Ricardo Cruz (lawyer)
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Ricardo Cruz (July 1, 1943 – July 21, 1993), aka Richard V. (Vincent) Cruz, was a
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attorney who fought for many
Chicano Movement The Chicano Movement, also referred to as El Movimiento (Spanish for "the Movement"), was a civil rights movements, social and political movement in the United States that worked to embrace a Chicano, Chicano identity and worldview that combated ...
causes. He was an early organizer of La Raza Law Students and the short-lived but highly effective Catolicos Por La Raza in the 1960s and 1970s.


Childhood and education

Cruz grew up in the Highland Park neighborhood of Los Angeles. His father was a musician who played in commercially-unsuccessful
big band A big band or jazz orchestra is a type of musical ensemble of jazz music that usually consists of ten or more musicians with four sections: saxophones, trumpets, trombones, and a rhythm section. Big bands originated during the early 1910s and ...
s before dealing in real estate, and his mother was a legal secretary. Cruz received a
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education, attending Divine Saviour Catholic Elementary School and Cathedral High School. In high school, he was a class officer and enjoyed speech and debate, winning some speech awards. He developed a deep faith early on, and retained an admiration for the morals taught at Catholic schools and the Catholic philosophical tradition, especially that of the
Jesuits The Society of Jesus (; abbreviation: S.J. or SJ), also known as the Jesuit Order or the Jesuits ( ; ), is a religious order (Catholic), religious order of clerics regular of pontifical right for men in the Catholic Church headquartered in Rom ...
, even after he stopped identifying as a Catholic. He attended the
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campus of
Saint Mary's College of California Saint Mary's College of California is a Private college, private Catholic college in Moraga, California, United States. Established in 1863, it is administered by the De La Salle Brothers. The college offers undergraduate and graduate programs w ...
from 1961—1962, where he was one of only two Mexican-American students, and one of the few from a lower-class family. He attended Los Angeles City College from 1962—1965, during which time he worked full-time as a transcriber/typist for the Los Angeles County Probation Department. He earned a
B.A. A Bachelor of Arts (abbreviated B.A., BA, A.B. or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is the holder of a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the liberal arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts degree ...
in
Philosophy Philosophy ('love of wisdom' in Ancient Greek) is a systematic study of general and fundamental questions concerning topics like existence, reason, knowledge, Value (ethics and social sciences), value, mind, and language. It is a rational an ...
from
California State University, Los Angeles California State University, Los Angeles (Cal State LA) is a public research university in Los Angeles, California, United States. It is part of the California State University system. Cal State LA offers 142 bachelor's degree programs, 122 m ...
in 1966. After graduation, he continued to work for the Probation Department, undergoing an on-the-job training program. He dropped out after three months, and began driving a taxi. He then drove to New York and stayed with two cousins in Brooklyn, where he "bummed around" until his money ran low, at which point he got a job as an investigating probation officer with the New York State Supreme Court Probation Department. He was promoted to supervising officer and was assigned the narcotics caseload. In August 1967, he returned to Los Angeles to attend
Loyola Law School Loyola Law School is the law school of Loyola Marymount University, a private Jesuit university in Los Angeles, California. Loyola was established in 1920. Academics Degrees offered include the Juris Doctor (JD); Master of Science in Legal ...
. During his first year, he worked with Pat Nave to organize Law Students Community Service Association (LSCSA) "to recruit and finance the legal education of minorities", but soon realized that he and his colleagues were being used by the administration: "We do the work, etc. They weren't sincere." As a result he helped to create La Raza Law Students, an organization dedicated to increasing
Chicano Chicano (masculine form) or Chicana (feminine form) is an ethnic identity for Mexican Americans that emerged from the Chicano Movement. In the 1960s, ''Chicano'' was widely reclaimed among Hispanics in the building of a movement toward politic ...
enrollment in schools of law. Loyola law students joined with students from USC and UCLA in demanding financial assistance and realistic admissions criteria. He was elected chapter chairman, and LRLS soon had branches throughout the state. This was the time of the East Los Angeles Blowouts, and Cruz became interested in the
Chicano Movement The Chicano Movement, also referred to as El Movimiento (Spanish for "the Movement"), was a civil rights movements, social and political movement in the United States that worked to embrace a Chicano, Chicano identity and worldview that combated ...
, but decided could do more for the cause if he remained in law school. He earned his J.D. in 1971. In 1968, Cruz was fulfilling a legal internship with
California Rural Legal Assistance California Rural Legal Assistance, Inc. (CRLA) is a 501(c)(3) non-profit legal service organization created to help California's low-income individuals and communities. CRLA represents all types of individuals and communities, including farmworke ...
in Salinas when he was invited to a "secret meeting" in Santa Barbara between
César Chávez Cesario Estrada Chavez (; ; March 31, 1927 – April 23, 1993) was an American labor leader and civil rights activist. Along with Dolores Huerta and lesser known Gilbert Padilla, he co-founded the National Farm Workers Association (NFWA), ...
and his lawyers to discuss the lack of Church support for the
UFW The United Farm Workers of America, or more commonly just United Farm Workers (UFW), is a labor union for farmworkers in the United States. It originated from the merger of two workers' rights organizations, the National Farm Workers Associatio ...
-backed grape
boycott A boycott is an act of nonviolent resistance, nonviolent, voluntary abstention from a product, person, organisation, or country as an expression of protest. It is usually for Morality, moral, society, social, politics, political, or Environmenta ...
. At that meeting, Cruz promised Chávez that he would do whatever he could to bring about Church support.


Católicos por la Raza

When he returned to Los Angeles, he teamed up with
Los Angeles City College Los Angeles City College (LACC) is a public community college in East Hollywood, California. A part of the Los Angeles Community College District, it is located on Vermont Avenue south of Santa Monica Boulevard on the former campus of the U ...
's
MEChA In science fiction, or mechs are giant robots or machines, typically depicted as piloted, humanoid walking vehicles. The term was first used in Japanese (language), Japanese after shortening the English loanword or , but the meaning in Japan ...
, who had independently begun work on
Roman Catholic Church The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...
issues. A coalition of students, welfare mothers,
Brown Berets The Brown Berets (Spanish: ''Los Boinas Cafés'') is a pro-Chicano paramilitary organization that emerged during the Chicano Movement in the United States during the late 1960s. David Sanchez and Carlos Montes co-founded the group modeled af ...
, and Immaculate Heart
nun A nun is a woman who vows to dedicate her life to religious service and contemplation, typically living under vows of poverty, chastity, and obedience in the enclosure of a monastery or convent.''The Oxford English Dictionary'', vol. X, page 5 ...
s joined to become Católicos por la Raza. On October 11, 1969, a group of Chicano students tried to see Cardinal
James Francis McIntyre James Francis Aloysius McIntyre (June 25, 1886 – July 16, 1979) was an American prelate of the Catholic Church. He served as Archbishop of Los Angeles from 1948 to 1970, and was created a cardinal in 1953. He was a highly successful builder ...
, but only Cruz and Joe Aragon were admitted. Despite their showing the utmost deference, the Cardinal treated them, they said, "like trash". After their dismissal, 15 to 20 CPLR members pushed their way into the chancery (Church headquarters and the Cardinal's residence) and the Cardinal threatened to have them arrested. On October 18, 1969, the CPLR passed a resolution to pressure the church. On December 4, 1969, they held a press conference to make demands of the Church and to announce the first public demonstration to be held at St. Basil's. It was attended by only one reporter—the ''
Los Angeles Times The ''Los Angeles Times'' is an American Newspaper#Daily, daily newspaper that began publishing in Los Angeles, California, in 1881. Based in the Greater Los Angeles city of El Segundo, California, El Segundo since 2018, it is the List of new ...
s Rubén Salazar. On December 7, 1969, about 500 people picketed St. Basil's without incident. They began planning for a demonstration to be held on Christmas Eve. They returned to St. Basil's on Christmas Day to continue the protest. On December 29, sympathizer Bishop Parilla from Puerto Rico celebrated mass in a dirt lot across the street from the church. From January 1–4, the Católicos engaged in a hunger strike on the lawn of St. Basil's. On January 22, 1970, Cardinal McIntyre resigned and the Católicos met with the new archbishop Manning to discuss their demands. Exactly one month after the Christmas Eve protest, 3,000 people, many of them high school students, conducted a midnight march from the downtown chancery to St. Basil's, where they celebrated the 7:00 am mass. On September 13, 1970, the Católicos conducted their final action: a "Baptism by Fire", during which Cruz, his brother, and some 20 others burned their
baptism Baptism (from ) is a Christians, Christian sacrament of initiation almost invariably with the use of water. It may be performed by aspersion, sprinkling or affusion, pouring water on the head, or by immersion baptism, immersing in water eit ...
certificates.John Dart (14 September 1970). "Baptismal Certificates Burned Outside Church: Chicano Protest Group Sponsors Outdoor Religious Services on Steps of St. Basil's". Los Angeles Times.


Criticisms of the Church

The Catholic Church's refusal to support the
UFW The United Farm Workers of America, or more commonly just United Farm Workers (UFW), is a labor union for farmworkers in the United States. It originated from the merger of two workers' rights organizations, the National Farm Workers Associatio ...
grape boycott was all the more blatant when the
Episcopalians Anglicanism, also known as Episcopalianism in some countries, is a Western Christian tradition which developed from the practices, liturgy, and identity of the Church of England following the English Reformation, in the context of the Prot ...
and several
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joined it. Cruz saw hypocrisy in the Church's silence and inaction, as it used few of its vast resources to better the worldly condition of its members. This condition was exacerbated in Los Angeles, whose
Archdiocese In church governance, a diocese or bishopric is the ecclesiastical district under the jurisdiction of a bishop. History In the later organization of the Roman Empire, the increasingly subdivided provinces were administratively associated ...
was one of the wealthiest in the nation and served some of its poorest members, and where white domination of the Church's interior structures places Latinos at a disadvantage. This realization led him to further criticisms. The
Second Vatican Council The Second Ecumenical Council of the Vatican, commonly known as the or , was the 21st and most recent ecumenical council of the Catholic Church. The council met each autumn from 1962 to 1965 in St. Peter's Basilica in Vatican City for session ...
, though reform-minded, was reluctant to embrace Liberation theology, and as a result did not embrace social and economic struggles. The Católicos pressured the Church to pay heed to its members' material needs, as well as their spiritual needs. They also fought
Anglo-America Anglo-America most often refers to a region in the Americas in which English is the main language and British culture and the British Empire have had significant historical, ethnic, linguistic, and cultural impact."Anglo-America", vol. 1, Mic ...
n domination of the diocese, and pressured the Church to provide more scholarships. Because of their criticisms of the Church, they were regarded as a radical organization.


Conflict at St. Basil's

Having failed to obtain reform within the archdiocese through peaceful means, the Católicos targeted the recently constructed (to the tune of $4 million) St. Basil Catholic Church on
Wilshire Boulevard Wilshire Boulevard ( wɪɫ.ʃɚ is a prominent boulevard in the Los Angeles area of Southern California, extending from Ocean Avenue (Santa Monica), Ocean Avenue in the city of Santa Monica, California, Santa Monica east to Grand Avenue (Lo ...
. On
Christmas Eve Christmas Eve is the evening or entire day before Christmas, the festival commemorating nativity of Jesus, the birth of Jesus in Christianity, Jesus. Christmas Day is observance of Christmas by country, observed around the world, and Christma ...
, 1969, Cruz led a march of several hundred demonstrators to protest before the church's first Christmas Eve
mass Mass is an Intrinsic and extrinsic properties, intrinsic property of a physical body, body. It was traditionally believed to be related to the physical quantity, quantity of matter in a body, until the discovery of the atom and particle physi ...
. When they attempted to enter the church for mass,
Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department The Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department (LASD), officially the County of Los Angeles Sheriff's Department, is a law enforcement agency serving Los Angeles County, California. LASD is the largest sheriff's department in the United States a ...
's deputies, disguised as ushers, brutalized them. The
LAPD The City of Los Angeles Police Department, commonly referred to as Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD), is the primary law enforcement agency of Los Angeles, California, United States. With 8,832 officers and 3,000 civilian staff, it is the th ...
arrived "for mopping-up operations" and beat and maced fifteen and arrested seven. Meanwhile, the parishioners inside continued singing and listening to Cardinal McIntyre decry the demonstrators as "rabble". At 5:00 am on January 20, 1970, LAPD officers arrested Cruz and twenty others, including Alicia Escalante, chair of the East Los Angeles Welfare Rights Organization, in connection with the Christmas Eve demonstration.


Aftermath

Shortly after the incident, the Catholic Church announced its support for the boycott. Los Angeles Archbishop McIntyre, accused by the Católicos of paternalistic attitudes towards
Mexicans Mexicans () are the citizens and nationals of the Mexico, United Mexican States. The Mexican people have varied origins with the most spoken language being Spanish language, Spanish, but many also speak languages from 68 different Languages o ...
and Chicanos in the administration of the bishopric, stepped down in 1970. The Church began funding the Campaign for Human Development, which provided social services for the poor. Pressure from the Católicos also brought about the appointment of two Latinos within the church hierarchy, Bishop Juan Arzube, a South American, and Bishop Flores. And, following the events, the leaders of the archdiocese were less hostile to the incorporation of Mexican cultural elements into worship. Despite the success of the Católicos, Cruz faced trouble as a result of his involvement in the protest. In 1972, he served three months in jail as a result of the St. Basil's incident. In 1971, despite passing his exam, the
State Bar of California The State Bar of California is an administrative division of the Supreme Court of California which licenses attorneys and regulates the practice of law in California. It is responsible for managing the admission of lawyers to the practice of law ...
denied him certification due to his "moral turpitude for disrupting a religious service". He was subjected to 23 hearings, during which the
American Civil Liberties Union The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) is an American nonprofit civil rights organization founded in 1920. ACLU affiliates are active in all 50 states, Washington, D.C., and Puerto Rico. The budget of the ACLU in 2024 was $383 million. T ...
and new Los Angeles Archbishop
Timothy Manning Timothy Manning (Irish: ''Tadhg Ó Mongáin'') (November 15, 1909 – June 23, 1989) was an Irish Catholics, Irish Catholic prelate who served as Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Los Angeles, Archbishop of Los Angeles from 1970 to 1985. He was elev ...
lobbied on his behalf, before finally being admitted to the bar in 1973.


Legal career

As an attorney, Cruz helped organize "Abogados de Aztlan", ("Attorneys of Aztlan") a consortium of Chicano attorneys based in the Los Angeles metropolitan area dedicated to addressing the issues of socio economic discrimination against Mexican-Americans. The Abogados, along with La Raza Law Students, published ''Justicia O.'', a
bilingual Multilingualism is the use of more than one language, either by an individual speaker or by a group of speakers. When the languages are just two, it is usually called bilingualism. It is believed that multilingual speakers outnumber monolin ...
paper dealing with legal and criminal justice issues. He was active with
Mexican American Legal Defense and Education Fund The Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund (MALDEF) is a national non-profit civil rights organization formed in 1968 by Jack Greenberg to protect the rights of Latinos in the United States."MALDEF" entry in ''Los Angeles A to Z: A ...
(MALDEF), and opened his own law practice in
East Los Angeles East Los Angeles (), or East L.A., is an unincorporated community and census designated place (CDP) situated within Los Angeles County, California, United States. According to the United States Census Bureau, East Los Angeles is designated as ...
in 1974. Cruz helped form a
Southern California Southern California (commonly shortened to SoCal) is a geographic and Cultural area, cultural List of regions of California, region that generally comprises the southern portion of the U.S. state of California. Its densely populated coastal reg ...
branch of the
Raza Unida Party Partido Nacional de La Raza Unida (LRUP; National United Peoples PartyArmando Navarro (2000) ''La Raza Unida Party'', p. 20 or United Race Party) was a Hispanic political party centered on Chicano (Mexican-American) nationalism. It was created in ...
, most notably organizing a voter registration drive in the city of
Hawaiian Gardens Hawaiian Gardens is a city in Los Angeles County, California, United States. It is the smallest city in the county in area (approximately 1.0 mi2) and was incorporated on April 9, 1964. The population was 14,149 at the 2020 United States ce ...
that sought the election of Chicano City council members. He was an organizer of the
East Los Angeles East Los Angeles (), or East L.A., is an unincorporated community and census designated place (CDP) situated within Los Angeles County, California, United States. According to the United States Census Bureau, East Los Angeles is designated as ...
Chicano Moratorium The Chicano Moratorium, formally known as the National Chicano Moratorium Committee Against The Vietnam War, was a movement of Chicano anti-war activists that built a broad-based coalition of Mexican-American groups to organize opposition to the Vi ...
against the
Vietnam War The Vietnam War (1 November 1955 – 30 April 1975) was an armed conflict in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia fought between North Vietnam (Democratic Republic of Vietnam) and South Vietnam (Republic of Vietnam) and their allies. North Vietnam w ...
and
racist Racism is the belief that groups of humans possess different behavioral traits corresponding to inherited attributes and can be divided based on the superiority of one Race (human categorization), race or ethnicity over another. It may also me ...
police brutality Police brutality is the excessive and unwarranted use of force by law enforcement against an individual or Public order policing, a group. It is an extreme form of police misconduct and is a civil rights violation. Police brutality includes, b ...
. During the 1970s, Cruz fought against the
Los Angeles County Los Angeles County, officially the County of Los Angeles and sometimes abbreviated as LA County, is the most populous county in the United States, with 9,663,345 residents estimated in 2023. Its population is greater than that of 40 individua ...
policy of forcibly sterilizing indigent and undocumented patients at
Los Angeles County-USC Medical Center Los Angeles General Medical Center (also known as LA General and formerly known as Los Angeles County+USC Medical Center, County/USC, County General or by the abbreviation LAC+USC) is a 600-bed public teaching hospital located at 2051 Marengo St ...
, many of whom were sterilized without sufficient awareness that they had consented to being the procedure. Although he was not a litigant in the case, (''Madrigal v. Quilligan''), he was an early organizer of advocates for the women who felt they had been coerced. The case was dismissed, but the media attention he and other activists brought to the plight of the victims brought about a change in the policy. In 1982, Cruz fought for and won the dismissal of a murder charges against a young Chicano prisoner, Gordon Castillo Hall. Hall had been convicted of murdering a Duarte postal worker, but received inadequate representation. There is also evidence to suggest that the actual murderer had been identified but never prosecuted by the
District Attorney In the United States, a district attorney (DA), county attorney, county prosecutor, state attorney, state's attorney, prosecuting attorney, commonwealth's attorney, or solicitor is the chief prosecutor or chief law enforcement officer represen ...
. Cruz cited these two miscarriages of justice, as well as the court's non-admission of exculpatory evidence, in his argument for dismissal of the sentence. Hall was released after serving three years in prison.


Honors

For his work on behalf of the Chicano community, Cruz earned the following recognition: *Outstanding Service In The Field Of Law, Association of Mexican American Educators, State of California, November 14, 1981 *Skip Glenn Award, California Attorneys for Criminal Justice, November 21, 1981 *
Benito Juárez Benito Pablo Juárez García (; 21 March 1806 – 18 July 1872) was a Mexican politician, military commander, and lawyer who served as the 26th president of Mexico from 1858 until his death in office in 1872. A Zapotec peoples, Zapotec, he w ...
Legal Award, Mexican American Bar Association, 1982


Religious views

In response to a 1973 survey, Cruz wrote:
Well, once I got rid of religion, then my spiritual self, my identity, my fears, my strengths, my confidence, everything, everything, became much more realistic. No longer was I relating to heavens and hells, goods and evils and spooky stories and mortal and venial icsins. I became what I am - an animal, a human animal. My choices became my own two feet in other words. I had to stand up like a man instead of like I did for many years - praying for somebody to do this or that, usually with respect to me. Now I make them do it or not, if it's good. It's been a great benefit for me to get rid of religion.


Illness and death

Cruz, a 33-year smoker, was diagnosed with
lung cancer Lung cancer, also known as lung carcinoma, is a malignant tumor that begins in the lung. Lung cancer is caused by genetic damage to the DNA of cells in the airways, often caused by cigarette smoking or inhaling damaging chemicals. Damaged ...
. Always a healthy man, he had neglected to obtain medical insurance. In addition, both the sterilization case and the Hall case were long, drawn-out affairs with little compensation. In order to help defray the cost of his treatment, he decided to take advantage of his reputation for throwing some of the best parties of the Chicano Movement to turn his 50th birthday celebration into a fundraiser. In a letter expressing regret that she could not attend, Los Angeles County Supervisor
Gloria Molina Jesús Gloria Molina (May 31, 1948 – May 14, 2023) was an American politician who served as a member of the Los Angeles City Council, the California State Assembly, the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors and the Los Angeles County Metropo ...
commended Cruz as "a legal advocate who, instead of racking in the bucks, racked up a stellar reputation for his compassion, justness and commitment to those in need." The treatment was unsuccessful and Cruz died on July 21, 1993.


Literature

The events at St. Basil's were memorialized in
Oscar Zeta Acosta Oscar "Zeta" Acosta Fierro (; April 8, 1935 – disappeared May 1974) was a Mexican Americans, Mexican American Lawyer, attorney, author and activist in the Chicano Movement. He wrote the semi-autobiographical novels ''Autobiography of a Brown ...
's ''Revolt of the Cockroach People'' and recorded as a major event of the Chicano Movement in Rodolfo Acuña's ''Occupied America''.


References


External links


Richard V. Cruz FoundationRicardo Cruz / Catolicos por La Raza Papers, 1967-1993
at the
California Ethnic and Multicultural Archives California Ethnic and Multicultural Archives (CEMA) is an archival institution that houses collections of primary source documents from the history of minority ethnic groups in California. The documents, which include manuscripts, slide photograp ...

New York Times Obituary
{{DEFAULTSORT:Cruz, Ricardo La Raza California lawyers Deaths from lung cancer 1943 births 1993 deaths Loyola Law School alumni American lawyers of Mexican descent Activists from California 20th-century American lawyers