James deAnda, 81; Worked to Establish Mexican Americans’ Constitutional Rights

“James deAnda, a retired federal judge who as a lawyer on a pivotal 1950s case established that Mexican Americans were entitled to the same constitutional protections as other minorities, died of prostate cancer Sept. 7 at his vacation home in Traverse City, Mich. The longtime Houston resident was 81.

DeAnda was the last surviving member of the four-man legal team behind Hernandez vs. Texas, decided by the U.S. Supreme Court on May 3, 1954. The Hernandez decision, which overturned a murder conviction by an all-white jury, for the first time gave Mexican Americans status as a distinct legal classification entitled to special protection under the Constitution. “

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