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Reynoso Honored at School of Law Event as Humanitarian, Leader

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School of Law panel
嘿嘿视频 School of Law Professor Raquel Aldana, right, moderates a panel discussion on the Civil Rights Legacy of Justice Cruz Reynoso at the School of Law Oct. 21. She is joined in the in-person discussion by Amagda P茅rez, 嘿嘿视频 lecturer, and Thomas Saenz, of the Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund. About 200 people attended in-person and via Zoom. (Jose Alfonso Perez/嘿嘿视频)

The School of Law held a symposium Oct. 21 to honor Justice Cruz Reynoso's civil rights legacy. But Reynoso, who died last May at age 90, was remembered even more for the person he was.

Reynoso speaks in 2012.
Reynoso speaks to an audience in 2012 at 嘿嘿视频. (Gregory Urquiaga/嘿嘿视频)

His was a life well accomplished: first Latino member of the California Supreme Court, recipient of the Presidential Medal of Freedom, longtime director of California Rural Legal Assistance and law professor at UCLA and 嘿嘿视频. He advised multiple student groups. He was a graduate of the UC Berkeley School of Law. He helped immigrants get citizenship. He had a bar association named for him. He spent a lifetime righting wrongs.

But all agreed, whether he was your colleague, your professor, your mentor or even your idol, he 鈥渨as just a really nice person.鈥

鈥淗e cared about humanity,鈥 said 闯辞蝉茅 Padilla, chief executive officer of California Rural Legal Assistance, commenting via Zoom while watching the in-person panel discussion at the law school. The CRLA is a nonprofit legal service and advocacy organization that champions the rights of California鈥檚 rural poor.

鈥淗e always treated you as if you were the most important person in the room,鈥 added Padilla, explaining that farmworkers and judges were treated equally by Reynoso.

鈥淗e was a religious and moral man. He did not drink. He did not smoke. He did not dance. He did not swear.鈥

Len Reid-Reynoso, man in suit in front of paneling
Len ReidReynoso (Jose Alfonso Perez/嘿嘿视频)

And in a life where there were many successes, but some disappointments 鈥 such as being historically removed from the Supreme Court with two other justices in 1986, by statewide vote 鈥 he took it in stride. He would shrug his shoulders and say, according to School of Law Dean Kevin Johnson: 鈥淭hat is just politics.鈥

The panel of community activists, law faculty and an audience of about 90 people in-person and more than 100 on Zoom shared stories of meeting Reynoso, of working for him and of being his student.

Born into a farmworker family in Southern California, Reynoso dedicated his life to fighting the injustices he experienced as a Latino by working in public service, and advocating for workers, immigrants and the indigent for five decades.

Amagda P茅rez, a panel speaker, and a law school class of 鈥91 graduate, talked about getting to know Reynoso as a law student, and later working with him after law school. She is co-director of the 嘿嘿视频 School of Law Immigration Law Clinic and executive director of the CRLA Foundation. She said that throughout his life Reynoso exemplified the Spanish word 鈥渃aballero,鈥 or gentleman, and was a defender of justice.

Reynoso鈥檚 son, Len ReidReynoso, a law school alumnus and Northern California attorney, spoke from the audience that he wanted to share, as well, that education 鈥 from kindergarten through college 鈥 was always important to both his parents, who raised four children. 鈥淭hey felt it was important for everyone to be educated,鈥 he said, adding that his parents used to fund an award for the eighth-grade student with the best score on the Constitution test in their community.

A transcript of the panel discussion will be published in the 嘿嘿视频 Social Justice Law Review.

For more event information go here

A short biography paying tribute to his life written by Johnson in a California history journal can be found . Here is a short story paying tribute to his life by 嘿嘿视频 and one by his law school alma mater, UC Berkeley,

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