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The MALDEFian eNewsletter provides you with the latest update on MALDEF's court cases and legislative priorities. Sign up for the MALDEFian enewsletter and manage your subscriptions here.
Marc Cherry, creator of Desperate Housewives, was inspired to write the episode highlighting lead character Gabrielle Solis’ childhood after attending MALDEF’s 35th Annual Awards Gala honoring Eva Longoria Parker in November 2009.
Young California Latinos will be able to act as viral marketers, encouraging their friends to participate in the U.S. Census, as part of a multimedia campaign that includes an interactive mobile application, MALDEF and Voto Latino, partners in the project, announced this week.
Today, MALDEF filed legal papers on behalf of several Colorado families seeking to join the state school finance lawsuit, Lobato v. Colorado. The families seek a ruling that Colorado’s inadequate school funding for low income and English Language Learner students violates their rights under the Colorado Constitution. The parents and children represent different regions of the state, including Mapleton, Sheridan, Rocky Ford and Greeley.
Today, MALDEF announced that it has joined as co-counsel in a lawsuit against AARP, the United States' largest membership organization of older Americans, for racial discrimination, national origin discrimination, retaliation and wrongful termination
On February 2, 2010, MALDEF, the ACLU of Southern California and the National Day Laborer’s Organizing Network (NDLON) filed a lawsuit challenging the City of Costa Mesa’s anti-solicitation ordinance as unconstitutional.
MALDEF’s Southwest Regional Office is leading the charge to ensure that all Latinos in Texas are counted in the 2010 Census by chairing the newly-created Texas Latino Complete Count Committee. An accurate count, especially among hard-to-count Latinos such as immigrants, students, and the economically disadvantaged, is essential to ensuring that all communities receive their fair share of federal resources and political representation.
On January 20, 2010, the Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund (MALDEF) hosted the 2010 Latino State of the Union: The 3rd Annual Roundtable on Law, Policy and Civil Rights at the National Press Club in Washington, D.C.
We are proud to announce that among our victories this year, we can include last week's Department of Justice announcement of federal grand jury indictments against 2 of Luis' assailants and 3 police officers involved in the investigation. We have been following Luis Ramirez's case since it occurred in 2008, and have worked closely with his family and fiancée, Crystal Dillman.
Last year, California voters passed Proposition 11, creating California’s first-ever citizens redistricting commission. Since passage of Proposition 11, we have been working diligently with the state to ensure that the implementing regulations emphasize the importance of the Voting Rights Act and the creation of a commission that represents all of the communities that make up our state. Now, we need your help.
MALDEF celebrated its 35th Annual Los Angeles Awards Gala at the Westin Bonaventure Hotel, honoring civil rights icons and trailblazers who have been critical partners in advancing the goals of the community and providing social justice for Latinos. More than a thousand advocates, elected officials, attorneys, corporate leaders and city officials were in attendance, including newly appointed Los Angeles Police Department Chief Charlie Beck.
President Barack Obama signed the Matthew Shepard and James Byrd, Jr. Hate Crimes Prevention Act into law. The Act expands coverage of the 1969 federal hate crimes law to include victims targeted based on their sexual orientation, disability, and gender identity.
Last Friday, MALDEF hosted its 25th Annual San Antonio Awards Gala at the Westin Riverwalk Hotel, honoring regional leaders in the public and private sector who have been critical forces in advancing the goals of the community and providing social justice for Latinos. Ana Maria Canseco, co-host of Univision's Despierta America, the number-one rated morning show on Spanish-language television, served as the Master of Ceremonies.
Today, the National Women’s Law Center (NWLC) and MALDEF were joined by U.S. Representative Raul Grijalva (D-AZ), Chair of the Education Task Force for the Congressional Hispanic Caucus, in releasing "Listening to Latinas: Barriers to High School Graduation", a new report that takes a close look at the drop-out crisis in the Latino community. The latest data show that 41% of Latina students do not graduate on time with a standard high school diploma. The study reports that while 98% of high school seniors want to graduate from high school, and 80% aspire to higher education, Latina students continue to face numerous challenges in reaching these goals.
MALDEF announced Thomas A. Saenz, Counsel to Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa, as its new President and General Counsel. Saenz will join MALDEF in mid-August.
The Court rejected a challenge by Arizona’s Superintendent and others seeking to diminish the State’s role in affording ELL students the opportunity to learn English. The defendants had argued that the State’s compliance under the No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB) amounted to compliance under the EEOA, but the Court instead held that compliance under NCLB is not determinative and remanded the issue.
Sadly, the nation’s current economic recession has also lead to an increase in violence within the family. Financial stress can lead to more frequent, more violent, and more dangerous abuse when domestic violence already exists, and a worsening economic situation at home can make it more difficult for some victims to leave abusive relationships.
It is not too late to benefit from the Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC), a significant tax break available to U.S. citizens and legal immigrants alike. This important tax credit is often overlooked and sadly millions of qualified Latinos miss the opportunity to take advantage of billions of dollars in valuable benefits.
After nearly a three-week hearing that ended in February 2009, MALDEF attorneys presented closing arguments urging a federal judge not to declare CPS “Unitary,” thus allowing CPS to be released from the consent decree.
MALDEF anxiously awaits a federal court ruling regarding whether the Chicago Public Schools (CPS) will be released from a 29-year-old desegregation consent decree in United States v. Chicago Public Schools. After nearly a three-week hearing that ended in February 2009, MALDEF attorneys presented closing arguments urging a federal judge not to declare CPS “Unitary,” thus allowing CPS to be released from the consent decree.
Thank you for your continued support of MALDEF as we protect and advance the civil rights of the now almost 50 million Latinos across the nation. 2008 has proved to be a turning point for the Latino community and the country. MALDEF celebrated our 40th anniversary this year. From our founding in San Antonio in 1968 to the present, MALDEF attorneys and advocates – and more recently our parent alumni leaders – have taken on the battles that are critically necessary for Latinos to have equal rights and dignity. Our work is needed now more than ever. We are poised to make progress in 2009 but only with your help now.
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