By American Bar Association
The ABA Hispanic Commission has issued a call to action for legal professionals “to work together to ensure that our country lives up to the ideal of equal opportunity for all.”
The call to action was one of several next steps outlined by the commission during a presentation of findings from “Latinos in the United States: Overcoming Legal Obstacles, Engaging in Civic Life,” during the ABA’s recent annual meeting in Chicago.
The report provides an updated window into the status of Latinos in the United States since 2014, when the original report was released.
The commission also recommended encouraging all attorneys, legal professionals, policymakers and the public to use the report findings “to better understand the unique legal and civic engagement issues affecting the large and growing Hispanic community.” It called on the ABA “to continue to use its platform to address the challenges raised in the report as
well as to help counter the rising tide of anti-Latino sentiment in the U.S.”
“This isn’t a Hispanic problem,” said commission member Jorge Mestre. “This inequality is an American problem. Sometimes as Americans, we think democracy is just like the air we breathe, that it’s a right that we can have forever, no matter what. And that’s not it.
“All these issues that we’ve been talking about today are truly an American problem. And if we don’t solve these issues, how are we going to have the democracy that we all believe in?”
The report also highlights the role of the legal profession in inspiring civic involvement.
“While Hispanics comprise almost 20% of the total U.S. population, they represent only 6% of the legal profession,” the report said. “When the legal profession fails to reflect the people it serves, overall trust in democratic institutions suffers.”
The 121-page report details findings in six critical areas:
• Education – “Latino children often face a segregated educational system where they attend schools with insufficient resources to meet their needs.”
• Labor and employment – “Hispanics experience higher unemployment rates, lower wages, harmful working conditions and persistent workplace discrimination.”
• Health and wellness – “Latinos have limited access to health insurance, which is compounded by language, cultural, technological and other unique barriers to quality and accessible healthcare.”
• Housing and credit – “Hispanics experience disproportionate rates of homelessness, discriminatory lending, neighborhood segregation and unequal housing opportunities.”
• Voting rights – “Latino voters are subjected to suppression and harassment, purged from registration rolls and have their vote diluted by redistricting and gerrymandering efforts.”
• Criminal justice – “Hispanics are unfairly profiled by police, subjected to increased rates of incarceration and routine acts of hate, and forced to pay discriminatory fines and fees in the criminal justice system.”
The commission is chaired by Louis Lopez, vice president of litigation at the AARP Foundation.
(https://www.americanbar.org/news/abanews/aba-news-archives/2024/06)
The ABA Hispanic Commission has issued a call to action for legal professionals “to work together to ensure that our country lives up to the ideal of equal opportunity for all.”
The call to action was one of several next steps outlined by the commission during a presentation of findings from “Latinos in the United States: Overcoming Legal Obstacles, Engaging in Civic Life,” during the ABA’s recent annual meeting in Chicago.
The report provides an updated window into the status of Latinos in the United States since 2014, when the original report was released.
The commission also recommended encouraging all attorneys, legal professionals, policymakers and the public to use the report findings “to better understand the unique legal and civic engagement issues affecting the large and growing Hispanic community.” It called on the ABA “to continue to use its platform to address the challenges raised in the report as
well as to help counter the rising tide of anti-Latino sentiment in the U.S.”
“This isn’t a Hispanic problem,” said commission member Jorge Mestre. “This inequality is an American problem. Sometimes as Americans, we think democracy is just like the air we breathe, that it’s a right that we can have forever, no matter what. And that’s not it.
“All these issues that we’ve been talking about today are truly an American problem. And if we don’t solve these issues, how are we going to have the democracy that we all believe in?”
The report also highlights the role of the legal profession in inspiring civic involvement.
“While Hispanics comprise almost 20% of the total U.S. population, they represent only 6% of the legal profession,” the report said. “When the legal profession fails to reflect the people it serves, overall trust in democratic institutions suffers.”
The 121-page report details findings in six critical areas:
• Education – “Latino children often face a segregated educational system where they attend schools with insufficient resources to meet their needs.”
• Labor and employment – “Hispanics experience higher unemployment rates, lower wages, harmful working conditions and persistent workplace discrimination.”
• Health and wellness – “Latinos have limited access to health insurance, which is compounded by language, cultural, technological and other unique barriers to quality and accessible healthcare.”
• Housing and credit – “Hispanics experience disproportionate rates of homelessness, discriminatory lending, neighborhood segregation and unequal housing opportunities.”
• Voting rights – “Latino voters are subjected to suppression and harassment, purged from registration rolls and have their vote diluted by redistricting and gerrymandering efforts.”
• Criminal justice – “Hispanics are unfairly profiled by police, subjected to increased rates of incarceration and routine acts of hate, and forced to pay discriminatory fines and fees in the criminal justice system.”
The commission is chaired by Louis Lopez, vice president of litigation at the AARP Foundation.
(https://www.americanbar.org/news/abanews/aba-news-archives/2024/06)
