Cruz Reynoso

Cruz Reynoso has devoted his life to ending discrimination, fighting for immigrant rights, and promoting equal opportunity. The son of farm workers, he was born May 2, 1931, in Brea, California. Growing up, he was confronted with examples of social inequality in his rural community and decided to pursue a legal career.

In 1953, he graduated with a Bachelor of Arts degree from Pomona College, and joined the U.S. Army where he served in the Counterintelligence Corps for two years. After his Army service, Reynoso enrolled in law school at Boalt Hall, receiving his degree in 1958. He was admitted to the California Bar in May, 1959 and began his legal career as a private practitioner in El Centro, California.

From 1960 to 1968, he served in several state government positions, including legislative assistant in the California State Senate, assistant chief of the Fair Employment Practices Commission, and staff secretary for the Governor's Office. In 1967, he went to Washington, D.C. to work for the Equal Employment Opportunities Commission as the associate general counsel. He soon returned to California, however, to head the California Rural Legal Assistance in San Francisco. From 1968 to 1972, Reynoso directed this pioneering program and helped craft the legal services movement which sought to provide access to justice for low-income individuals.

In 1972, after teaching part-time for several years, Reynoso joined the faculty at the University of New Mexico, where he was a professor of law. Four years later, in 1976, he was appointed as an associate justice of the California Court of Appeal. In 1982, Reynoso was the first Latino appointed to the California Supreme Court, where he served with great distinction until his term expired in 1987.

After leaving the California Supreme Court, Reynoso entered private practice of law and served as a private judge. He returned to an academic life when he joined the UCLA law faculty in 1991. As a teacher and scholar, Professor Reynoso continues to serve as an inspiration to his students and the greater community, teaching professional responsibility, remedies, and appellate advocacy at UC Davis School of Law.

Among the state and federal public service positions he has held during his career is his appointment by President Jimmy Carter to the Select Commission on Immigration and Refugee Policy. He is a former chair of the American Bar Association's Individual Rights and Responsibilities Section and has also served as a U.S. delegate to the United Nations Commission on Human Rights and on the California Post Secondary Education Commission. He currently serves as a Vice Chair of the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights.

In August, 2000, Professor Reynoso received the Presidential Medal of Freedom at the White House. Established by President Kennedy in 1963, the Presidential Medal of Freedom is the nation's highest civilian honor. In presenting the award, President William Clinton noted that Professor Reynoso "has been a strong force for change and a passionate voice for our Nation's disadvantaged. Respected for his legal expertise and renowned for his compassion, Cruz Reynoso has earned his place as one of America's most distinguished lawyers, jurists, and social reformers."

(Originally published in 2000)