News Releases

Federal Judge Finds City of Waukegan Violated the First Amendment Rights of City Protestors

Dec 24, 2008 | ,

CHICAGO, IL– The Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund (MALDEF) and Miner, Barnhill & Galland announced that yesterday a federal district court judge in Chicago reminded the City of Waukegan, Mayor Richard Hyde and Police Chief William Biang that the First Amendment is alive and well. According to MALDEF Regional Counsel Ricardo Meza “a United States District Court Judge held that the City of Waukegan violated the constitutional rights of two of the plaintiffs and sufficient evidence exists for the claims of the remaining plaintiffs to go to trial.”

Court Denies Texas Education Agency’s Efforts To Stall Students’ Rights To Equal Educational Opportunities

Dec 20, 2008 | ,

AUSTIN, TX – Earlier today, a federal district court denied the Texas Education Agency’s (TEA) request to put on hold the court’s order that requires TEA to remedy its language programs for English Language Learner (ELL) children across Texas in the long-standing case, US v. Texas. The Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund (MALDEF) and the Multicultural Education, Training and Advocacy, Inc. (META), on behalf of LULAC and the GI Forum, hotly contested TEA’s Motion to Stay Proceedings Pending Appeal filed just weeks ago and urged the Court to hold TEA to the current deadline of January 31, 2009.

MALDEF Urges Supreme Court To Permit Communities To Create Diverse Schools

Dec 5, 2008 | ,

Washington, DC – Today, school districts, civil rights organizations and educators urged the U.S. Supreme Court to uphold local school districts’ voluntary integration authority. The Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund (MALDEF) filed an amicus curiae (friend-of-the-court) brief in the U.S. Supreme Court on behalf of 16 national and local Latino organizations. At issue in the two consolidated cases, Parents Involved in Community Schools v. Seattle School District No. 1 and Meredith v. Jefferson County Board of Education is the continued authority of local school districts to take voluntary action to reduce racial segregation and isolation in their schools.

MALDEF Urges Supreme Court To Permit Communities To Create Diverse Schools

Dec 5, 2008 | ,

Washington, DC – Today, school districts, civil rights organizations and educators urged the U.S. Supreme Court to uphold local school districts’ voluntary integration authority. The Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund (MALDEF) filed an amicus curiae (friend-of-the-court) brief in the U.S. Supreme Court on behalf of 16 national and local Latino organizations. At issue in the two consolidated cases, Parents Involved in Community Schools v. Seattle School District No. 1 and Meredith v. Jefferson County Board of Education is the continued authority of local school districts to take voluntary action to reduce racial segregation and isolation in their schools.

Declaracion De La Abogada Gladys Limon De MALDEF, Referente A La Litigacion De Los Eventos Del Primero De Mayo

Nov 10, 2008 | , ,

LOS ÁNGELES, CA- El día 1 de Mayo del 2007, miles de personas participaron en una marcha y demostración pacifica para hacer un llamado para una reforma migratoria comprensiva. Estos individuos y familias, mayormente Latinos e inmigrantes, manifestaron su valor, dignidad, y el deseo de continuar participando dentro de nuestra sociedad, ejerciendo algunos de los derechos y libertades mas apreciados, otorgados por nuestra constitución – que es el derecho de asamblea y expresarse libremente. De hecho, son estas libertades las que atrajeron a mucho de los participantes de esta marcha a los Estados Unidos. Algunos de ellos, huyeron de la opresión y terror, buscando libertad, otros escaparon la pobreza inmensa buscando la promesa Americana de poder vivir una vida digna a cambio del trabajo digno.