This timeline was created in association with the Los Angeles Superior Court Latino Judicial Officers Association (Judges Maria R. Byrum, Annabelle Cortez, Miguel Espinoza, Benjamin P. Hernandez-Stern, Roberto Longoria, Serena Murillo, Maria Puente-Porras, and Alex Ricciardulli, and Commissioner Dennis F. Hernandez).
California Supreme Court holds that people from Mexico living in California when it became part of the U.S. (including Mr. Pablo de la Guerra) can become U.S. citizens.
The Sleepy Lagoon murder trial revealed racial prejudices against Latino youth in World War II-era America.
Before the landmark Brown v. Board of Education decision in the U.S. Supreme Court, a federal appeals court ruled against schools that discriminated against Mexican-Americans.
Carlos Mendoza Teran was the first Mexican-American judge appointed to a court in California.
The California Supreme Court ruled that agricultural workers in the state (who were mostly Mexican) could legally boycott and picket as part of their First Amendment rights. This ruling led to further organizing by farmworkers to secure better working conditions, higher wages, and the right to unionize.
Cruz Reynoso was the first Latino Associate Justice of the California Supreme Court, serving from 1982 to 1987. He previously served in the California Court of Appeal, Third Appellate District, and was also the first Latino to serve in a California appellate court.
From the Los Angeles Times: "On Jan. 25, 1978, Gov. Jerry Brown appointed [Muñoz] as a trial judge in the Harbor Judicial District in Newport Beach, a first for a Latina in California and perhaps the nation."
Patricia Guerrero is currently serving as the 29th Chief Justice of California and is the first Latina to serve in the role and on the bench of the California Supreme Court.
