LAWNDALE, CA – Today, MALDEF sent a letter to the Board President and Superintendent of the Lawndale Elementary School District (“Lawndale ESD”), demanding that the system for electing members of the board of trustees be changed to comply with the California Voting Rights Act (“CVRA”). Lawndale ESD currently elects trustees using an at-large method, which has denied Latino residents the opportunity to elect candidates of their choice to the Board of Trustees. MALDEF demands the election system be changed to a district-based system.
News Releases
MALDEF AND PARTNERS URGE ARIZONA GOVERNOR TO OPPOSE UNCONSTITUTIONAL ANTI-IMMIGRANT BILL
MALDEF FILES SUIT AGAINST UNIVERSITY SYSTEM OF GEORGIA FOR DENYING DEFERRED ACTION STUDENTS IN-STATE TUITION
ATLANTA, GA – Today, MALDEF, along with local counsel Horsley Begnaud, LLC, filed a federal-court lawsuit against the University System of Georgia, challenging a policy denying in-state tuition to individuals lawfully present as recipients of deferred action from the United States government. The lawsuit alleges that the University of Georgia System’s practices violate the Supremacy and Equal Protection clauses of the U.S. Constitution. The Defendants are the Board of Regents members and the University Presidents.
MALDEF AND CITY OF PLACENTIA REACH AGREEMENT ON PROCESS TO PROVIDE LATINOS EQUAL VOTING POWER
PLACENTIA, CA – Today, MALDEF and the City of Placentia reached an agreement on how to proceed with providing Latinos equal voting power, without going to court. The agreement calls for a host of actions to be taken by the Placentia City Council, including placing a Charter Amendment Measure on a statewide general or special election ballot that will convert the current at-large election system to one that is district-based. The new system would require that district lines be established by ordinance, and become effective for elections in November 2018 and thereafter.
FALLBROOK PUBLIC UTILITY DISTRICT SETTLES MALDEF VOTING RIGHTS SUIT
MALDEF STATEMENT ON PRESIDENT TRUMP’S ACTION ON IMMIGRATION ENFORCEMENT
MALDEF DEFEATS REPEATED EFFORTS BY NATIONAL AIRLINE CLEANING COMPANY TO AVOID TRIAL IN EMPLOYMENT DISCRIMINATION CASE
LOS ANGELES, CA – Today, MALDEF defeated yet another effort by the national airline cleaning company Gate Gourmet, Inc. to dismiss a lawsuit challenging the company’s unlawful employment practices. Specifically, the lawsuit alleges that Gate Gourmet, contracted to clean for Delta Airlines at LAX, prohibited employees from using Spanish during work hours, including rest and meal breaks, all in violation of California Government Code sections 12951 and 12940.
MALDEF FILES LAWSUIT CHALLENGING TEXAS IMMIGRANT HARBORING LAW
SAN ANTONIO, TX – Today, MALDEF filed a legal challenge to Texas House Bill 11’s immigrant harboring provision, which targets workers at immigrant shelters and landlords who rent to undocumented immigrants. HB 11 creates a new felony offense of immigrant harboring under which individuals can be arrested and prosecuted for providing shelter or renting a home to undocumented immigrants.
AS COUNSEL FOR THE ONLY INTERVENORS IN TEXAS V. UNITED STATES, MALDEF WILL CONTINUE TO DEFEND CLIENTS AS SUPREME COURT REVIEWS IMMIGRATION CASE
WASHINGTON, DC -Today, the U.S. Supreme Court decided to review Texas v. United States, a case challenging the constitutionality of President Obama’s executive actions on immigration, including the expansion of Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) and the initiation of Deferred Action for Parents of Americans (DAPA). MALDEF’s clients, three mothers from South Texas, were the only parties granted intervention, joining the Obama Administration in defending the case as it moved through the Supreme Court.
COURT ALLOWS DISCRIMINATION SUIT AGAINST KERN COUNTY OFFICE OF EDUCATION TO PROCEED
BAKERSFIELD, CA – On December 31, 2015, the Kern County Superior Court ruled that Latino and Black Plaintiffs may proceed against the Kern County Office of Education and Superintendent Christine Lizardi Frazier with their claims that the agency and Superintendent failed to take steps to ensure that students in the Kern High School District (KHSD) and alternative schools run by the Kern COE were not subjected to discrimination and denied equal educational opportunity. Parents and students enrolled in the Kern High School District and community activist organizations Dolores Huerta Foundation, National Brotherhood Association, and Faith in Action Kern County brought the action against the State as well as the Kern High School District and Kern County Office of Education; plaintiffs are represented by a coalition of civil rights legal advocates and pro bono counsel, including MALDEF, California Rural Legal Assistance, Inc., Equal Justice Society, and Greater Bakersfield Legal Assistance, Inc., and Wilson, Sonsini, Goodrich & Rosati.
ACCESS TO IN-STATE GRANTS FOR TEXAS IMMIGRANT YOUTH SECURED AS SUIT DISMISSED
HARRIS COUNTY, TX – Late last week, in a resounding victory for Texas students, anti-immigrant advocates dropped a lawsuit that sought to deny state college aid to undocumented youth. In Immigration Reform Coalition of Texas (IRCOT) v. Texas, IRCOT asked the court to strip immigrant students of their right to access in-state tuition and grants, despite a Texas law (HB 1403) that provided for educational access to all Texas students, regardless of immigration status.
MALDEF DEMANDS THAT THE CITY OF PLACENTIA CHANGE ITS UNLAWFUL AT-LARGE CITY COUNCIL ELECTION SYSTEM
PLACENTIA, CA – Today, MALDEF sent a letter to the City of Placentia, demanding that it convert its at-large elections system to a district-based system that affords Latino voters an equal opportunity to elect candidates of their choice to the Placentia City Council, in accordance with the California Voting Rights Act of 2001 (“CVRA”). Placentia’s population is 36% Latino, but there are currently no Latino members on the five-seat council, and there has been only one Latino councilmember in the last two decades. Placentia’s at-large election system has prevented Latinos from being fairly represented on the city council. MALDEF demands the system be changed to a district-based system.
MALDEF STATEMENT ON THE EVERY STUDENT SUCCEEDS ACT OF 2015
MALDEF WARNS CITY OF ANAHEIM THAT IT RISKS LIABILITY FOR VIOLATION OF LATINO VOTING RIGHTS
LOS ANGELES, CA – MALDEF and the California League of United Latin American Citizens (“CA LULAC”) today sent a letter to Anaheim, California Mayor Tom Tait warning that delaying the election in the only district designed to provide a voting rights remedy to Latino voters puts the city at risk for liability under the federal Voting Rights Act and the Fourteenth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution.