VOLUME 24, ISSUE 1, SPRING 2021
INTERVIEW WITH TOM PEREZ
– Tom Perez1Tom Perez is an accomplished lawyer and leader who spent his entire career in public service. He recently completed a successful tenure as the Chair of the Democratic National Committee, and prior to that, served as the 26th U.S. Secretary of Labor during the second term of the Obama administration. He was a member of President Obama’s economic team, and led efforts to expand opportunity for workers in a variety of settings.
Tom also served as Assistant Attorney General for Civil Rights at the Department of Justice during the first term of the Obama administration. He oversaw the transformation of civil rights enforcement, leading aggressive efforts in police reform and other settings. Prior to his service as Assistant Attorney General, he had numerous positions in federal, state, and local government.
The son of immigrants from the Dominican Republic, Tom grew up in Buffalo, New York, where he learned hard work, integrity, service, and perseverance. He put himself through college earning tuition money on the back of a garbage truck. Tom received a bachelor’s degree from Brown University in 1983. In 1987, he received a master’s of public policy from Harvard University’s John F. Kennedy School of Government, and a law degree from Harvard Law School. He lives in Maryland with his wife, Ann Marie, who is an attorney with the Washington Legal Clinic for the Homeless, and their three children.
BEYOND THE BINARY: DECONSTRUCTING LATINIDAD AND RAMIFICATIONS FOR LATINX CIVIL RIGHTS
– Dianisbeth M. Acquie2 Harvard Law School, J.D., 2020; Harvard College, B.A., 2016. I would like to thank my goddaughter, Sophia, who inspires me to fight for a better tomorrow. Many thanks to Maddie Woodall and her team for their thoughtful edits on this piece.
FROM DIGITAL DISPARITY TO EDUCATIONAL EXCELLENCE: CLOSING THE OPPORTUNITY AND ACHIEVEMENT GAPS FOR LOW-INCOME, BLACK, AND LATINX STUDENTS
– Christopher Cruz3 J.D. Candidate at Harvard Law School, 2022. A.B., Harvard College. The author is a former employee of the Los Angeles Unified School District. Additionally, prior to law school he served as an advisor to the U.S. Department of Education as well as to governors and other state government officials across the nation. His work at the state level focused on the creation of economic initiatives and the design of education and workforce development plans.
A DOMESTIC REIGN OF TERROR: DONALD TRUMP’S FAMILY SEPARATION POLICY
– Ediberto Román4Professor of Law and Director of Immigration Initiatives, Florida International University College of Law, and Visiting Professor, University of Miami School of Law. Thanks goes to Khaled Beydoun, Howard Wasserman, Elvia Rosales Arriola, and the participants of University of Miami Law School’s Distinguished Speaker Series, including Professors Lili Levy, David Abraham, Professor John Neuman, Professor Jessica Owley, Andrew Dawson, Elizabeth Iglesias, Donna Cocker, and Samantha Knights, for their invaluable comments. A special thanks is in order to Professor Michael Olivas for his tough and insightful suggestions and comments. This article reflects the brilliant and useful suggestions of these amazing colleagues, and incredible suggestions, edits, and contributions of my co author and Ernesto Sagás5Professor of Ethnic Studies, Colorado State University.
CAN YOU HEAR ME NOW?: CONTEXTUALIZING MIRANDA RIGHTS FOR LOW ENGLISH PROFICIENT INDIVIDUALS
– Alicia Maria Puñales Morejón 6Alicia Maria Punales Morejon, Esq. graduated William and Mary Law School in 2020. She served as the Executive Editor of Volume 26 of the Journal of Race, Gender, & Social Justice in 2019. Alicia has a B.A., with a double major in Sociology and Ethnicity & Race Studies, from Columbia University in the City of New York. She is a public defender at Brooklyn Defender Services in the Family Defense Practice, where she advocates on behalf of parents in child welfare cases in Brooklyn Family Court, and seeks to protect the right to family integrity of low-income families. This Note would not have been possible without the help, guidance, and support of numerous individuals. She extends her deepest gratitude and thanks to her family for their love and encouragement; to her editors at the Harvard Latinx Law Review for their valuable and insightful feedback; to her Notes Editor, Katherine Lease, for reading every draft, and for believing her Note should be shared with the world; to her fellow Journal members, Kendra Hudson, Alysa Williams, and Layla Abi-Falah, for listening to every thought she had about her Note; and last, but not least, to her ancestors who have paved the way for her to be where she is right now. This Note is dedicated to the 44.7 million immigrants living in the United States who are disproportionately impacted by the criminal justice system due to their lack of English-language proficiency.