Next Meeting:
Saturday March 1st, 2008, 1:00 PM in conjunction with the Orange County Hispanic Bar Association Annual Scholarship Dinner in Costa Mesa, which will follow the meeting.
IN THE NEWS:
san Francisco Chronicle Editorial
The face of justice
Tuesday, March 6, 2007
WALK INTO any California courthouse, and one thing is plain. The judges on the bench don't reflect the state's diverse make-up.
In a state that is a majority non-white, nearly three-quarters of some 1,600 judges are white males.
Changing this fact won't be easy. It will take time, political commitment and steady work. Last year, the state took a constructive step forward: Some 50 new judges were approved to speed up legal work in a jammed judicial system. In exchange, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, who appoints all judges, promised Assembly Speaker Fabian Núñez to push harder in diversifying appointments.
Now comes a report from the state Judicial Council, which oversees the courts, giving a racial and gender profile of the bench. There's a long way to go in diversifying the system.
The size of the gap depends on the numbers used. The governor once measured his success by comparing his picks with minority numbers in the overwhelmingly white and male State Bar. By this standard, he has done a credible job: the percentage of Latino judges is ahead of the percentage of Latino lawyers. It's also ahead for black judges.
But the overall results are exceedingly low. In a state that's 32 percent Latino, only 6.3 percent of the judges are from this group. Blacks, who are 8 percent of the state, make up only 4.4 percent of the judges.
The solution, according to Chris Arriola of California La Raza Lawyers and other critics, is better recruiting among the still-sizable pool of minority members of the bar. He's encouraged that Schwarzenegger has named Sharon Majors-Lewis, who is black, as his judicial appointments secretary.
The governor has made a credible start, but he needs to push harder to fill the bench with a truer reflection of California's population.
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HISPANIC NATIONAL BAR ASSOCIATION NEWS
Congratulations to CALRLA endorsed Victor Marquez, former SFLRLA President and Chair of the 2006 Convention in San Francisco, on his swearing in as HNBA President at the 2007 Covention in Puerto Rico. For details go to www.hnba.com
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EXECUTIVE OFFICERS FOR 2006-2005
Eric Alderete
Orange County, President
emalderete@yahoo.com
Beatriz Mejia
San Francisco, Immediate Past President
mejiab@cooley.com
Alberto Gonzalez
President Elect
Sacramento, CA (Includes 3rd and 5th DCA)
Alberto.Gonzalez@doj.ca.gov
Miguel Marquez
San Francisco, Secretary
migmarq_2004@yahoo.com
Christopher Arriola
San Jose, Treasurer & Judicial Chair
chrisarriola@yahoo.com
Regional Officers & Judicial Chairs:
Ignacio Herendez
Eastern District Vice-President
Sacramento, CA (Includes 3rd and 5th DCA)
ignacio@hernandezlaw.org
Ex Officio
Maribel Medina
Los Angeles, HNBA Liaison
maribel.medina@lausd.net
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Membership:
You may go to the Links page at the top left of the page to sign up for e-mails or to the Membership Form to join print out a membership application, also in the link at the top left of the page.
We encourage joining an affiliate group on our links page, which entitles you to free membership in CA La Raza Lawyers.
