Emilio Núñez and Herman Badillo Prominent Puerto Rican-born lawyer, congressman and mayoral candidate Herman Badillo passed away this past week at age 85. R.I.P. In his autobiography, Badillo mentions how, early on in his career, he got a break when his path crossed with that of Judge Emilio Núñez, who was born in Bilbao, Spain, and had emigrated with his family to Bridgeport, CT, in the teens. Badillo writes: “My political career, like my decision to pursue a serious education, was the result of a happy accident… At that time, in the late 1950s, Emilio Núñez was the only Hispanic judge in New York City. Through Judge Núñez other criminal-court judges heard that I spoke Spanish. I was soon assigned to criminal cases on a pro bono basis. Although I was not paid, I accepted this work because I could get experience trying cases. I was also outraged that young people floundered behind bars because they were too poor to hire counsel, and neither governmnet nor private charities provided them assistance.”
Posted on: Mon, 08 Dec 2014 01:00:00 +0000
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