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HomeMy WebLinkAboutCC 1975-10-14 MinutesCITY OF MIAMI COMMISSION MINUTES OR MEETING HELD ON October 14. 19 7 S PREPARED IIY THE OFFICE OR THE CITY CLE OTY HALL Mayor Terre: in the meant'. t am going to recognize 9r. Ramiro Arango, who is here on behalf of the Cuban American Lawyers Associftion• Dr. Arango: 1 do represent the Cuban -American Lawyers went to the last Dar Test in July. 1 want to thank the City Commission for recognizing our right to speak and to be heard. tie knew about this hearing today, about discrimination. As we thought it was the last time for us to come here and taking only few minutes of your busy agenda of today. Our problem is this: "e were invited to follow in a special program for Cuban -American Lawyers to be trained for 2 years and then Teo to pass the test, the teat of the 13AR, which we did. 'de passed through that test by the end of last July and the results were given yesterday. r,,e were in total, 1200 people taking the test from which about 1000 Americans of different sorts and about 200 of Cubans. The results are like this: 95% of the Americans passed. 90% of the Cubans failed. The numbers speak by themselves. ':'e are facing a hideous problem of discrimination and let me tell you that some talky talky is going around about our lack of the language. ':e don't speak perfect english. t don't think anybody in this country do. Here everybody has an accent, latin or Italian or _Jewish but this is a country of many minorities and many communities. 1 am going to tell you nv personal example concerning capacity. 1 am a graduate of Havana University of Lasso Hahne? in Paris and also a graduate of Heidelburg University which is the biggest in Germany and the tnternational Academy of Law in Holland. Prith such a background and 9 languages, 1 think 1 am duly qualified to be put in my own example here today that we are not stupid that they want to present us now. 17e are simply the victims of irrational discrimination of the name we are hearing of our flarcias, etc and Fernandes family names. This is exactly what happened because 95 of the succeeding Americans are not more qualified than most of the Cubans who went through the same test. Now, why do we come here? We come here because this is a problem of general welfare of the City. we are all citizens of Miami or Dade County and as such. we present a problem of general welfare. There is about 1/2 million Latin residents in ibis community who are demanded by Bi-lingual professions because they have a lack of communications and the experience that created our problem was to supply this minority who is going to be a majority very soon with the right professionals who could talk with them in their own language and in perfect communication. For that reason, we think the Commissioners are interested in our problem. It is not a personal problem. It is a problem that you should take as a City problem. Now what do we ask from you? We ask from you a resolution. A resolution of concern that you should be concerned about this problem of the community welfare and address yourselves to the Governor of the State and to the Supreme Court who is governing the Bar and the Board of Examiners and ask them for any investigation to whet seems very reluctant to be plan and open discrimination to the Cuban Community and thank you very much for hearing us and if you do the resolution we are demanding for, you are going to satisfy the community ambition to have bright bi-lingual professionals here. Mayor Ferro: Dr. Arango. let me ask you a question. The tests that were taicon for this. Are they standard or were you given a separate test? Dr. Arango: No. a standard test. Mayor Ferre: Were the evaluations of those tests made by a committee or was it done by one individual? Dr. Arango: The Board of Examiners. Mayor Ferre: The Board of Examiners goes over the tests. nr. Arango: Yes. OCT 14ITS Dr. Arango: They have Ruch a broad discretion. Mayor Ferre: That's the question. Dr. :Arango: Such a broad discretion that they publish in a booklet with the rules of the board, that they can stop or give or give the pass, anybody they want regardless of the qualifications- 'tayor Ferre: I am trying to get to a question. The question is this. In the examination, is their a standard? Dr. Arango: Yes. Mayor Ferre: In the standard. there is one question. For example, a question regards torts and they have a variety of 5 or b questions that they ask regarding torts and you answer that question regarding torts. Is their a right or wrong answer or is there a discretionary point where a man says, well I don't like the way the man answered? Dr. Arango: There are 11 subjects going to the F3ar Tests. 4 of them go on a say? 7 are multiple choice. Mayor Ferre: This is where I am heading. If 7 are multiple choice, now there, there is no subjective opinion. You are either right or wrong. Dr. Arango: Yes. Mayor Ferre: If the failure of the candidate be he Cuban -American or any other kind of an American, be based on the wrong answers in a multiple choice test, then I am sure that you would have nothing to taok about. You don't ,ant a different standard? Dr. Arango: No we don't want to get any privilege. 9e want only to be on the 5th amendment, you know, due process through the 14th amendment applicable to the State. That's all, but we feel that the numbers talk by themselves and we have very very capable people among us who have been failed. Mayor Ferre: Your point, as I understand it, and it seems to be a valid point is that how can a man such as yourself, not only a graduate of Havana but a graduate of the Sorbohn In Paris and one of the best universities in the world. Dr. Arango: I was a professor at Sorbonne. Mayor Ferre: Heidelberg? and the institute at the Hague in Holland. And you were a graduate from there too? Dr. Arango: Yes. Mayor Ferre: You were a professor at the Sorbonne in France and you were a graduate of the Heidelburg University in Germany and graduate of the Center of International Law at the Hague. Dr. Arango: And I came here to fail this test !Mayor Ferre: Taking this exam and fail it. you find that is is unreasonable to assume that after having passed so many tests in different countries and speaking 9 languages. that you feel that you probably answered correctly and the fact that you are not an attorney is due to the premise that perhaps there were other consid- erations. that you want is for this Commission to go on record requesting that the Governor and that the supreme Court have an Investigation. Dr. Arango: An investigation. That the City of Miami is concerned about what happened and that's all. Mr. Montero: May t say something? My nave is Francisco Montero. t think he missed one point very important. The exatatnetions of the Bar are supposed to be confidential and the examiner is not supposed to know anybody's name, like its secret. tf you are giving the exam, you are not supposed to know who t am. Thin is the first time it is not secret. Its not secret because if you are the examiner and you give every one of us, 19h that test, you know its a Cuban who wrote it. Mrs. Gordon: You mean your names were on it". otherwise there were never names only numbers? "r. Montero: Right. Mayor Ferre: T want to repeat this because t think this is very important. What you are saying is- Yhen Jessie Mc Crary took his exam or anybody else took the exam, it didn't have his nave on it, so the examiner did not know by name whether the applicant or whoever it was had any kind of a Spanish surname or anything else. to this case, that was not the case. Mr. Montero: No, in this case, what t am saying is that ever with our name, our number, he can know it very well. if he got my exam, he probably knew it was a Cuban trho was vriting it because we don't write the same way as a fellow who went here to school for 11 years. Mayor Ferre: That is different now. That is a different statement. You ate not saying that your name was on the exam. +that you are saying is that the examiner could tell by looking at it - Mr. Montero: 'light. ;le knew Cubans --- Mayor Ferre: 1?ell T. will tell you, T don't know of any way to avoid that. Mr.Montero: No, but t just wanted to make the point that T think it Is the first time - Mrs. Gordon: T have a question of information. T don't know which of the gentlemen can answer it but, is tt possible that the score would have been high enough to he considered passing and yet the application could have been rejected by the examiners? Mr. Montero: No. the way they do it. they take the highest 10", lets say 1200 people took the test, they take the highest 120 and they divide it and get a percentage and whoever is in 20 points of that, you pass. Mr. Silveira: my name is Frank Dias Silveira. There are 2 points that T would like to bring out regarding this subject. These people have been going through a 2-year program at the University of Florida and they passed this program. The University of Florida said that they were qualified to take this test. We are not talking about people that just went over there to take a test. without knowing the language. They have been qualified by the University of Florida after completing a full 2-year course, so. 1 believe thet they went to take this test with the Sams qual- ifications as the rest of the people. The course wes taken in english. not in epanish. and they passed the test. That is the first point, The second point is that out of the 11 subjects of the exam. 4 subjects are essay or subjective tests. The examiners have quite maple discretion for these kind of tests because they have not a true answer or a wrong answer and the 3rd point is. that even though all the Anglos were approved or qualified to take the exam before they took the exam. the Cubans. even those who passed the test are not yet qualified because they received a letter before taking the test saying or stating that they did not screen them completely and eves though they passed the test. they would have to go to further screening. Maybe some of those 16 that passed the test out of the one hundred and some. will net be able to practice because they have to go to another screening. >>'ell the Angles. i mean the Americans. these are all Americans, the Angles do not have to go through that screening. Mayor Terre: That will he covered in our motion, that this all be investigated. Mr. Lloyd, I think, sinte you are going to have to be drafting this, please follow this. Rev. Gibson: Mr. Mayor, please so i could understand your anguish Sir, it Is true maybe that they could tell from the way you express yourself. t want to tell you this, that I understand what you are saying because they could also tell who I am because I have a ghetto language, understand? So, we all share the concern about discrimination. T vent to warn the Commission however, that T think we ought to ask, not - T am not so sure Mr. Mayor that the word "investigate" - that bothers me. 1 would rather see us deal with the matter in a more delicate fashion. That is not to pass the buck nor to duck the issue. If you have a Board, and you may to the Board - 1 don't trust you - then immediately, you get one response but if this Commission went on record that we are concerned, that 180 Cubans who attended the University of Florida who got the stamp of approval of the University of Florida had been prepared educationally to pass the '3ar, did not pass, only 10, that is a different approach -,do you know what I mean? T do not want to negate the good 1 mtcht do. Mayor Ferre: ''e have now taken 20 minutes on this, and we really must move on. Do you want to add something? Mr. Morales: My name is ceillermo Morales. T was born in Cuba. T would like to bring out the importance of our class. loam one of the flunked 174. My only claim to distinction is age. 1 am a 73 year old coed. T took the course with flying colors. T can't conceive of a greater travesty, of a greater example of discrimination, than what has just taken place. Ile have come to you because you are our sounding hoard and you may be our star of hope and what has happened is going, to send shock waves not only through this community but elsewhere. T will tell you why. ''e were thoroughly resigned to our fate when we came here as exile lawyers because we know, by reason of our profession, that in no field is a man Less qualified when he transplants from one area to another. But. we were given reason to believe that we would get fair treatment. We were fired with the hope that we might he able to rebuild our lives in the field of law. We also hoped to bring something to this community that you need. You need us as much as we need you. T deplore these dreadful issues that we have on racial discrimination. !Thy don't we have it? Because when we look at a man whose skin is black, we look at the gleam of his eye. We listen to the tone of his voice. If his eve reflects friendship, if his voice rings true, that's a man, we shake his hand. We are not worried about racial equality. We are not worried about racial discrimination. We are worried about racial respect and racial love and we can do more to bring about the cordiality that our society needs than perhaps any force in the United States. T don't want to bore you because 1 know that• your time is precious and I know perhaps its the pangs of huger that are affecting you but T am bursting with indignation because of what's happened. Here apportionatel.y thank Cod. I don't depend on being allowed to practice law in Florida. T did want it and I felt it was a duty to go through this course. but this is dreadful. Here are hundreds of men are lad to believe that they would get fair treatment. On the face of it. the treatment is most unfair. When the University tells us that 174 are qualified after taking the same examinations at the University that American students take. and we are told that not 10% of us are qualified to pass and T aM proud of my American tiesbut I aM thoroughly ashamed of the low stripe of many of the characters who came to that examination. We were told that you had to wear a dress and many of them came in sandals. others smelted bad . We had very muck to offer to this community and we want to stand with you and we want to assist in having this dreadful travesty on justice corrected. I want to Rive you one exempla of the many things we have dons in Cuba. its the attitude of the people towards a lawyer, t won't ask you a+'iat the average image of an American is towards an attorney. 1 will tell you what the image of the Cuban i+:. The day on whir', the entire community of 350 or 400,000 Cubans celebrate and join hands with the attorney in celebrating his day. 'Thy didn't we have racial troubles in Cuba? Iecause the 4hites liberated their negroes. Because they fought shoulder to shoulder in the war of independence and for 100 other reasons, T don't have time to tell you, we have much to offer and we seek the privilege of doing so if you will allow us. T beg to express the hope that this Commission will appoint rapidly, a commission to work with you that will allow our group to express itself in drafting the necessary papers so that this monstrous injustice may he correcte. T thank you. Mayor Ferre: Counselor, T think you made your point very adequately and T conacatulate you and your associates for your eloquence and your dilligence and your concern, which is ours. T think since we have now been on this for 25 minutes, it is time to make a motion and get on with the job. Rev. Gibson: Mr. mayor, T would offer a motion that a resolution be passed expressing this kind of a sentiment that we implore the Governor of the State, as well as the Examining hoard of lawyers of the State of Florida to look into the high percentage of failures on the part of the Latin American people who take the bar exam. Tn view of the fact that they have already completed 2 years of study by the University of Florida, which said that they were quali'ied and that if they take the fAn, they find tT'emselves rather frustrated. At that point, somebody then has to respond. That's the motion. Mr. Reboso: second. Irs. Gordon: t just wanted to know if we could shorten the motion a little bit. Rev. Gibson: Well 1 don't mind shortening it but T want the Governor to know that while we are not asking for an investigation, we are concerned and distressed. Mrs. Gordon: And that will be turned into a resolution? Mr. Mc Crary: Mr. Mayor, speaking as a private citizen of the City of Miami, T don't want the Commission to go wrong. T think what the Commission ought to do In its resolution. T am merely suggesting, Is not mix two branches of government. (1) we ought to implore the Supreme Court to look into it since Lawyers and Examining Boards are under the direct jurisdiction of the Supreme Court, it may he well to send the Governor a copy of it expressing our concern. Rev.Gibson: Jesse, I have no problem with the procedure. My problem is that the fact is known and whatever the procedure is my Brother. T am for it. Mayor Terre: chat Jesse is saying and T want you to Listen very carefully to this. The Governor has nothing to do with this and neither has the City of Miami Commission. People that have the direct say on this is the Florida Bar which in turn is under the State of Florida Supreme Court. our Resolution must go -T said that Florida Rar is, the Supreme Court is over the Florida Bar. The exam is given by the Florida Bar. Therefore. the exam to the Florida Bar to the Supreme Court and the top authority is the Supreme Court and not the Governor so let us address our resolption to the Supreme Court with a copy to the President of the Florida Bar and a copy to tge governor of the State of Florida. Rev. Gibson: i have no problem with that. beautiful. Proceed with that. That is the intent of tits motion. 1.41111WWWWWW7,1r..; " Mrs. Oordon: Then a resolution will be prepared and we will vote on that. Unidentified: Mr, Mayor, t want to clarify that when we went to that examination, we were under a resolution of the Supreme Court which appointed as one of its main points, what we were going to graduate for the benefit of this latin community of this Dade County community, 80 I think they should take care of this thing, of this phase of the resolution of the supreme Court in order of your allegation as representatives of this community. Rev. Cibson: Sir, let me suggest you get with Mr. Lloyd and put that facet in it. Mayor Ferret "7e have a motion and second. rurther discussion? Call the Roll. Mr. Southern, City Clerk: Mr. Plummer Mr. Plummer: T vote yes. Mr. Southern: Mr, Peboso? Mr. Reboso. Yes. Mr. Southern: Reverend Gibson? Rev. Gibson: Yes. Mr. Southern: Mrs. Cordon? Mrs. Gordon: Yes. Mr. Southern: Mayor Ferre? Mayor rerre: T vote yes. This Commission is now in recess until 2 ('Clock P.M.