About The Event

Join us for a film screening, panel discussion, and reception with distinguished legal and academic scholars, activists, and community members exploring the intersection of law and the Chicano social-political movement locally and nationally in the 1960s-1970s. The event will honor the late Reyes P. Martínez, Esq. (Colorado Law graduate, Class of 1973) and the enduring legacy of the Chicano Movement. Moderated by University of Colorado Law School Professor Violeta Chapin, Clinical Professor of Law & Associate Dean for Community and Culture, this free, public event is proudly co-hosted by the University of Colorado Law School and The BUENO Center for Multicultural Education with donations supporting the Los Seis Scholarship Fund at The BUENO Center. Parking, refreshments, and light appetizers will be provided at the event.

Event Details

Friday, April 25, 2025, from 5:00pm-8:00pm

Wolf Law Building

2450 Kittredge Loop Dr.

Boulder, CO 80309

*CLE Credit Requested for Colorado Attorneys

5:00 – 7:15 p.m. | Room 101: Wittemyer Courtroom

• Screening of the Film "COINTELPRO": Delve into the history of government surveillance and suppression during pivotal movements for social change.
• Panel Discussion: "Lawyering in the Time of the Chicano Movement": Engage with community lawyers and activists who played pivotal roles during the Chicano Movement. This panel will highlight the intersections of legal advocacy, activism, and community resilience.
• Dedication Ceremony: Honoring the life and work of Reyes P. Martínez, Esq.
• Impact of the Los Seis Scholarship: One of the founders of the Los Seis Scholarship, Michelle Jaakola Steinwand, will speak about the scholarship's mission and impact, highlighting its role in supporting Chicano/a/x and Latino/a/x students. A heartfelt ask for contributions will be made to ensure its continued success.

7:15 – 8:00 p.m. | Room 100: Boettcher Reception Hall

• Reception: Enjoy light appetizers and refreshments in an informal gathering space to connect with panelists, community members, and attendees.

Meet The Panelists

Dickie Montemayor is a retired Administrative Law Judge (ALJ) who is still active on the Senior ALJ roster. Judge Montemayor served as an ALJ at the National Labor Relations Board presiding over labor cases throughout the western United States. He also served as a Social Security ALJ presiding over social security disability cases. Before joining Social Security, he served as a Chief Administrative Judge with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), presiding over employment discrimination claims. During his tenure at EEOC as an Administrative Law Judge, he presided over more than 2,000 individual and/or class discrimination complaints. Judge Montemayor is a graduate of the University of Wyoming and its school of law. 

José Jacques Medina is a graduate of the Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México (UNAM) Facultad de Derecho (law school). An activist in the student and populist movement, Jacques Medina survived the 1968 massacre of students at La Plaza de Tlatelolco. Jacques Medina was expelled from the university and in 1973 was forced into exile in the United States of America where he engaged in a protracted legal battle to win political asylum. While in the USA he participated in the Chicano Movement and the struggle for the rights of immigrant workers. In 1979 he and many others were granted amnesty, and he returned to Mexico.  The Mexican government later apologized for the excessive repression unleashed by prior administrations during the guerra sucia/dirty war. Jacques Medina participates in progressive political parties working to democratize Mexican politics and from 2006 to 2009 was a Diputado Federal Migrante (Delgate) to the Cámara de Diputados of the National Congress.  He continues active in the MORENA Party and advocates for La Cuarta Transformación. Jacques Medina is the author of the autobiography, “De Mojado a Diputado.” 

For more than five decades Kenneth A. Padilla has established a reputation as a premier civil rights and criminal defense attorney in Colorado. Padilla successfully litigated landmark, federal class action employment discrimination lawsuits including the desegregation of the Denver Fire Department (circa 1973) and discrimination by the City and County of Denver regarding initial employment and promotion of people of color (2013). Many of Padilla’s cases have generated widespread media attention. All of this has garnered Padilla numerous national and local public service awards. Today Kenneth A. Padilla carries an interesting and very active caseload.

Partial list of notable clients/cases related to the Chicano Movement handled by Padilla:

• Legal Adviser to Families of Activists:  Ricardo Falcón Family after his 1972 murder by a George Wallace follower and several families following the 1974 Boulder auto explosions.
• Racist and Politically Motivated Criminal Prosecutions:  John Avila, the Black Berets, José Calderon, Gary Garrison, Rodolfo “Corky” Gonzales/Crusade for Justice, Frank Luevano, Alberto Mares, Francisco/Franke Martínez, Russell Means, Anselmo “Elmer” Peralta, Anthony Quintana, Raymond “Bobby” Roybal and Ernesto Vigil.
• Election Law Litigation:  La Raza Unida Party (1970 ballot access), DiManna Recall (1973), anti-English Only Initiative (1988).
• Grand Jury Resisters:  Steve Lucero, Van Lucero and Ray Otero.
• Mass Arrests of Protesters:  Vice President Spiro Agnew (1971), La Raza Park (1972), University of Colorado Boulder, 1973), Mestizo/Curtis Park police killings (1977) anti-Columbus Day (1980, 2007), Invasion of Iraq (2003), Democratic Party National Convention (2008), Occupy Wall Street (2011), Black Lives Matter/George Floyd (2020).
• 1983 Civil Rights Violations:  Jason Gómez (police killing, 2007), James “Jimmy” Hinojos (police killing, 1977), Frank Lobato (police killing, 2005), Luis “Junior Martínez (police killing, 1973), Rebecca Norris (sexual assault by judge, 2020), Pueblo Neighborhood Health Centers (false allegations claiming misuse of federal funds, 1988), Joey Rodríguez (police killing, 1979), June Valenzuela (sexual assault and kidnapping by police, 1984).

David A. Martínez is a graduate of the University of Colorado School of Journalism where along with others, published UMAS Publications, a precursor to El DIario. Martínez earned a master’s degree in Mass Communications in Journalism from Stanford University. With this training he was a principal in community based newspapers such as La Cucaracha and Tierra o Muerte. Martínez acquired a law degree and was one of the attorneys that successfully represented the heirs in the epic lawsuit which restored many of their land use rights to La Sierra (“The Mountain Tract”) in Costilla County, Colorado.  Martínez is also a cinematographer and videographer. Martínez corrected another historical injustice when he obtained a posthumous pardon that exonerated Joe Arridy. Arridy was a Syrian immigrant youth with an intellectual disability who early in the 20th Century was falsely convicted and wrongfully executed for a rape and murder. At the present time Martínez is conducting a series of video interviews of persons who participated in the Chicano Movement and producing documentaries about La Sierra and the Arridy pardon.