Cruz Reynoso

Cruz Reynoso is a former associate justice on the California Supreme Court and the Third District Court of Appeal. He is currently is professor of law and the Boochever and Bird Chair for the Study and Teaching of Freedom and Equality at the UC Davis School of Law. Reynoso has also been professor of law at UCLA and the University of New Mexico. From 1994 to 2004, Mr. Reynoso served as vice chair of the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights. Earlier in his career, he was director of California Rural Legal Assistance, Inc. and deputy director of the California Fair Employment Practices Commission. He is the son of Mexican immigrants and was a farm worker in California fruit orchards. In 2000, Reynoso received the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the country's highest civilian honor, for his lifelong devotion to public service. He also is a recipient of the Hispanic Heritage Foundation Award in Education.