There are four key cases that impact Latinos and people of color in the United States.  The first two cases, Lau and Plyler, are from an era when the courts were a place that people of color and the poor could go to for vindication of their rights.  These two historic cases represent what is best about our system of justice. The other two cases, Sandoval and Hoffman, are recent and exhibit a new type of court that has closed its doors to Latinos and people of color. These two rollback cases have scaled back the hard-earned victories of the civil rights movement.