Joaquin Guadalupe Avila (June 23, 1948 – March 9, 2018) was an American voting rights attorney and activist. Avila spent more than two decades using the federal Voting Rights Act of 1965 to increase election fairness for minority voters. But as several court precedents weakened the federal Voting Rights Act, Avila conceived of state voting rights acts as a way to again strengthen minority voting rights. Thus Avila crafted the

California Voting Rights Act The California Voting Rights Act of 2001 (CVRA) is a state law in the state of California. It makes it easier for minority groups in California to prove that their votes are being diluted in "at-large" elections by expanding on the federal Voting ...

that was enacted in 2001. Avila brought lawsuits that set important voting rights precedents. He also served as president and general counsel of the

Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational 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: An ...

, and directed the National Voting Rights Advocacy Initiative at

Seattle University School of Law Seattle University School of Law, or Seattle Law School, or SU Law (formerly University of Puget Sound School of Law) is the law school affiliated with Seattle University, the Northwest's largest independent university. The School is accredit ...

. Among the many honors he received recognizing his work, he was awarded a

MacArthur Foundation Fellowship The MacArthur Fellows Program, also known as the MacArthur Fellowship and commonly but unofficially known as the "Genius Grant", is a prize awarded annually by the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation typically to between 20 and 30 indi ...

in 1996.

Early life and education

Joaquin Guadalupe Avila was born in Los Angeles, California and grew up in Compton. His father was a

foundry A foundry is a factory that produces metal castings. Metals are cast into shapes by melting them into a liquid, pouring the metal into a mold, and removing the mold material after the metal has solidified as it cools. The most common metals pr ...

worker. He earned his B.A. in

political science Political science is the scientific study of politics. It is a social science dealing with systems of governance and power, and the analysis of political activities, political thought, political behavior, and associated constitutions and la ...

Yale University Yale University is a Private university, private research university in New Haven, Connecticut. Established in 1701 as the Collegiate School, it is the List of Colonial Colleges, third-oldest institution of higher education in the United Sta ...

in 1970 and received his J.D. degree from Harvard Law School in 1973. He was an editor of the '' Harvard Civil Rights-Civil Liberties Law Review''.

Career

After law school, Avila worked briefly on voting rights litigation in California before relocating to Texas. There, Avila worked as a staff attorney for the

, and quickly rose in the organization, eventually becoming its president and general counsel. He served as president and general counsel of MALDEF from 1982 to 1985, during which he had a hand in over 70 voting rights cases. After leaving MALDEF, Avila moved to Fremont, California where he successfully argued important voting right cases, including ''Gomez v. the City of Watsonville'', in which the city's at-large elections for city council diluted the voting power of the city's Latino residents in violation of the federal Voting Rights Act of 1965. He successfully argued two voting rights cases before the

United States Supreme Court The Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) is the highest court in the federal judiciary of the United States. It has ultimate appellate jurisdiction over all U.S. federal court cases, and over state court cases that involve a point o ...

. Avila drafted the 2001 California Voting Rights Act (CVRA), which made it easier for plaintiffs to challenge at-large election systems by eliminating one of the criteria required to challenge such systems under the federal Voting Rights Act. The law also required the government to pay the legal fees of plaintiffs who successfully challenge an election system under the law. In 2003 he authored a

UCLA The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) is a public land-grant research university in Los Angeles, California. UCLA's academic roots were established in 1881 as a teachers college then known as the southern branch of the California ...

law school report which called for the amendment of the state constitution to allow millions of non-citizen adults to vote in local elections. Avila later served as practitioner in residence and director of the National Voting Rights Advocacy Initiative at the

Awards and honors

Avila's work has been recognized by awards that include: * MacArthur Foundation Fellowship "Genius Grant" (1996) * State Bar of California Loren Miller Legal Services Award (2001) * Vanguard Public Foundation Social Justice Sabbatical *

League of United Latin American Citizens The League of United Latin American Citizens (LULAC) is the largest and oldest Hispanic and Latin-American civil rights organization in the United States. It was established on February 17, 1929, in Corpus Christi, Texas, largely by Hispanics ...

President's Award (2012) * Mexican government

Ohtli Award The Ohtli Award or Reconocimiento Ohtli is an honor the Mexican Government gives to Mexican citizens who work in the United States and other countries and who have given assistance to Mexican citizens or promoted their culture. About The Ohtli ...

(2011) * Harvard Law School Association Award (2012) * Seattle University School of Law Latino Amicus Award (2012)

Personal life

Avila was married to Sally Cabaruvias, and lived in Compton, California, with whom he had three children, Joaquin Jr., Salvador and Angelique He died of cancer at his home in

Shoreline, Washington Shoreline is a city in King County, Washington, United States. It is located between the city limits of Seattle and the Snohomish County border, approximately north of Downtown Seattle. As of the 2020 census, the population of Shoreline was 58 ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Avila, Joaquin 1948 births 2018 deaths Lawyers from Los Angeles People from Compton, California People from Shoreline, Washington Texas lawyers American legal scholars American civil rights lawyers Yale College alumni Harvard Law School alumni Seattle University faculty MacArthur Fellows American lawyers of Mexican descent Deaths from cancer in Washington (state) 20th-century American lawyers Ohtli Award winners