Mendez v. Westminster (Civil Case 4292)
Although many families were affected by the segregation and violation of rights, Gonzalo Mendez took full responsibility for the financial part of the lawsuit which required hiring a lawyer and paying the lost wages of those who testified in court. He hired Attorney David Marcus whom he helped with collecting evidence, interviewing people, and finding data to support his position. Judge Paul J. McCormick presided over the Mendez v. Westminster School District in 1946. He ruled the discrimination of non-white children as unconstitutional. The Westminster school district appealed the case to the U.S. Court of Appeals Ninth Circuit who ruled in favor of the Mendez decision that the segregation of non-white students is illegal and students should not be denied the right for equal education because of language or race. However, the Court of Appeals based the ruling on state law which did not specify the segregation of Mexicans rather than basing the decision on the Fourteenth Ammendment. This ruling allowed the Court of Appeals to dodge the issue of racial discrimination at that moment. |
Petition
|
Gonzalo Mendez Testimony
Mendez v. Westminster [4292]. National Archives.
Court Conclusion
"The equal protection of the laws’ pertaining to the public school system in California is not provided by furnishing in separate schools the same technical facilities, text books and courses of instruction to children of Mexican ancestry that are available to the other public school children regardless of their ancestry"
- Federal District Judge, Paul J. McCormick |
U.S. Court House and Post Office Los Angeles, California
Site of Mendez V. Westminster
Site of Mendez V. Westminster