IV 

118TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. RES. 785 

Recognizing the diaspora of Hispanic culture, and the representation of 

Hispanics in the legal profession and the judiciary. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

OCTOBER 13, 2023 

Mr. SOTO (for himself, Ms. CROCKETT, Ms. BARRAGA ́N, Mr. GARCI ́A of Illinois, Mr. VICENTE GONZALEZ of Texas, Ms. KUSTER, Mr. VARGAS, Mr. 

COSTA, Mr. CORREA, Ms. SALINAS, and Ms. ESCOBAR) submitted the following resolution 

OCTOBER 25, 2023 

Referred to the Committee on the Judiciary 

RESOLUTION 

Recognizing 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 785 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 18.7 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 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 5.8 percent of the 1,300,000 lawyers in the United 

States identify as Hispanic; 

Whereas the current enrollment of Hispanic students in law 

schools is 14 percent; 

Whereas the percentage of members of the bar who are Hispanic is less than 5 percent; 

Whereas Hispanic lawyers account for 2.9 percent of law firm 

partners; 

Whereas Hispanic lawyers only represent 7 percent of judicial 

appointments at the Federal and State judiciary throughout history; 

Whereas Hispanics are largely underrepresented in the legal 

industry and within the Federal courts; 

Whereas tracking historical trends, the number of Hispanic 

appointments to Federal judgeships has shown a steady 

increase in the last 10 years; 


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•HRES 785 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 current President Joseph Biden has appointed 27 

Hispanic Federal judges, including 5 Hispanic circuit 

court judges; 

Whereas Hispanics like the Honorable Justice Sonya 

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

up the judicial system; 

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; 


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•HRES 785 IH 

Whereas the success of Hispanic lawyers and judges has been 

championed by national organizations like UnidosUs, 

Mexican American Legal Defense and Education Fund 

(MALDEF), National Association for Law Placement 

(NALP), Hispanic National Bar Association (HNBA), 

LatinoJustice PRLDEF, League of United Latin American Citizens (LULAC), 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 American population: Now, therefore, be it 

1 Resolved, That the House of Representatives— 

2 (1) recognizes, celebrates, and honors the suc3 cess of Hispanic lawyers and judges and recognizes 

4 their past, present, and future contributions to the 

5 United States; and 

6 (2) supports the goals of increasing the rep7 resentation of Hispanics in the legal profession and 

8 the State and Federal courts to ensure that the repVerDate Sep 11 2014 04:28 Oct 31, 2023 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\HR785.IH HR785

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•HRES 785 IH 

1 resentation of Hispanics in the legal profession is re2 flective of the Hispanic population in the country. 

Æ 


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