Legal Aid Stands for Justice for All

Legal Aid is about justice for all. This has always been our mission. We stand up today, as we always have, for justice. For the belief that all people, regardless of race, gender, religion, or immigration status, have a right to equal protection under the law. Protection. Not persecution. The laws, and those that enforce them, are here to protect people, not to insulate the abusers and terrorize those who most need their protection.

My parents were victimized by anti-Semitism, and my grandparents were nearly killed by it. Prejudice, and the abuses of government power, are lethal. Is the murder of Andy Lopez, George Floyd, and all the others we failed to protect, not enough to wake us up to this? Racism is not just a social and economic cancer in name, it actually kills people.

Diversity throughout our system of justice will save lives. Our call to action at Legal Aid is to integrate the practice of law, through a bicultural intern scholarship program. And, we will continue to stand up for justice and equality, whether that be the rights of immigrants to live in housing that does not make them sick, or the right of a Muslim woman not to be terrorized in her own home.

In solidarity with those that do not yet have Liberty and justice.

Ronit Rubinoff
Executive Director

About this Message

In the spring of 2020, nationwide protests erupted in the wake of the killing of an unarmed black man by Minneapolis police.

Caught on video and widely distributed on social media, George Floyd’s death outraged the nation, bringing a new consciousness of social justice to the average American.

This message by Ronit Rubinoff, executive director of Legal Aid of Sonoma County, reminds us of the importance of equal protection under the law. And, in Ronit’s case, it explains how the issue lands with her personally as well as an advocate for social justice.