FEATURE ARTICLE
Remembering Justice Cruz Reynoso (1931-2021) A Life of Righting Wrongs
Emily E. Vasquez Judge of the Superior Court, Sacramento County.
By Judge Emily E. Vasquez
J
Justice Cruz Reynoso
ustice Cruz Reynoso, the son of immigrant farmworkers, who labored in the fields as a child and grew up to counsel U.S. Presidents, California Governors and to serve as the first Latino Justice on the California Supreme Court, died on May 7, 2021 at the age of 90. The judiciary, legal profession, our state and nation mourn the loss of this giant civil rights advocate. His contributions to our country and state are indelible. He changed the lives of so many for the better. To those who had the privilege to know him personally, Justice Reynoso was one of the most inspiring and remarkable people that they would ever meet. Where I come from, Justice Reynoso was a legend and a larger-than-life icon in the judiciary, legal profession and the communi-
Justice Reynoso and California Supreme Court Colleagues
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SACRAMENTO LAWYER | Summer 2021 | www.sacbar.org
ty-at-large. His “justice bone” led him to a life dedicated to ensuring that all persons are equal before the law and share in the blessings that have been bestowed to our country and state. Born in Brea, California on May 2, 1931, Justice Reynoso was one of eleven children who spent his summers with his family working in the fields of the San Joaquin Valley. He spent his life fighting the inequities and discrimination he first encountered during his childhood. He received a scholarship to attend Pomona College, graduating in 1953. After serving two years in the United States Army Counterintelligence Corps, he enrolled at the University of California, Berkeley School of Law, where he was the only Latino in his 1958 graduating class. Later in his career, Justice Reynoso would work to increase
Justice Cruz Reynoso performed wedding for Judge Emily E. Vasquez and Ralph Lightstone
