News Releases
MALDEF SUES TO ENFORCE TRANSPARENCY IN ILLINOIS GOVERNOR BRUCE RAUNER’S APPOINTMENTS TO STATE BOARDS AND COMMISSIONS
CHICAGO, IL – Late last week, MALDEF filed a lawsuit against Illinois Governor Bruce Rauner asking the court to order the Governor to comply with the Illinois Gubernatorial Boards and Commissions Act (“the Act”). The Act requires Governor Rauner to publish information about the ethnicity, gender and disability status of applicants and appointees to state boards and commissions. The Governor was required to publish his first report on October 1, 2015, but failed to do so.
MALDEF JOINS FORCES WITH GOLDSTEIN, BORGEN, DARDARIAN & HO TO DEMAND CITY OF EASTVALE CHANGE ITS UNLAWFUL AT-LARGE ELECTION SYSTEM
EASTVALE, CA – Today, MALDEF and the law firm of Goldstein, Borgen, Dardarian, & Ho sent a letter to the Mayor of Eastvale and the Eastvale City Council, demanding that the system for electing members to the city council be changed to comply with the California Voting Rights Act (CVRA). The City currently elects council members using an at-large method, which has denied Latino residents the opportunity to elect candidates of their choice to the City Council. MALDEF and Goldstein, Borgen, Dardarian, & Ho demand that the City convert to a by-district election system.
MALDEF ACCLAIMS SUPREME COURT DECISION ENDING RIGHT-WING ASSAULT ON LATINO VOTING POWER
WASHINGTON, DC – Today, the U.S. Supreme Court issued a unanimous decision upholding the long-standing and ubiquitous practice of equalizing electoral districts based on total population. The ruling came in a case, Evenwel v. Abbott, challenging the use of total population under the “one person, one vote” doctrine. This Fourteenth Amendment equal protection doctrine is what triggers the redrawing of electoral districts at the state and local level after each Census – to restore population equality among districts.
MALDEF AND CO-COUNSEL SEEK INJUNCTION AGAINST NEW MEXICO TAXATION AND REVENUE DEPARTMENT
SANTA FE, NM – This week, MALDEF formally requested an injunction in state district court against the New Mexico Taxation and Revenue Department and Secretary Demesia Padilla (collectively, “TRD”) to prevent them from continuing to unlawfully withhold millions of dollars from immigrant taxpayers who use federal Individual Tax Identification Numbers (“ITINs”) to file their tax returns until two pending lawsuits, originally filed in February of 2015, are resolved. The law firm of Freedman, Boyd, Hollander Goldberg Urias & Ward, P.A., and the New Mexico non-profit organization, Somos Un Pueblo Unido, are co-counsel in the case.
MALDEF DEMANDS LAWNDALE ELEMENTARY SCHOOL DISTRICT CHANGE ITS UNLAWFUL AT-LARGE BOARD ELECTION SYSTEM
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.
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.