focused issues such as wage disparities. A major target became civil service exams, which the fund believed were unfair to Latinos and other minority groups. In 1984, the fund sued the New York City Police Department, saying that its promotion exams discriminated against Latinos and African-Americans. The case was settled when the department agreed to promote an additional 100 black officers and 60 Latino officers to sergeant rank. The fund also filed separate suits against the New York City Fire Department and the New York City Department of Sanitation.
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," and worked on joining anti-Bork coalitions. The same year, the fund teamed with community organizers ACORN on behalf of affordable housing for low-income Puerto Rican families in East New York. It also met with editors of the New York Daily News to complain about "negative images of Puerto Ricans presented by the News' staff," especially those coming from popular columnist Jimmy Breslin.
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. Board members were often chosen for their wealth or their political connections and 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 José A. Cabranes. Co-founder Victor Marrero became a federal judge and returned to serve on the board as well. The extent to which the board's Litigation Committee had control over which lawsuits went forward varied over time and was a subject of intermittent discussion.