Today in a press conference, the Congressional Tri Caucus – a coalition of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus, Congressional Black Caucus and the Congressional Asian Pacific American Caucus – along with the Congressional Progressive Caucus, announced their call that any Health Care reform legislation must include a public health plan option.

Later this week, the nation’s premiere organization of Latino political leaders known as the National Association of Latino Elected and Appointed Officials (NALEO) will convene in Los Angeles for their annual conference. Some high-level officials in the Obama administration will also be in attendance.

As previously reported in La Plaza, the Supreme Court was asked to rule on the case Northwest Austin Municipal Utility District No.1 vs. Holder. This case was brought by a small Texas water district which was asking to be allowed to “bail out” of the Voting Rights Act’s Section 5 –which requires a handful of […]

Los Angeles City Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa appeared on CNN’s “The Situation Room” to announce that he would not be running as a gubernatorial candidate for the state of California. The mayor stated his dedication to the city of Los Angeles as the reason for not running and that much work is yet to be done. […]

In the past three weeks, Supreme Court nominee Sonia Sotomayor has met with 71 senators during her trips to Washington. This week she will meeting with a few more, however, there is one Republican senator who refuses to meet with her: Sen. Jim Inhofe of Oklahoma.

Two Pennsylvania teens have been sentenced to serve jail time for their roles in the beating death of 25-year-old Luis Ramirez last July. Brandon Piekarsky, 17, was sentenced to 6 to 23 months, and Derrick Donchak, 19, received 7 to 23 months for their participation in the death of Ramirez.  The incident has been widely […]

The nomination of Judge Sonia Sotomayor to the U.S. Supreme Court has brought the issue of diversity in the federal government to the forefront. Her nomination is no doubt historic, but this fact has distracted from an equally important piece of information: Latinos now make up 11 percent of President Obama’s first 300 nominees for […]

Last month, 9-year-old Brisenia Flores and her parents were shot in their beds in Arivaca, Arizona by home invaders led by Shawna Forde, a member of the Minutemen, an anti-illegal immigration group, and representative for the Federation for American Immigration Reform (FAIR). Brisenia and her father, Raul Flores, were killed.

Throughout the nomination process for Sotomayor, the White House has been quick to point out that the Supreme Court nominee has more years of experience on the bench, as a trial court and appellate judge, than any previous Supreme Court nominee. With so many years of experience also comes a reputation.