IV 

118TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. RES. 1545 

Recognizing October 15, 2024, as the day to honor the diaspora of Hispanic 

culture, and the representation of Hispanics in the legal profession and 

the judiciary. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

OCTOBER 15, 2024 

Mr. SOTO (for himself, Ms. BARRAGA ́N, Ms. CROCKETT, Ms. KUSTER, Mr. 

VARGAS, Mr. COSTA, Mr. CORREA, Ms. SALINAS, Ms. ESCOBAR, Mr. 

ESPAILLAT, Ms. GARCIA of Texas, Mr. GRIJALVA, Mrs. RAMIREZ, and 

Ms. VELA ́ZQUEZ) submitted the following resolution; which was referred 

to the Committee on the Judiciary 

RESOLUTION 

Recognizing October 15, 2024, as the day to honor the 

diaspora of Hispanic culture, and the representation of 

Hispanics in the legal profession and the judiciary. 

Whereas the United States celebrates Hispanic Heritage 

Month every year during September and October to recognize and honor the achievements and contributions 

from people of the Hispanic diaspora throughout the history of the United States; 

Whereas Hispanics represent a diverse and heterogeneous racial, ethnic, and cultural group, with members hailing 

from many countries, including North America, Central 


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•HRES 1545 IH 

America, South America, the Caribbean, and Spain, and 

representing all variations on the spectrum of race; 

Whereas Hispanics are the fastest growing community living 

in the United States, making up 19.5 percent of the 

United States population; 

Whereas Hispanics contribute to the society of the United 

States through working in many industries, including the 

legal profession; 

Whereas some Hispanic lawyers are dedicated public servants, holding posts at the highest levels of State and 

Federal Government, including the Supreme Court of the 

United States, Cabinet-level positions, the United States 

Senate, and the United States House of Representatives; 

Whereas 13.7 percent of law students identify as Hispanic; 

Whereas there are 5.9 percent Hispanic lawyers, judges, and 

related workers, of the estimated 1,166,625 total lawyers, 

judges, and related workers, nationwide; 

Whereas, in 2022, 3 percent of partners at law firms were 

Hispanic lawyers; 

Whereas 11.2 percent of the 76,000 judges, magistrates, and 

other judicial workers employed in the United States are 

Hispanic; 

Whereas, as of September 15, 2023, 14 of 172 active circuit 

court judges were Hispanic, of whom 8 were men and 6 

were women, and as of the same date, of the 19 Hispanic 

men ever appointed as a circuit court judge, 8 were serving as an active judge; in contrast, of the 7 Hispanic 

women ever appointed as a circuit court judge, 6 were 

serving as an active judge; 


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•HRES 1545 IH 

Whereas the first Hispanic judge appointed to the Federal 

bench was the Honorable Reynaldo G. Garza in 1961 by 

President John F. Kennedy; 

Whereas President Jimmy Carter appointed 16 Hispanic 

judges to the bench, including the Honorable Reynaldo 

G. Garza to the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals; 

Whereas President Ronald Reagan appointed 14 Hispanic 

judges during his Presidency; 

Whereas President William J. Clinton appointed 25 Hispanic 

judges during his Presidency; 

Whereas President George W. Bush appointed 30 Hispanic 

judges during his Presidency; 

Whereas President Barack Obama appointed 37 Hispanic 

judges during his terms; 

Whereas President Joseph Biden has appointed 35 Hispanic 

judges during his term; 

Whereas, of the 40 circuit court nominees confirmed as of 

February 15, 2024, during the Biden Presidency, 7 were 

Hispanic; 

Whereas, as of September 15, 2023, President Biden has appointed the third-greatest number of Hispanic district 

court judges, with a total of 22, and additionally, half of 

President Biden’s Hispanic district court appointees have 

been women, specifically, 14 (64 percent) of 22 appointees; 

Whereas Hispanics like the Honorable Justice Sonia 

Sotomayor, the first Puerto Rican woman to be appointed to the Supreme Court in 2009, worked her way 

up the judicial system; 


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•HRES 1545 IH 

Whereas Hispanic lawyers and judges have been frequently 

recognized as trailblazers; 

Whereas there have been initiatives created by national organizations to address the lack of Hispanic/Latino representation among United States law school professors 

and administrators as well as the shortage of professional 

development resources specifically for Hispanic/Latino 

professors, deans, and other administrators; 

Whereas the success of Hispanic lawyers and judges has been 

championed by national organizations like UnidosUS, the 

Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund 

(MALDEF), the National Association for Law Placement 

(NALP), the Hispanic National Bar Association 

(HNBA), LatinoJustice PRLDEF, the League of United 

Latin American Citizens (LULAC), the National Association of Latino Elected and Appointed Officials (NALEO) 

Educational Fund, and various other organizations; 

Whereas Hispanic representation in the legal profession has 

continued to influence the work of legal scholars across 

the United States; 

Whereas Manuel Ruiz is honored as the first Hispanic attorney to argue before the United States Supreme Court in 

Buck v. California, 1951; 

Whereas the United States should continue to invest in the 

future of Hispanics to address the barriers that lead to 

becoming lawyers and judges; and 

Whereas recognizing Hispanic lawyers will bring awareness 

toward increasing the diversity within the legal industry, 

reflecting the United States population: Now, therefore, 

be it 

1 Resolved, That the House of Representatives— 


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•HRES 1545 IH 

1 (1) recognizes, celebrates, and honors the suc2 cess of Hispanic lawyers and judges and recognizes 

3 their past, present, and future contributions to the 

4 United States; and 

5 (2) supports the goals of increasing the rep6 resentation of Hispanics in the legal profession and 

7 the State and Federal courts to ensure that the rep8 resentation of Hispanics in the legal profession is re9 flective of the Hispanic population in the country. 

Æ 


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