Press Releases

LOS ANGELES, CA – Yesterday the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors voted to formally support U.S. Rep. Jimmy Gomez’s (CA-34) bipartisan legislation to name the Los Angeles U.S. Courthouse after Felicitas and Gonzalo Mendez, American civil rights icons, who along with the Guzman, Palomino, Estrada and Ramirez families challenged segregation in California schools and set the stage for school desegregation nationwide.
 

The vote follows a letter from Attorney General Rob Bonta expressing strong support for the legislation. In the original 1946 case, the Office of the Attorney General of the State of California joined with other organizations to support the families and filed an amicus curiae brief that argued school segregation was inherently unjust and unconstitutional.
 

“78 years ago, here in Los Angeles, the Mendez, Guzman, Palomino, Estrada and Ramirez families challenged segregation in California schools and set the stage for school desegregation nationwide. It is deeply significant that the LA County Board of Supervisors and Attorney General Bonta, whose office provided key support for the families’ case back in 1946, are supporting my bill to enshrine these families’ story into American history,” said Gomez. “The bill now has the unanimous and bipartisan support of the LA Board of Supervisors, the U.S. House of Representatives and the Attorney General of California. I urge the Senate to follow suit and pass the legislation immediately.”

“My office’s investment in the powerful story of the Mendez, Guzman, Palomino, Estrada, and Ramirez families dates back to the original case in 1946. The Office of the Attorney General of the State of California at the time joined with other organizations supporting the families and filed an amicus curiae brief that argued school segregation was inherently unjust and unconstitutional,” wrote AG Bonta. “As Attorney General of California today, I take pride in commemorating this historic case, which directly influenced Governor Earl Warren to sign a 1947 law repealing public school segregation statutes in California.”
 

“Felicitas and Gonzalo Mendez’s fearless pursuit of justice for every child living in this country changed the course of American history,” said Los Angeles County Supervisor Hilda L. Solis, who sponsored the motion. “Their collective bravery and commitment to stand up to injustice paved the way for Brown v. Board of Education, which changed the face of our nation’s classrooms forever. The Felicitas and Gonzalo U.S. Courthouse will serve as a poignant inspiration to those continuing to fight for equity and an important reminder of the Latino American contribution to our civil rights history.”

Background:

·         The Mendez’s activism to stop racial discrimination in California schools, alongside the Ramirez, Estrada, Guzman and Palomino families, culminated in the landmark 1946 case that led to the end of segregation in California schools and paved the way for Brown v. Board of Education. 
 

·         Thurgood Marshall wrote the NAACP’s amicus brief in the case, and just years later used similar reasoning before the Supreme Court in Brown v. Board of Education.
 

·         Gomez’s bill would be a historic first, as the Felicitas and Gonzalo Mendez United States Courthouse would be the first federal courthouse named after a Latina out of over 200 named federal courthouses in the U.S. The courthouse sits just blocks from where the historic Mendez case was originally decided.
 

·         Gomez’s bill passed the U.S. House of Representatives and now is waiting a vote in the Senate.

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