Mendez v. Westminster: The Mexican-American Fight for School Integration and Social Equality Pre-Brown v. Board of Education

Partner Eddie Jauregui and Senior Consultant Barbara Martinez authored an article in The Federal Lawyer, a Federal Bar Association publication, telling the story of Mendez v. Westminster. Nearly a decade before the Supreme Court’s decision in Brown v. Board of Education, the Mendezes and other Mexican-American plaintiffs sued four Orange County school districts, arguing that the districts denied them equal protection of the law on the basis of their Mexican heritage in violation of the Fourteenth Amendment of the U.S. Constitution. The case went to trial in the U.S. district court in Los Angeles and, to the surprise of many, the plaintiffs won. This year marks the 75th anniversary of the Mendez trial court victory.

READ: Mendez v. Westminster: The Mexican-American Fight for School Integration and Social Equality Pre-Brown v. Board of Education (See Page 10)