Cruz & Jeannene Reynoso

What I Learned from Mom and Dad

When my parents celebrated their 50th anniversary, we held an event for them at our small country church. As part of that celebration, I wrote the statement below. I was asked to write a little something about what I had learned from my parents. 

What I learned from Mom and Dad:

From Mom, I learned as long as I stay with the Bible I will be okay. Everything of eternal importance is there. If nothing else, we can count on God’s love and the truth of his Word.

From Dad, I learned to follow my passion. Our world is so much about comfort but Dad lives his passion.

From both Mom and Dad, I learned that if you have anything to share you have enough to share and it is my responsibility to share it.

From Mom, I learned to share my time. She always has the time to help and for me there have been times when all I had to offer was my time.

From Mom, I learned that guests need food.

From Mom, I learned that Children are a blessing.

From Dad, I learned to do right despite the consequences.

From Dad, I learned that might does not make right. In fact, sometimes might forgets all about the concept or right.

Form Mom, I learned to brush my teeth. My teeth thank her.

From Dad, I learned that there is more to look forward to in life than retirement.

From Dad, I learned to question. There are often different ways of looking at things and the other way usually is not as stupid as we think it is. If what we believe is true, it can handle the questions.

To Mom’s chagrin, I learned from Dad that they make scooters that can go on the freeway and get great gas mileage.

From Mom, I learned about every person she has ever known who has been hurt on a motorcycle. Now, I have to be careful or she will think that I wasn’t listening.

Finally and maybe most importantly from Mom I learned that you never say “for you and I.”

Essays, on this site, about Cruz and Jeannene

• Cruz Reynoso’s View from the Bench: Drawings in the Context of Chicano Art
• In Memory of Mom
• Missing Mom
• Cruz Reynoso: An Obituary
• A Father’s and Mother’s Legacy

Pieces on other sites

• When social justice meets Confederate legacy, in one family (The Tennessean) One side of my family owned slaves. Another side fought for the rights of Mexican immigrants. And the story is still going on.
• Column: History pegs Cruz Reynoso as a defeated judge. Let's remember him as a fighter. (Los Angeles Times) A piece on the legacy of Cruz Reynoso.

Videos featuring Cruz Reynoso

Articles by Cruz Reynoso

Articles about Cruz Reynoso

RESUME for CRUZ REYNOSO

Personal:
Born May 2, 1931 in Brea, California

Education:

National University of Mexico, Mexico City; 1958-1959
       Ford Foun­dation Fello­wship for special study in Constitutional Law 
University of California School of Law, Berkeley; LL.B., 1958
George Washington University, Washington, D.C.; 1954-1955 
       Postgraduate course work in Economics and U.S. History
Pomona College, Claremont, CA; A.B., 1953
Fullerton College (formerly Fullerton Junior College), Fullerton, CA; A.A., 1951

Military Service:

U.S.   Army; 1953-55
       Graduated from Counter Intelligence School, Ft. Holabird, Maryland; 
       Special Agent, Counter Intelligence Corps, Washington, D.C.

Professional:

2007-2021  Professor of Law Emeritus, UC Davis School of Law, Davis California
2002-2018       Special Counsel, Law Offices of Len ReidReynoso, Galt, CA
2006-2012       Garment Oversite Board, Garment Workers Trust Fund, Saipan
2001-2006       Boochever and Bird Endowed Chair for the Study and Teaching of Freedom and Equality, Professor of Law, UC Davis School of Law, Davis CA
1991-2001       Professor of Law, UCLA School of Law, Los Angeles, CA
1988-2002       Special Counsel, Kaye, Scholer, Fierman, Hays & Handler, Los Angeles & New York
1987-1988       Of Counsel, O'Donnel & Gordon, Los Angeles, CA
1982-1987       Associate Justice, California Supreme Court, San Francisco, CA
1976-1982       Associate Justice, Third District Court of Appeal, Sacramento, CA
1972-1976       Professor of Law, University of New Mexico, School of Law, Albuquerque, NM
1969-1972       Director, California Rural Legal Assistance, San Francisco, CA
1968-1969       Deputy Director, California Rural Legal Assistance, San Francisco, CA
1967-1968       Associate General Counsel, Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, Washington, D.C.
1966                 Staff Secretary to Governor Edmund G. Brown, Sacramento, CA
1965-1966       Assistant Chief, Division of Fair Employment Practices, Department of Industrial Relations, San Francisco, CA
1959-1968       Private Law Practice (Leave of absence 1965-1968), Last Association: Reynoso & Duddy, El Centro, CA
1959-1960       Legislative Assistant to J. William Beard, State Senator from Imperial County, CA

Honors:

2016       Fighting for Justice Award, Mexican American Law Student Association (MALSA), Albuquerque, NM
2016       Cruz Reynoso Bar Association, name changed from Sacramento La Raza Lawyers, Sacramento, CA
2015       Hall of Champions, Hispanic Association of Colleges & Universities, Washington, D.C.
2013       Hall of Fame, Fullerton College, Fullerton, CA
2012       Honorary Doctor of Law, California State University, Sacramento, Sacramento, CA
2011       Honorary Doctorate of Law, Chapman University, Orange, CA
2011       Lincoln-Juarez Award, Hispanic National Bar Association, Washington, D.C. 
2011       Alice and Clifford Spendlove Prize in Social Justice, Diplomacy and Tolerance, University of California, Merced, Merced, CA
2010      Honorary Doctor of Laws, The University of New Mexico, Albuquerque, NM
2009       Distinguished Scholar, John Marshall Law School, University of Illinois, Chicago, IL
2009       CIty of Chicago Resolution Honoring Cruz Reynoso, Chicago, IL
2009       Bernard E. Witkin Medal, California State Bar, Sacramento, CA
2008       Henderson Center’s Trailblazer for Justice, University of California, Berkeley School of Law, Berkeley, CA
2007       U.C. Davis Medal of Honor, University of California, Davis, Davis, CA
2007       Robert J. Kutak Award, American Bar Association, Chicago, IL
2007       Spirit of Excellence Award, American Bar Association, Chicago, IL
2007       Cruz & Jeannene Reynoso Scholarship for Legal Access (established), University of California Davis School of Law, Davis, CA
2003       The Cruz Reynoso Social Justice and Judicial Externship Fellowship (established), University of California Berkeley School of Law, Berkeley, CA
2002       Distinguished Public Service Award, University of California, Davis, Davis, CA
2000       Hispanic Heritage Foundation Award in Education, Washington, D.C.
2000       Presidential Medal of Freedom, White House, Washington, D.C.
1997       Honorary Doctor of Law, Thomas Jefferson Law School, San Diego, CA
1995       Professor of the Year, UCLA School of Law, Los Angeles, CA
1993       Annually Teaching Award, Society of American Law Teachers, Fort Lauderdale, FL
1991       Honorary Doctor of Law, University of San Diego School of Law, San Diego, CA
1987       Honorary Doctor of Humanities, Pomona College, Claremont, CA
1987       Honorary Doctor of Law, University of West Los Angeles School of Law, Inglewood, CA
1986       Honorary Doctor of Humanities, DePaul University, Chicago, IL
1985       Honorary Juris Doctor, The University of Northern California, Sacramento, CA
1984       Honorary Doctor of Humanities, Lincoln University, Lincoln University, PA
1981       Honorary Doctor of Humanities, University of Santa Clara, Santa Clara, CA
1978       Loren Miller Legal Services Award, State Bar of California

Media:

2010       Cruz Reynoso: Sowing the Seeds of Justice, Dir. Abby Ginzberg, Ginzberg Productions, Berkeley, CA

Academic Publications:

2003       The Lawyer as a Public Citizen, 55 Maine Law Review, 335 (2003)
2002       Diversity in Legal Education: A Broader View, A Deeper Commitment, 52 J. OF LEGAL EDUC. 491 (2002)
2002       Brief Remembrances: My Appointment and Service on the California Court of Appeal and Supreme Court, 1976-1987, 13 BERKELEY LA RAZA L.J. 15 (2002)
2000       "Hispanics and the Criminal Justice System," in An Agenda for the Twenty-First Century: Hispanics in the United States, pp. 277-315 (edited by Pastora San Juan Cafferty and David W. Engstrom, New Brunswick: Transaction Publishers, 2000)
1999       The Role of Assets in Assuring Equity: Altheimer Symposium on Racial Equality in the 21st Century, (Keynote Speaker), 21 University of Arkansas, Little Rock Law Review 743-57 (1999)  
1999        Few Protest Abuse, But Good Policing is a Right of All: Community After Community Tells US that the Police Culture that Accepts Malfeasance Must Change, Los Angeles Times, Metro; Part B; Page 11
1998       The Law and Your Legal Rights: A Bilingual Guide to Everyday Legal Issues, by Jess J. Araujok (1998)
1995       Introduction, 17 Chicano-Latino L. Rev. IX (1995)
1994       Keep Politics Off the Bench: County-Wide Judicial Elections Preserve Independence, (with J. Clark Kelso), Los Angeles Daily J. at 6, col. 3
1994       Introduction, 14 Chicano-Latino L. Rev. 1 (1994)
1994       Unleashing the Health Care Border Guards, 4(5) Journal of American Health Care 22-6 (1994)
1993       Cultural Diversity: Reality and the Ideal, 6 La Raza L. J. 209-20 (1993)
1993       Remembering Cesar Chavez, from the Grassroots Up, 50 National Lawyers Guild Practitioner 97-99 (1993)
1992       Ethnic Diversity: Its Historical and Constitutional Roots, (Gianella Lecture), 37, Villanova Law Review, 821 (1992)
1990       Twenty-Five Years of the Civil Rights Act: History and Promise, 25 Wake Forest L. Rev. 159-95 (1990)
1990       Reviewing The Tempting of America: The Political Seduction of the Law, 10(1) California Lawyer 58-9 (1990) by Robert H. Bork
1988       Educational Equity, 36 UCLA L. Rev. 107-17 (1988)
1983       America's New Immigration Law: Origins, Rationales, and Potential Consequences, 162-6 (edited by Wayne A. Cornelius and Ricardo Anzaldua Montoya, San Diego: Univ. of California Center for U.S.-Mexican Studies, 1983)
1980       Introduction, 26 Wayne L. Rev. 1201-4 (1980). Symposium: Affirmative Action
1979       Opening Address, 22 Howard L. J. 455-62 (1979). CLEO Symposium
1975       The Legal Education of Chicano Students: A Study in Mutual Accommodation and Cultural Conflict, with Leo M. Romero and Richard Delgado), 5 New Mexico L. Rev. 177-231 (1975)
1974       Special Report of the Proceedings of the American Association of Law Schools Section on Minority Groups: Panel Discussion #1 - Beyond Defunis: Testing the Nation's Will, with Derrick A. Bell and Peter J. Liacouris), 4 Black L. J. 457-63 (1974)
1972       California Rural Legal Assistance (CRLA): Survival of a Poverty Law Practice, with Michael Bennett), Chicano L. Rev. 1-79 (1972)
1970       Introduction: La Raza, the Law, and the Law Schools, 2 Univ. of Toledo L. Rev. 809-18 (1970)
1969       Change through the Law: CRLA, 5 Brief/Case 2 (1969)
1969       The Government's Role in Ending Discrimination: Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, in Equal Employment Opportunity, 30-40 (edited by Richard R. MacNaab, Washington, D.C.: Machinery and Allied Products Institute and Council for Technological Advancement, 1969)

Academic Publications about:

2015       Johnson, Kevin. Justice Cruz Reynoso: The People's Justice, Vol. 10, California Legal History 238 (2015)
2012       Roberts, Keith. AN INTERVIEW WITH Justice Cruz Reynoso, The Judges' Journal; Chicago Vol. 51, Iss. 3, (Summer 2012): 4-8

Oral Histories:

2002       Oral history interview with Cruz Reynoso, conducted by Alan Houseman, August 12. 2002. Oral history collection, National Equal Justice Library, Special Collections, Georgetown Law Library
2001       Proctor, Will; Reynoso, Cruz; and University of Pennsylvania Legal Oral History Project, "Interview with Justice Cruz Reynoso" (2001). Legal Oral History Project. 38.

Lectures:

2015       Helen Edison Lecture Series, University of California San Diego, San Diego, CA, April 27, 2015
2015       Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Commemorative Commission's annual Leadership Awards, Knoxville, TN, January 15, 2015
2009       Human and Civil Rights in America: Obama’s Promise, Pacifica Institute, San Francisco, CA, April 21, 2009
2002       The Eleventh Annual Frank M. Coffin Lecture on Law and Public Service, University of Maine School of Law, Portland, ME, October 17, 2002
1988       Democracy and Diversity, Stanford: Stanford Center for Chicano Research (1988). Ernesto Galarza Commemorative Lecture.

Panels:

1990       “Criminal Law and the Play Medea.” Day-long workshop with Clark kelso and others at Galt High School. November 30, 1990.

Professional Service:

1991-2001       Faculty Adviser, Chicano-Latino Law Review, Los Angeles, CA
1992-1996       American Judicature Society: Board of Directors

Public  Service:

2009                 White House Transition Team, Justice and Civil Rights Sub-team
1993-2005       United States Commission on Civil Rights; Vice-Chair, 1994-2005
1993                 City of Pasadena independent Financial and Legal Audit, (with Carolyn H. Carlburg). Pasadena: City of Pasadena (1993). Executive Summary of the Report on the Contractual and Financial Relationships between the City of Pasadena and the Tournament of Roses Association
1988-1990       Commission on the Delivery of Legal Services to the Indigent Accused, State Bar of California
1987-1990       California Post-Secondary Education Commission; Vice-Chair, 1988-1989; Chair, 1989-1990
1984-1987       Commission on the Teaching Profession, Member Appointed by Superintendent of Education
1979-1981       Select Commission on Immigration and Refugee Policy: (established by Congress) Presidential Appointee
1980                 United Nations Commission on Human Rights - U.S. Delegate Presidential Appointee, Session- Geneva, Switzerland
1978-1979       Presidential Committee to Recommend Potential Appointees as Director of Federal Bureau of Investigations
1978-1979       State Commission on Government Reform (Post Commission); Gubernatorial Appointee
1978-1979       Ethics Advisory Board (Department of Health, Education and Welfare)

Community Service:

2017-2018       California Forward: Leadership Council
2015-2016      Independent Police Probe, Racial bias probe into San Francisco Police, San Francisco, CA
2011-2012       U.C. Davis Pepper Spray Commission, Davis, CA
2010-2018       Mario G. Obledo National Coalition of Hispanic Organization: Board of Directors (President 2013)
2009-2013       Independent Civil Rights Commission to Investigate Gutierrez Shooting, Woodland, CA
1990-2018       Children Now: Board of Directors and Leadership Council
1987-2018       Natural Resources Defense Council: Board of Directors and honorary Member of the Board
1991-1992       Council on Foundations: Board of Directors
1987-1989       Latino Issues Forum; Co-Founder & Board of Directors
1977-1993       Rosenberg Foundation: Board of Directors (President, 1989)
1977-1990       The Community Board Program: Board of Directors
1968-2018       Mexican American Legal Defense and Education Fund, Board of Directors

Professional Affiliations:

2005-2018       Sacramento Bar Association
1976-2018       Ca­lifornia Judges' Association 
1973-2018       American Bar Association
                          - Legal Education and Admissions to the Bar; Council Member, 1977-1980
                          - Individual Rights and Responsibilities, Officer and Coun­cil Member, 1973-1983; Chair, 1981-1982
                          - Standing Committee, Committee on Lawyer Referral and Information Service, 1989-1991
1987-2005       Los Angeles Bar Association
1987-2018       Mexican American Bar Association
1977-2018       La Raza Lawyers Association
1972-2018       Hispanic National Bar Association (Formerly La Raza National Lawyers Association)

* This resume and is built off an abbreviated resume which Dad kept and internet research. I am sure there is plenty that belongs on this page that I do not yet know about. With that in mind, if you have content that you think should be added to this page reach out and let me know.