Latinos and American Law: Landmark Supreme Court Cases

In this review, the author advocates for a work which provides much needed attention to Latinos in the context of American Law. Specifically, the review outlines key elements of Soltero’s work, which highlights Latino Supreme Court cases

Will the Wolf Survive?: Latino/a Pop Music in the Cultural Mainstream

For years, White artists have dominated American pop music. With the notable exception of Black vocalists, non-White artists have rarely experienced sustained and substantial success in this market. Although Latino/a artists have made modest inroads into the pop music mainstream in the past, the current success of Latino/a singers is unprecedented for its sales figures, its domination of pop radio, the diversity of backgrounds of the Latino/a artists riding the same wave, and the degree of American media attention focused on this phenomenon. In addition to the financial rewards enjoyed by artists (and their record companies) who succeed in the pop music market, the music industry, with its linkages to mass media and its public visibility, launches these artists into the mainstream of American culture and consciousness. For most Americans today, unlike just a few years ago, the dominant image of Latino/as is delivered and shaped by the pop music industry. For this reason, it is important to examine the current re/presentation of the Latino/ a pop music (what I call LatPop) ambassadors. In what language do they speak to the American public? What images of Latino/a culture do they convey? What stereotypes do they further? Which do they dispel? In what ways are Latino/as, as a people, the beneficiaries of this unprecedented mainstream exposure? In what ways has Latino/a culture paid a price for this commercial success

Compassionate Immigration Reform

Ideals of comprehensive immigration reform have been co-opted by advocates of border and internal security and enforcement, leaving behind our aspirations as a compassionate nation of immigrants. Mindful of the tension between blind adherence to the rule of law and the goal of empathetic immigration policy, I suggest a reframing of comprehensive immigration reform as compassionate reform and sketch the details of this transformative policymaking approach. Focusing on the life-threatening journey of undocumented immigrants and the perils they and their families face once inside the United States, I argue for a time-out on deaths at the border and on workplace immigration raids that split families apart. While supporting the expanded pathways to citizenship fostered by the federal DREAM and AgJOB Act proposals, ultimately I urge a return to the good neighbor Western Hemisphere exemption to immigration limits that existed until 1965. Realizing that the mood of the country has turned against immigrants, particularly those from Mexico, I conclude with suggestions as to how U.S. residents and policymakers might acquire empathy and thus the will to embrace compassionate immigration reform

Knocked Down Again: An East L.A. Story on the Geography of Color and Colors

The article discusses the history of struggle of Latin Americans and the legacy of gang violence in East Los Angeles, California. The author states that the positive thing about the place is the closeness of the community and families. However, the 2000 Census states that ninety-seven percent of the city\u27s population is Latin American with about a quarter living below poverty line. Moreover, sociologists consider gang warfare as a defense of turf marked by defined geographic boundaries

Oregon Consumer Protection: Outfitting Private Attorneys General for the Lean Years Ahead

This article examines Oregon\u27s UTPA with an eye toward legislative and judicial reforms that will strengthen its private cause of action and thereby facilitate private enforcement. First, the scope of the UTPA is examined. Next, private remedies authorized by the UTPA are critiqued. Finally, the role of the DOJ is reformulated in response to declining public resources and increased reliance on private enforcement

Gringo Alley

As a tribute to the late Professor Keith Aoki, this piece engages an uncompleted collaboration with Professor Aoki sketching through art and words a profoundly dystopian immigration nightmare centered in the Southwestern United States. In detailing the plot and themes of the borderlands gauntlet of Gringo Alley, the article confronts some of the disturbing recent developments in immigration policy that approach or match the horrors imagined in fictional Gringo Alley. Finally, the article draws on science fiction influence and demographic reality to suggest a frightening future for all U.S. residents -- the prospect of economic collapse in a landscape of stifled Mexican immigration coupled with an aging U.S. population, that leaves us scrambling to meet labor needs in a real-life Day Without a Mexican

Silencing Culture and Culturing Silence: A Comparative Experience of Centrifugal Forces in the Ethnic Studies Curriculum

Using the metaphor of silencing, Professor Margaret Montoya documents the irrelevance of race, gender, and socio-historical perspectives both in legal education and, more broadly, in legal discourse. Although others have invoked this metaphor, Professor Montoya\u27s charting of the physical, rather than merely metaphorical, space of silence moves beyond this legal literature in several respects. Viewing silence not just as dead space, Professor Montoya enlivens and colors silence and other nonverbal aspects of communication as positive cultural traits. She demonstrates how silence can be used as a pedagogical tool (a centrifugal force) in the classroom and in client interviews to bring out the voices of women and of men of color. Moreover, Professor Montoya documents how silence and nonverbal communication, rich with cultural meaning, are misread to the legal detriment of the (non)speaker and others dependent on cross-cultural understanding. My own experiences in the classroom, an Ethnic Studies classroom filled with students intent on the study and progressive practice of law, validate many of Professor Montoya\u27s experiences and observations. In Part I, I discuss my own experiences with respect to silence and race in an Ethnic Studies classroom. In Part II, I address the challenges my undergraduate students face in their journey to become progressive lawyers. In Part III, I examine some of the doctrinal pitfalls encountered by new lawyers aspiring to use the law as a mechanism for achieving social justice. Finally, I conclude by discussing the apparent irrelevance of Latino/a perspectives in legal education

Consumer Protection for Latinos: Overcoming Language Fraud and English Only in the Marketplace

Non-English-speaking consumers deserve the same protection as other consumers, and thus, this article advocates guarantees for their ability to strike informed bargains. To safeguard consumers most vulnerable to unfair and deceptive trade practices, this article contemplates a comprehensive strategy of reform that involves the legislatures, administrative agencies, and courts, as well as nonprofit organizations that advocate for language minorities and merchants themselves. Part I examines the growth in numbers of monolingual Latino/a consumers and documents their experience in the American marketplace. Part I also explores the shortcomings of existing remedies under the common law and consumer protection regulation when applied to non-English-speaking consumers. Part II details potential obstacles to establishing effective consumer protection for Latinos/as and other language minorities. English language movement\u27s repeated calls for a sink or swim standard for language minorities in settings ranging from the classroom to the voting booth. The anti-immigrant climate that spawned California\u27s Proposition 187 may also impede reform efforts. Part III proposes reforms to common law remedies and to statutory consumer protection to place more responsibility on businesses when they deal with language minority consumers. Part III also provides a model of self-regulation for merchants who desire to accommodate these consumers. Finally, the article revisits President Kennedy\u27s consumer bill of rights from the point of view of Latino/a consumers. Due to the large number of monolingual Spanish-speaking Latinos/as in the American marketplace, this article focuses on these consumers. Much of the analysis and proposed reforms, however, extend to other language minority groups

Will the Wolf Survive?: Latino/a Pop Music in the Cultural Mainstream

For years, White artists have dominated American pop music. With the notable exception of Black vocalists, non-White artists have rarely experienced sustained and substantial success in this market. Although Latino/a artists have made modest inroads into the pop music mainstream in the past, the current success of Latino/a singers is unprecedented for its sales figures, its domination of pop radio, the diversity of backgrounds of the Latino/a artists riding the same wave, and the degree of American media attention focused on this phenomenon. In addition to the financial rewards enjoyed by artists (and their record companies) who succeed in the pop music market, the music industry, with its linkages to mass media and its public visibility, launches these artists into the mainstream of American culture and consciousness. For most Americans today, unlike just a few years ago, the dominant image of Latino/as is delivered and shaped by the pop music industry. For this reason, it is important to examine the current re/presentation of the Latino/ a pop music (what I call LatPop) ambassadors. In what language do they speak to the American public? What images of Latino/a culture do they convey? What stereotypes do they further? Which do they dispel? In what ways are Latino/as, as a people, the beneficiaries of this unprecedented mainstream exposure? In what ways has Latino/a culture paid a price for this commercial success