OUR BOLD HISTORY

In 1972, three brilliant young Puerto Rican lawyers made a bold move: using the legal system to challenge the inequities inflicted on the Puerto Rican diaspora in New York City. Jorge Batista, Victor Marrero and Cesar Perales launched the Puerto Rican Legal Defense and Education Fund, a civil rights organization modeled on the NAACP’s Legal Defense Fund.

Today, LatinoJustice PRLDEF is a national nonprofit that’s played a profound role in advancing equity and justice for Latinx communities in the U.S., Puerto Rico and for others, as well as fostering the next generation of Latinx leaders in the legal field and in our communities.

Below are some selected milestones from the five-decade history of LatinoJustice PRLDEF.