Proposal to Establish a Mexican-American Legal Defense and Education Fund

    THE PROPOSAL 

The National Office for the Rights of the Indigent 
(NORI) , which was funded by the Ford Foundation in 1967, and 
other organizations concerned with legal programs for poor 
people, have in the past year become increasingly aware of 
the problems confronting Mexican-Americans in the southwestern 
United States. It is NORI's conclusion, and the conclusion of 
Mexican-American leaders themselves, that civil rights problems 
of Mexican-Americans in this area are serious and widespread 
and that various approaches to them are needed, including the 
ereation of a separate organization to deal with them through 
action in the courts, The following is a proposal to establish 
a Mexican-American Legal Defense and Education Fund for the 
purpose of advancing the civil rights of Mexican-Americans by 
legal action. 

This proposal was prepared following a series of 
conferences with Mexican-American leaders in the Southwest, 
with government officials concerned with Mexican-American 
problems, and with the staff of the NAACP Legal Defense and 
Educational Fund. 

THE NEED 

There are approximately four to five million Spanish 
surname persons living in the Southwest.* They comprise about 
10% of the population. This Spanish surname population, which 
is frequently called "Mexican-American", would be served by the 
proposed Fund. Although their origins are more varied than the 
name indicates and their situation differs from state to state, 
Mexican-Americans are drawn together as a group by their common 
language, common customs, and their common rejection by the 
"Anglo" community. Discrimination and segregation are serious 
problems for Mexican-Americans almost everywhere in the Southwest. 
But their poverty, lack of education, and traditional suspicion 
of legal processes have effectively combined to keep them from 
attacking these disabilities in the courts, Above all, there 
has been no cadre of Mexican-American lawyers equipped to handle 
cases as Negro lawyers have done over the past quarter of a 
century. In terms of the legal enforcement of civil rights, 
the situation of Mexican-American has been likened to that of 
Negroes more than twenty-five years ago. 

Loyment 

The last census showed that in 1959 more than one-third 

* The principal population centers are: the San Francisco Bay 
basin; the Central Valley of California; the Los Angeles 
metropolis; the Salt River Valley of Arizona; Denver County; the 
upper Rio Grande, south central Texas; and the Border. 

Pais se 



of all Mexican-American families in the Southwest had an annual 
income below $3,000, which is generally accepted as the poverty 
line. This poverty rate was more than double the poverty rate 
for the Anglo population at that time. A comprehensive report 
for a later period is not available, but selective studies 
indicate that the disparity in income between at least some 
Mexican-American communities and the Anglo population is growing. 
A 1965 government survey in East Los Angeles, which is 76: 
Mexican-American, showed that the average family income was 
$5,106 - the same as in 1959 - and consequently that real income 
had declined, The Chairman of the California FEPC reports that 
32% of the men in this area are not working. A survey conducted 
by the Department of Labor in November of 1966 showed that 47% 
of the men in a Mexican-American district in San Antonio, Texas 
were what the Department called "sub-employed", that is either 
unemployed, underemployed or earning less than $60 per week. 

Every group to study the poverty of Mexican-Americans 
has reached the same conclusion: job discrimination and unlawful 
exploitation contribute significantly to keeping Mexican-Americans 
unemployed or in the most subordinate and menial positions. For 
example, the authors of a report prepared for the U.S. Commission 
on Civil Rights concluded that in Los Angeles "discrimination 
and stereotyping continue to deny Mexican-Americans employment 
both in private industry and government...Mexican-Americans are 
recruited for the lowest paying jobs. They frequently find 
employment in ‘sweat shops'", The Department of Labor study in 
San Antonio referred to above concluded that "inferior education, 
no skills, discriminaticn* and other causes were at the root 
of sub-employment of Mexican-Americans. 

The Federal Government is the single largest and best 
paying employer in the Southwest. Discrimination in employment 
is prohibited and administrative procedures have been created to 
enforce that prohibition. Yet discrimination by the Federal 
Government or firms working under federal contract apparently 
remains a problem throughout the Southwest. 

In California, Mexican-Americans have picketed post 
offices to protest discriminatory hiring policies*, In New 
Mexico, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission reports 
that most charges of discrimination come from Mexican- 
Americans and that most of the complaints involve federal 
employment over which the Commission does not have juris- 
diction. 

In Texas, the State Advisory Committee to the U.S. 
Civil Rights Commission reported after a special study of 

* In 1966 only 4.7% of the federal employees in California 
were Mexican-American, while they accounted for 8.2% of the 
labor force. For the Southwest as a whole, however, the pro- 
portion of Mexican-Americans in federal employment is about 
equal to their proportion of the work force. 

SS 



three Texas counties that "equal employment for Latin-Americans 
has not been achieved in the three county area." The Committee 
received testimony that at a naval air base in Texas, for 
example, there were salary differentials between Mexican- 
Americans and Anglos for the same jobs; that Mexican-American 
employees were required by their supervisors to perform menial 
tasks not required of Anglos; that the Merit Promotion Board 
would not consider Mexican-Americans for upgrading (the highest 
grade held by a Mexican-American employee on the base was a 
GS-7, while the highest Grade held by an Anglo was GS-12); that 
the civilian personnel director discourages Mexican-American 
job applicants; and that the number of Mexican-American employees 
is restricted.* These charges were denied generally by the 
commander of the base. However, no legal or administrative 
proceedings have been brought to test the issues. 

Only a handful of cases have been brought on behalf of 
Mexican-Americans under the federal and state FEP laws pro- 
hibiting discrimination in employment. Frequently discrimi- 
nation is difficult to prove because denials of position or 
promotion are justified on grounds of lack of facility in 
English or lack of other training. Mexican-American lawyers 
in New Mexico report that in a few cases where the complaining 
witness was able to pay fees and was willing to pursue the 
matter, some good results have been achieved. Elsewhere, lawyers 
report that Mexican-Americans suffering discrimination are 
either ignorant of their rights or do not have the funds to 
sustain a case. If the complaints of discrimination in employ- 
ment practices are to be pursued in sufficient numbers to 
affect the problem, legal counsel experienced in civil rights 
litigation must be provided, 

Education 

Mexican-Americans as a group are the most poorly edu- 
eated in the Southwest. As of 1960 their median years of 
school completed were 7.1 as against 9.0 for nonwhites and 
12.1 for Anglos. The school dropout rate for Mexican-American 
children is currently about 50%. It is believed, however, that 
since 1960 the educational gap between Mexican-American and 
Anglo children (in terms of years of school completed) has 
narrowed. 

But years of school completed do not tell the whole - 
or even the most important part of the story. Virtually 
complete segregation of Mexican-Americans in inferior schools 

* For the Southwest as a whole in 1966 Mexican-Americans 
employed by the federal government were clustered in low 
paying blue-collar jobs, Nearly three-quarter of all federal 
blue-collar jobs held by Mexican-Americans paid less than $6,500, 
ae half the white collar jobs held by them paid not more than 
6,200, 

si toes, 



which emphasize vocational curricula is widespread. Possibi- 
lities of desegregation are not utilized. For example, in 
the Olmost Park area of San Antonio, there are two elementary 
schools within four blocks. One is virtually 100% Anglo and 
the second virtually 100% Mexican-American. No effort has been 
made to integrate these or many other schools. The charge is 
made that segregation is buttressed in Texas by discretionary 
enrollment plans which are used to permit Anglo children living 
in predominantly Mexican-American school districts to transfer 
to Anglo schools while authorities deny such transfers to Mexi- 
can-American children. Officals in one south Texas school 
district agreed to discontinue this practice after an investi- 
gation by the U.S. Department of Education. 

Segregation also exists within schools and classes. 
An extreme example is a school district in California where 
Mexican-American children are a minority but where 75% of the 
children in the mentally retarded classes are Mexican-American. 
They are put there by intelligence and aptitude tests which, it 
is said, fail to take into account their different language and 
culture.* In California as a whole, Mexican-American children 
comprise 8 to 10% of the school population, but more than 25% 
of the children in the "special education" (mentally retarded) 

classes. 

The fruit of secondary education is higher education, 
and in higher education Mexican-Americans are virtually unrepre- 
sented. A survey conducted at the University of California's 
Berkley Campus revealed that there were 231 Negroes and 76 
Mexican-Americans in tle student body of 26,083. At the Los 
Angeles campus there were 70 Mexican-Americans in an enrollment 

of 26,000. 

With few exceptions, the Mexican-American community had 
not taken legal action to eliminate segregated schools or 
segregation within schools, Lack of money and expertise are 
the chief reasons for the absence of such efforts. One of the 
few suits now pending, in Corpus Christi, Texas, challenges 
segregation of Mexican-Americans in separate classes. Since 
the parents of the children are without funds, the attorney 
handling the case does not expect to be paid a fee. 

* An example of such a test question is the following: If you 
were sent to the store to buy bread and the store didn't have 
any bread what would you do? The question is unfair because 
Mexican-American children are not usually sent to stores to buy 
bread. They eat tortillas baked at home. The response of a 
Mexican-American girl, "I would bake tortillas", was not credited 
because it was not within the programmed list of responses. 



Of course, litigation alone cannot solve all educational 
problems and erase all educational inequities suffered by 
Mexican-Americans, But a program of legal action determinedly 
pursued in a systematic way will do much to eliminate the grosser 
forms of discrimination and will serve as a rallying point for 
more general community action to improve education. 

Administration of Justice 

Investigators from the Civil Rights Commission conclude 
that there is serious discrimination against Mexican-Americans in 
the administration of justice. The results of our independent 
survey confirm this conclusion. Three problems are mentioned 
repeatedly: (1) police brutality, (2) illegal arrest, and (3) ex- 
clusion from juries. Although these problems are of major 
concern to the Mexican-American community they have not been 
subjected to concerted legal attack. 

Charges of police brutality are too numerous to catalogue. 
Every Mexican-American atiprney interviewed named police brutality 
as a major issue for Mexican-Americans in his area. Cases of 
death of Mexican-American boys while in custody of the police are 
reported from California, Colorado, and Texas. In only a few 
instances have suits been brought against the police. 

Complaints of illegal arrest were received in every 
city investigated. In Los Angeles, investigators report, police 
use "dragnet" arrest techniques to take into custody everyone 
at or near the scene of a crime. In New Mexico, attorneys re- 
port that police enter the houses of suspects and make arrests 
for petty offenses without warrants and late at night. Simi- 
lar practices are alleged to exist in the smaller Texas towns. 

Throughout the Southwest, Mexican-Americans appear on 
juries at most in token numbers. In Texas, the "key man" 
system is used, that is, the jury commissioners ask persons well 
known in the community, almost invariably Anglos, to obtain 
names for the jury panel. This method results in only token 
numbers of Mexican-Americans being called for jury service. 
For example, in Atascose County, Texas, for the week beginning 
July 11, 1966, there were 48 names on the petit jury panel drawn 
by the jury commissioner. Of these only 2 were Mexican-Americans, 
one of whom was deceased. Atascosa County is 60% Mexican- 
American. This extreme disproportion is said to be typical, 
but little effort has been made to correct such situations. 
While there have been more than a dozen cases involving jury 
discrimination against Negroes to reach the United States Su- 
preme Court, there has been only one such case involving 
Mexican-Americans, 

nce 



The Right to Peaceful Protest 

In the past there have been few attempts by Mexican- 
Americans to exercise rights of public protest. This situation 
appears to be changing and demonstrations are likely to become 
more common, 

Recent dramatic events indicate that these activities, 
protected in theory by the First Amendment, are not always 
secure in fact and violence may result from their suppression. 

In northern New Mexico, where Mexican-Americans have 
for years disputed the ownership of land on the basis of land 
grants from Spain, an organization known as Alianza was formed 
to press Mexican-American claims, A rally of the organization 
was scheduled to be held in the countryside. The district 
attorney of Rio Arriba County warned Mexican-American leaders 
that the meeting would not be tolerated. As Mexican-Americans 
gathered, he arrested them on a variety of minor charges (in- 
cluding mistreatment of animals) and had them held incommuni- 
eado for several days before dismissing the cherges. 

In reprisal for these arrests, a Mexican-American group 
led by Reies Tijerina attempted a citizen's arrest of the district 
attorney. In the ensuing melee about the courthouse, the at- 
tackers shot and killed two officers. These events have 
further embittered relations between the Anglo and Mexican- 
American communities in northern New Mexico, 

In the Starr Valiey in southern Texas where agricultural 
workers organized by the AFL-CIO struck for higher wages, the 
workers charged that Texas Rangers attacked strikers. A Senate 
investigating sub-committee holding hearings in Rio Grande City 
received complaints of Ranger violence and conciuded that excessive 
force kad be2n used. The National Council of Churches and the 
AFL-CIC have supperted lawsuits to enjoin the Rangers from 
interfering with the strikers and to declare unconstitutional 
a Texas statute which stringently limits the right to picket. 
It is a reflection of their lack of legal resources that no 
Mexican-American attorney or group has been involved in these 
cases. 

These everits, and others, indicate that Mexican-Ameri- 
can protest is beginning to grow. The Fund will help to 
channel the protest energy constructively into legal channels. 
Hopefully, the work of the Fund wil” demonstrate that law, not 
illegal conduct, can bi results. 

Inmigration and Naturalization 

Most Mexican-Americans living in the Southwest today 
are American citizens by birth. But a very large percentage are 
naturalized citizens. More than half a million Spanish surname 
persons living in the Southwest are legally resident aliens and 

ae) ars 



an undetermined number (said to be less than 100,000) have 
entered or remain here illegally. Many Mexican-Americans 
have relatives or friends who are awaiting entry into the 
United States. 

Immigration and naturalization problems are pervasive 
in Mexican-American communities, particularly in southern 
California and south Texas. Fear of irregular status, or the 
desire to avoid any action which would jeopardize the entry of 
relatives is said to chill civic activities on the part of 
Mexican-Americans, Lawyers report they frequently handle 
eases involving immigration and naturalization problems and 
that many Mexican-Americans need legal assistance with such 
problems but are either ignorant of their rights or are un- 
able to pay fees. 

Not every immigration case is a civil rights matter. 
Certain cases, however, raise issues of general importance 
concerning the procedures or policies of the Immigration and 
Naturalization Service or involve points of law affecting large 
numbers of Mexican-Americans. Such cases would be appropriate 
for the Fund. The problem here is not of need, but of choice. 

Voting 

Mexican-Americans have encountered obstacles to 
registration and voting such as some restrictive legislation, 
intimidation and gerrymandering of electoral districts, which 
they believe are the results of discrimination, 

In Texas, the Registration Act of 1966 (enacted simul- 
taneously with the repeal of the poll tax) limits time for 
registration to approximately four months during the winter 
and requires annual registration. Mexican-Americans believe 
this law was passed to replace the poll tax as a barrier to 
their registration, The Texas Advisory Committee to the U.S. 
Civil Rights Commission studied the law and recently recommended 
that the Commission and the Department of Justice review the 
Texas Act to "determine if the Act violates the civil rights 
of citizens or if it presents a serious obstacle to increased 
registration.” 

Mexican-Americans in Texas also report intimidating 
conduct by officials in comnection with voting. In the last 
general election in San Antonio, for instance, Texas Rangers 
appeared at polling places in Mexican-American districts and used 
cameras, apparently taking pictures of the voters. They did not 



appear at Anglo polling stations. 

In Los Angeles where there are about one million 
Mexican-Americans, not a single Mexican-American is on the City 
Council, in the State Assembly or in the State Senate. There is 
one in Congress. Although there are many fewer Negroes than 
Mexican-Americans in Los Angeles, Negroes hold offices on all 
government levels. Mexican-Americans attribute their lack of 
representation to the division of East Los Angeles into four 
electoral districts. Although Mexican-Americans predominate in 
East Los Angeles, they are a minority in all four districts. 
No legal action has been brought to test the gerrymander claim, 

Other Problems 

In addition to these major civil rights concerns, the 
Fund will also be prepared to deal with other civil rights problems 
affecting the Mexican-American commmity. An issue frequently 
mentioned is consumer fraud. This is a special problem for 
Mexican-Americans because they frequently do not understand the 
contracts they sign and are later embarrassed to admit that a 
fraud has been perpetrated. Fraudulent sales of automobiles, 
insurance and pre-fabricated homes are the subject of repeated 
complaints. In addition, Mexican-American families, because of 
their interest in their children's education, frequently commit 
themselves to buy books and magazines which never appear. 
Judgments are then obtained against them because they default 
in appearing for court proceedings. 

Attention is beginning to focus on problems relating 
to the employment and welfare of Mexican-American migratory 
workers, but little has been done so far to serve the needs 
of migratory worker settlements, principally in Texas, during 
the annual periods of unemployment. 

But this group is a minority. Contrary to popular 
impression, most Mexican-Americans live in segregated urban 
ghetto slums known as "barrios", The problems of the barrio - 
deficiencies in public services, problems of public welfare, 
housing and others ~ are similar to those of the Negro ghetto. 



LEGAL RESOURCES 

A fundamental theme repeated in Mexican-American 
communities throughout the Southwest is that there are not enough 
Mexican-American lawyers to service their communities, that their 
clients do not have the resources to pay even modest fees, and 
that the attorneys have virtually no experience in handling 
federal constitutional and statutory problems arising in civil 
rights cases. 

Number _of Mexican-American Lawyers 

According to the last census, only 2.1% of the lawyers 
in the Southwest in 1959 had Spanish surnames (i.e., were Mexican- 
Americans). This was a far smaller proportion than the 10% pro- 
portion of Mexican-Americans in the general population, This 
disproportion supports the claim of Mexican-American leaders that 
in many areas there is a shortage of Mexican-American lawyers. 

The statistics by state are as follows: 

Table I - 1960 Census Data 

Mexican-American Lawyers and Judges in the Southwest 

States Number of M-A Number of M-A's Number of M-A per 
Lawyers & Judges Lawyer (Approx.) 

Arizona 16 194,000 12,100 

California 329 1,453,000 4,400 

Colorado 26 157,000 6,000 

New Mexico 63 269,000 4,200 

Texas 211 1,448,000 6,800 

Statewide figures do nottell the full story, In Texas, 
for example, most Mexican-American lawyers are concentrated in a 
few large cities with the result that many Mexican-American 



communities in the smaller towns are, for practical purposes, 
without lawyers. The distribution of Mexican-American lawyers 
in selected Texas cities is as follows: 

TABLE II - Current Estimate 

Mexican-American Lawyers in Texas 

Community Number of Mexican- 
American Lawyers * 

San Antonio $5 

Laredo 20 

Rio Grande Valley 20 

El Paso 20 

Corpus Christie 10 

Houston 10 

Dallas 4 

Alice-Kingsville 5 

Fort Worth z 

Lubbock 1 

St. Angelo a 

Eagle Pass 1 

The Practice of Mexican-American Lawyers 

Almost all Mexican-American lawyers practice by them- 
selves or in loose associations (not firms) with other lawyers. 
As a rule, they do not employ younger assistants, Their practice 
depends for the most part on a large volume of divorce, negli- 
gence, immigration, and criminal cases involving Mexican- 
Americans. They do not have retainers from significant business 
corporations. Their income reflects the poverty of the Mexican- 
American community. In 1959, the median earnings of Mexican- 
American lawyers in Texas was $7,405 while that of all lawyers 
in Texas was $9,734, 

* Estimates made by a group of San Antonio Mexican-American 
lawyers. 

- 10 - 



The continuous demands of a large volume of cases and the 
low income of most Mexican-American lawyers make it impossible 
for them to conate the professional time necessary for difficult 
civil rights cases, Nor does the Mexican-American community 
have funds to pay even modest counsel fees for these cases, An 
illustration is the above mentioned case involving Reies 
Tijerina. Despite widespread sympathy for his cause among 
Mexican-Americans in New Mexico and Colorado, no money was 
available for his defense, Attorneys were appointed by the 
Court. 

Mexican-American lawyers have had virtually no experience 
in civil rights litigation. This is a significant problem. 
Over the past decade, civil rights law has become steadily more 
complex; it is now a recognized speciality within the law. Most 
Mexican-American lawyers interviewed in the preparation of this 
proposal had neither handied a case in federal court nor litiga- 
ted a federal constitutional claim. Of the seventy-five Mexican- 
American lawyers in Los Angeles, for example, only one has a 
reputation for handling civil rights matters. Not one lawyer 
had_a library with both federal laws and the report of federal 
cases. 

Mexican-Americans are agreed that Anglo lawyers cannot 
fill their needs. Many Mexican-Americans are deficient in 
English and are unable to communicate with an Anglo lawyer. 
This no doubt contributes to the widespread suspicion in which 
Anglo lawyers are held by Mexican-Americans. Moreover, Mexican- 
Americans claim that in some communities Anglo lawyers are afraid 
to take their cases because of the possibility of an adverse 
effect on their practice in the Anglo community. For these 
reasons, Mexican-American leaders are agreed that a civil rights 
litigation program for Mexican-Americans can best be carried 
out by Mexican-American lawyers or by an organization in which 
they predominate. 

THE PROPOSED FUND AND THE 
MEXICAN-AMERICAN COMMUNITY 

The Community at Large 

Mexican-Americans do not have a tradition of resorting to 
law in matters of social concern. Their tendericy is to regard 
any leg2i involvement as a misfortune, Attorneys report many 
cases of gross abuse of Mexican-Americans by officials in which 
the angry and resentful victim is ignorant of his rights and 
wants only to have the matter quieted, The Fund will not only 
serve the immediate purpose of advancing civil rights; it will 
also help the community to understand that its grievances can 
find solution within the law, Mexican-American leaders believe 
that community education should receive high priority in the 
program of the Fund, 

eek ies 



In addition, the effectiveness of community action to 
improve the situation of Mexican-Americans has been hampered 
by the many divisions within the conmunity. Mexican-American 
leaders believe that unifying forces are important if progress 
is to be made, and that a legal defense fund with broad repre- 
sentation would be a force for promoting a larger sense of 
community responsibility. 

Mexican-American Lawyers 

The establishment of the Fund will have a significant and 
beneficial effect upon Mexican-American lawyers as a class. The 
Fund will develop the natural potential of lawyers for community 
leadership by making it possible for them to handle cases involving 
important social concerns. Moreover, the Fund will encourage 
idealistic young Mexican-Americans to become lawyers by providing 
an opportunity for them to work for the community while developing 
themselves professionally. At the present time a Mexican-American 
graduating from law school who wishes to remain in Texas, for 
example, must either obtain a government prosecutor's job in which 
he will be involved in prosecuting principally Mexican-Americans 
or go into practice for himself, thereby missing the essential 
apprenticeship required for the development of legal skills. 
Generally speaking, Anglo firms do not take Mexican-American law 
school graduates and, as previously stated, more experienced 
Mexican-American lawyers do not hire young assistants, The Fund 
will provide staff positions for young attorneys. By its support, 
it will also enable corresponding attorneys to hire young men to 
work on Fund cases. 

-12- 



STRUCTURE OF THE MEXICAN-AMERICAN LEGAL DEFENSE FUND 

The Mexican-American Legal Defense Fund will be 
patterned after the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund. 

The Fund Office and Staff Attorneys 

A Fund office will be established in the Southwest. 
We believe that the minimum legal staff should include a Director- 
Counsel and four staff attorneys. The staff will tave some 
expertise in civil rights litigation. The office will have 
research facilities including a library. Staff attorneys will 
be prepared to work with the Fund's corresponding attorneys. 

Corresponding Attorneys 

The Fund will have relationships with corresponding 
attorneys throughout the Southwest. These relationships may 
later be expanded to other areas such as Chicago where there are 
concentrations of Mexican-Americans. Typically, corresponding 
attorneys will bring cases to the attention of Fund attorneys, 
although it may be the other way around, If the Fund staff 
believes the case meritorious, it will support the corresponding 
attorney. The nature of this support will depend on the case 
and the attorneys involved, Where the local attorney is 
completely unfamiliar with the type of litigation involved, Fund 
attorneys will play a major role in preparing the case for trial 
or appeal. As corresponding attorneys gain experience, the Fund 
will become less involved in details of the cases. 

Where the client of the corresponding attorney is 
unebleto pay fees, the Fund will pay the corresponding attorney 

a fee, 

Educational Program of the Fund 

The Fund will have a division of legal information which 
will provide the Mexican-American community with information 
concerning their civil rights. Representatives of the Fund will 
sponsor and participate in educational programs for Mexican- 
American groups, and the Fund will arrange for the preparation 
and circulation of legal information pamphlets in Spanish. 

Fund attorneys and experts from the academic community 
will hold conferences with corresponding attorneys for the 
purpose of furthering their education in civil rights law. In 
connection with these conferences, the Fund will arrange for 
the preparation of handbooks on law to be used by corresponding 
attorneys. 

sages 



The NAACP Legal Defense Fund has found these approaches 
to be extremely successful in commmity education and in the 
education of corresponding attorneys, The formal educational 
program has been advanced through a series of regional conferences 
attended by local attorneys. Mexican-American attorneys have 
been invited and participated enthusiastically in several of 
these conferences. 

THE FUND AND OTHER GROUPS 

The proposed Fund will perform services not being per- 
formed by other groups and will complement services now 
being offered by other groups. 

The Fund and the NAACP Legal Defense Fund 

The experience of the NAACP Legal Defense Fund in civil 
rights litigation is unparalleled. It is prepared to make its 
expertise generously available to the Mexican-American Fund, to 
assist the Mexican-American Fund in a program of conferences 
(perhaps holding joint conferences), and to assist in the prepara- 
tion and use of educational materials. It is hoped that this 
cooperation between the two groups will be the seed for more 
general cooperative efforts between the barrio and the ghetto. 
In any event, the Mexican-American Fund will benefit greatly 
from its contact with the NAACP Legal Defense Fund. 

The Fund and NORI 

Some Fund cases will involve problems of poverty. In 
such cases, NORI assistance may be available in connection with 
appeals, The work of the two groups will thus be to a certain 
extent complementary, The Fund will handle cases "on the line", 
while NORI will set on an appellate and review level. 

The Fund and The Ford Foundation Program 
for Developing Mexican-American Lawyers 

The practice of law, which to many Mexican-Americans 
must seem synonymous with domestic relations or negligence, 
has succeeded in attracting only a few Mexican-Americans 
interested in political or social leadership. In an effort 
to stimulate more Mexican-Americans to enter law, the Ford 
Foundation recently made a grant to the University of Denver 
to provide funds to send young Mexican-Americans through law 
school, The Fund will also stimulate Mexican-Americans to 
choose law as a profession by providing jobs for young attorneys 
in the Fund's office, but more significantly by demonstrating 

-l- 



that law can be used to advance social concerns of the Mexican- 
American community. 

PERSONNEL AND PROPOSED BUDGET 

A Texas corporation has already been formed and a 
tex-exemption granted, The following are the proposed principal 
officers and the directors. Their names were selected after 
extensive discussions with leaders in the Mexican-American 
community in the Southwest. While we do not as yet have firm 
commitments from all the persons named, we believe that most, 
if not all of them are prepared to serve. 

Officers 

President: Carlos C. Cadena, Associate Justice, 
Court of Civil Appeals, San Antonio, 
Texas 

Director-Counsel: Lorenzo Tapia, Albuquerque, New Mexico 
(Tentative) * 

Secretary: 

Treasurer: 

Board of Directors 

Robert Ornelas 
National President 
League of United Latin American Citizens 
Houston, Texas 

Albert A, Pena, Jr. 
County Commissioner-Benar County 
San Antonio, Texas 

Carlos C, Cadena 
Associate Justice 
Court of Civil Appeals 
San Antonio, Texas 

* Lorenzo Tapia is a practicing attorney in Albuquerque, New 
Mexico, After completing a tour of duty as an officer in the 
United States Army, he attended New Mexico Highlands University, 
graduating in 1957. In 1959 he became administrative and 
legislative assistant to U.S. Senator Dennis Chavez. While 
thus employed, he attended Washington College Law School at 
the American University. He began private practice in the 
office of an attorney in Santa Fe, New Mexico, and opened his 
own office in Albuquerque in 1963, He has an extensive criminal 
trial practice and was appointed by the Court as one of two Mexican- 
American attorneys to defend Reies Tijerina, 

SS 



Dr. Fred Cohen 
Professor of Law 
University of Texas 
School of Law 
Austin, Texas 

Jack Greenberg 
Director-Counsel 
NAACP Legal Defense Fund 
New York, New York 

Pete Tijerina 
Attorney 
San Antonio, Texas 

Raymond Cardenas 
Former President 
Mexican-American Lawyers Club 
Attorney 
Los Angeles, Calif. 

Leopoldo Sanchez 
Judge 
Superior Court 
Los Angeles, Calif, 

Herman Sillas 
Attorney 
Los Angeles, Calif, 

Ken Martyn 
Vice-President 
California State College 
Los Angeles, Calif. 

Dr. Julian Nava 
Member, Board of Education 
Los Angeles, Calif. 

Louis Tellez 
President 
G. I, Forum 
Albuquerque, New Mexico 

John W, Reed 
Dean 
University of Colorado School of Law 
Boulder, Colorado 

- 16 - 



Richard J, Trujillo 
Attorney 
Phoenix, Arizona 

Julian Samora 
Chairman, Department of Sociology 
Notre Dame University 
South Bend, Indiana 

Bert Corona 
President 
Mexican-American Political Association (MAPA) 
Oakland, Calif, 

Hermann Gallagos 
Director 
Spanish-Speaking Council 
Archdiocese, San Francisco 
San Francisco, Calif, 

Cruz Reynosa 
Associate General Counsel, 
Equal Employment Opportunity Commission 
Chairman, California Rural Legal Assistance 

Louis Garcia 
Attorney, San Francisco, Calif.; 
former member, California FEP 

Henry Rodriquez 
Attorney, Oakland, Calif,; 
former member, California FEP 

Staff Attorneys 

An office of five attorneys will be established in San 
Antonio, Texas. The staff will consist of a Director-Counsel 
who will be responsible for the day-to-day operation of the Fund 
and, initially, four staff attorneys. The office will have 
secretarial and clerical assistance, a combination office manager 
and bookkeeper, and a law library. 

This is the only office contemplated for the Fund. The 
Fund's activities will be channeled through the offices of 
corresponding attorneys. It may develop that branch offices 
will be needed in certain areas if corresponding attorneys are 
not available. 

Ae Goes 



Division of Legal Information 

This office within the Fund will be staffed by two non- 
lawyers who will be responsible for the educational program of 
the Fund, 

Consulting Services 

The Fund will make use of services of experts in 
specialized legal matters, including lew school faculty members, 
as well as practicing attorneys. In addition, the Fund will make 
use of law students, particularly during the summer, for research. 

ESTIMATED BUDGET PER YEAR* 

We believe that the Fund will need support for the first 
five years, The amounts requested are as follows: 

ist year $ 225,000 

2nd year 250,000 

3rd year 275,000 

4th year 300,000 

Sth year 300,000 

$1,350,000 

Beginning in the third year we anticipate that the 
financial needs cf the Fund will be in excess of the amounts 
listed and that contributions will make up the difference. 

The following is a breakdown of estimated expenses 
for the first year. Increases will be registered in all items 
as the Fund program gains momentum. 

*The figures cited are subject to some changes and modification 
each year (in addition to the general increases referred to) 
as different portions of the program require more or less funds. 

Seige = 



Personnel 

Director-Counsel $ 18,000 

Four attorneys 
(sliding scale from $6,000 to 
$12,000 per year, average 
$9,000) 36,000 

Division of Legal Information 
(2 non-lawyers) 18,000 

Secretarial Staff 
our secretaries, one office 
manager, one switchboard operator- 
receptionist, one utility clerk.) 34,000 

Fringe Benefits 
(Hospitalization, etc.) 15,000 

Legal Consultants, non-staff 
specialists 10,000 

Law Students 
(part-time and summer employees) 6,000 

Sub-total: $137,000 

Office Expenses 

Rent $ 9,000 

Telephone, Telegraph 8,000 

Office Supplies 3,000 

Office Equipment 10,000 

Library (initial)* 000 7 
Sub-total 537,000 

Lawyers’ Training Conferences 

One conference the first year, 
50 lawyers $ 25,000 

* The expense of maintaining an adequate law library is estimated 
at about $500.00 per year, 

-19 - 



Other 

Staff Travel 

Miscellaneous and Contingencies 

Sub-total 

Grand Total 

- 20 = 

$ 20,000 

6,000 

5 51,000 

$ 225,000