The United States District Court for the Central District of California is pleased to announce the naming of the federal courthouse at 350 W. 1st Street, Los Angeles, California, as the Felicitas and Gonzalo Mendez United States Courthouse.
On January 6, 2025, bipartisan legislation was enacted to name the federal courthouse in honor of Felicitas and Gonzalo Mendez for their leadership in spearheading the 1945 federal court case Mendez, et al. v. Westminster School District, et al., along with the Thomas and Mary Luisa Estrada, William and Virginia Guzman, Frank and Irene Palomino, and Lorenzo and Josefina Ramirez families. In 1946, the court ruled that the segregation of Mexican American students was unlawful, marking one of the first successful federal challenges to school segregation. The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals affirmed the ruling in 1947. The case also drew national attention, including an amicus brief filed by civil rights attorney Thurgood Marshall, who would later argue Brown v. Board of Education before the United States Supreme Court. The Mendez case led to the desegregation of public schools in California and served as an important precursor to the Supreme Court’s landmark Brown v. Board of Education decision in 1954, which dismantled racial segregation in public education throughout the nation.
A ribbon-cutting ceremony will be held on May 27, 2026 at 2:30 p.m. in front of the courthouse, followed by a courthouse naming ceremony at 4:00 p.m. in the ceremonial courtroom of the newly named courthouse.
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BRIAN D. KARTH
DISTRICT COURT EXECUTIVE / CLERK OF COURT