Judge Lupe S. Salinas served as judge of Harris County’s 351st Criminal District Court. On April 28, 1972, shortly after becoming an attorney while still a student, Judge Salinas joined his mentor, Jose H. Rojo, in founding the Mexican-American Bar Association of Houston (MABAH). Upon his UH Law Center graduation a month later, Judge Salinas joined MALDEF, a Latino civil rights group. As a federal prosecutor, he obtained guilty verdicts arising from Houston police engagement in an obstruction of justice conspiracy. This victory contributed to his assignment as Special Assistant to US Attorney General Benjamin R. Civiletti in 1979 and a 1981 made-for-TV movie. Justice John Paul Stevens further honored Judge Salinas by citing his article about the untrustworthiness of death penalty verdicts. While a professor, Judge Salinas also published a book, U.S. Latinos and Criminal Injustice (MSU Press 2015). He retired in August 2021 from the TSU Thurgood Marshall School of Law in Houston.
