AP: Hispanic rights group at center of Sotomayor fight

[Omaha Steve]

http://apnews.excite.com/article/20090711/D99C7NMG2.html

Jul 11, 7:47 AM (ET)

By DEEPTI HAJELA

NEW YORK (AP) - Cesar Perales has fought his share of critics over the years, in legal battles for minorities denied jobs, bilingual classes in schools and more Latino police officers. But none of those efforts compares with the tempest his Puerto Rican Legal Defense and Education Fund has stirred because of the dozen years that Supreme Court nominee Sonia Sotomayor served as one of its board members.

Conservatives have called the group's stances against capital punishment and for abortion rights, as well as its advocacy of affirmative action in worker discrimination cases, "extreme" and "shocking." Some have suggested Sotomayor's longtime association with the group is an indication that she is biased and would be unable to render impartial decisions as a Supreme Court justice.

The critiques leading up to next week's Senate hearings on Sotomayor's confirmation have stunned Perales, who calls them an attempt to derail her nomination by over-politicizing the work of his legal defense fund.


In this Oct. 10, 2007 file photo, Cesar Perales, left, of the Puerto Rican Legal Defense and Education Fund, talks with reporters during a news conference in Washington. Attorney Eduardo Ferrer is at right. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin, File)


"You have a reputable group that has stood up for the civil rights of Latinos for 37 years," said Perales, the group's president. "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."

Perales founded the fund, now known as LatinoJustice PRLDEF, in a Manhattan office building in 1972, He modeled it after one of the most high-profile civil rights organizations in the country, the NAACP Legal Defense and Education Fund.

The group points to suits like Aspira vs. New York City Board of Education as among its biggest accomplishments, forcing city schools to implement bilingual education for non-English speaking students.

Another suit against the city's police department brought about an increase in the number of Latino officers in the police force. The group mounted a successful legal challenge in 1981 that postponed city elections over concerns about redistricting.

FULL story at link.

[LethalDose]

1. La Raza NOT all it's cracked up to be

Unless you're an illegal!

I agree- everyone deserves rights, but suing for millions of dollars as an illegal because someone tried to protect their property? Or how about the recent reward of 4 million to an illegal child molester's family who was beat up in jail?
La Raza doesn't do the suing, but they are right there with the The Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund (MALDEF)! These groups are supplemented by our tax dollar, but trust me, the CITIZENS they sue can't afford the legal defense the illegals are given free.

It's time citizens realize what is actually going on that is not in their best interest.