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The Mexican American Civil Rights Institute (MACRI) has a new traveling exhibit, "You Have the Right: Mexican Americans and Due Process of the Law."
Landmark cases Miranda v. Arizona (1966), United States v. Brignoni-Ponce (1975), and the more recent Chavez v. Martinez (2003) are all detailed on individual panels with photos and descriptions of the process and outcomes of each case.
The Supreme Court case of Chavez v. Martinez from 2003 involved a gentleman named Oliverio Martinez who was shot multiple times by a police officer after being stopped in California for narcotics violations. Martinez insisted that the officer coerced him into confessing while he was wounded.
MACRI Executive Director Sarah Gould said Chavez v. Martinez is fascinating, in particular, for its relevance today.
"It calls into question this debate that perhaps you've heard about. Is the Constitution a living document? This is something that the justices themselves have debated. I think these cases demonstrate the debate about 'living document' versus something we don't evolve our thinking on," said Gould.
The landmark case of Miranda v. Arizona is also part of the exhibit. The Fifth Amendment to the Constitution requires that law enforcement officials advise suspects of their right to remain silent and to obtain an attorney during interrogations while in police custody. Miranda v. Arizona resulted in those rights given to us as citizens.
Gould said due process is something that's been in the news more recently, but it's not a new legal question.
"You do need to know these things. We're not expecting everybody to be a lawyer. But you should know what your basic rights are," said Gould.
The exhibit also presents an analysis of United States v. Brignoni-Ponce, a complex case from 1975 involving border patrol agents who stopped Felix Humberto Brignoni-Ponce's car based on the fact that the occupants appeared to be of Mexican descent but were, in fact, Puerto-Rican.
U.T. Austin graduate student Maria Guadalupe "Lupita" Partida worked on assembling the exhibit to completion. Due to the lack of historical photos, Ray "Tattooed Boy" Scarborough provided comic book renderings to illustrate each case.
"You Have the Right: Mexican Americans and Due Process of the Law"
is on display at MACRI through June 30.
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