Roll Call Tribute

James DeAnda '46, 81, of Houston and Traverse City, Michigan died Sept. 7, 2006. He served in the U.S. Marine Corps in the South Pacific and China during World War II. He earned a law degree from the University of Texas in 1950. As a lawyer in a small practice in Houston, he wrote most of the briefs for the Hernandez v. Texas case in which the U.S. Supreme Court unanimously ruled in 1954 that Mexican Americans deserved the same constitutional protection as other minorities, expanding the coverage of the 14th Amendment to all. He was appointed a federal judge in the Southern District of Texas in 1979. He retired in 1992 after serving his last four years as chief judge. He practiced at Solar & Padilla. Survivors include his wife, Joyce; a son; two step-sons; a step-daughter; a brother; and a sister.