GW Law Celebrates Hispanic Heritage Month

Octaviano Larrazolo was the first ever Hispanic elected to be a U.S. Senator (New Mexico) in 1928. Larrazolo was born in Chihuahua, Mexico, and his political career was built on Hispanic civil rights. He was a member of the Texas State Bar and held many public office positions at the local and state levels before moving on to the Senate. Larrazolo stood against both political parties in defense of Hispanic civil rights, and fought to ratify a New Mexico Constitution that would protect Hispanic-Americans and their voting rights.

A graduate of the University of Texas School of Law (1939), Garza became the first ever Latino federal judge after being appointed by President Carter to the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals in 1979. He was initially asked by President Carter to serve as Attorney General, which would have made him the first Hispanic in that position, but he declined. Before his judicial career began, Garza served in the United States Air Force from 1942 to 1945.

First generation Mexican-American Mario Guerra Obledo is regarded as the "godfather" of the Latino civil rights movement. Obledo was a law graduate of St. Mary's University of San Antonio (1960) and during his lifetime served as president of various organizations, including the National Coalition of Hispanic Organizations and of the League of United Latin American Citizens. His most notable accomplishments were the co-founding of the Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund (MALDEF) and the Hispanic National Bar Association. In 1998, Obledo was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom Award by President Clinton for his remarkable work to advance Latino civil rights and social equity.

Sonia Sotomayor is the first ever Hispanic to serve on the United States Supreme Court (2009). Born in the South Bronx to her two Puerto Rican parents, Sotomayor went on to attend Princeton University as an undergrad, and then obtained her law degree from Yale Law School in 1979. She began her legal career as an assistant district attorney in Manhattan before she went on to private practice, where she quickly climbed the ladder and made partner at her law firm. She was highly recognized for her pro bono work which led to her first judicial appointment by President H.W. Bush in 1992 to the Southern District of New York City. In 1997, she was appointed a federal judgeship to the U.S. Second Circuit Court of Appeals by President Clinton, and then, of course, nominated to the Supreme Court by President Obama in 2009.

In 2017, nearly 90 years after Larrazolo was elected to the U.S. Senate, Catherine Cortez Masto became the first Hispanic woman elected to be a U.S. Senator (Nevada). Before assuming office as a Senator, Masto served as the first female Attorney General for the state of Nevada, where she strongly advocated for the rights of women, children, and seniors. Masto also made sex trafficking a key issue during her time as Nevada's AG, and has taken this work with her to the Senate. She has co-sponsored multiple pieces of legislation related to healthcare, housing, and sex trafficking, continuing to put an emphasis on civil rights and social justice.