Tomorrow, September 6th, 2024, Representative Lou Correa (CA-46), alongside state and local elected officials, will officially commemorate the United States Post Office located on 615 North Bush Street in Santa Ana in honor of Judge James Perez, the first Latino attorney and Latino judge in Orange County.
In 2021, Correa introduced his legislation, H.R. 5949, to commemorate the United States Post Office located on 615 North Bush Street in Santa Ana as the “Judge James Perez Post Office,” where it will also retain its name as “Spurgeon Station” in honor of William H. “Uncle Billy” Spurgeon — Santa Ana’s founder and its postmaster from 1870 to 1880.
In 2022, after urging his colleagues to honor Perez’ legacy on the House floor, Correa’s legislation passed both the House and the Senate, and was signed into law by President Joe Biden.
The Honorable Judge James Perez, who grew up working in the tomato fields in Southern California, proudly served in the U.S. Army Air Corps from 1944 to 1946. Upon returning home from WWII, he enrolled at the University of Southern California, where he earned a bachelor’s degree in accounting and a J.D. at the School of Law.
Judge Perez’s storied career was filled with many noteworthy “firsts.” After he passed the bar exam, he became the first Latino attorney in Orange County. Then, he also became the first Latino judge to serve on the Orange County Municipal Court after being appointed by Governor Pat Brown in 1966. Nine years later, in December of 1975, Governor Jerry Brown made him the first Latino judge to serve on the Orange County Superior Court. He held his title as Superior Court judge for 11 years and retired in 1987.
Judge Perez’s legacy lives on through two of his sons––the Honorable Judge Michael Perez and the Honorable Judge Joe T. Perez––who currently serve as Orange County Superior Court judges.
About Lou Correa
Congressman Lou Correa is a longtime Orange County resident, with deep local roots. To this day, he lives only three miles from his childhood neighborhood in Anaheim. He is the son of working-class parents whose hard work gave him a chance at success, and has spent his career fighting to protect the American Dream, and ensure anyone can reach the middle class, just as he did. In 2016, Lou was elected to the U.S. House of Representatives to continue his work by representing the community he has spent the past 20 years serving, fighting to give everyone access to the same opportunity he had. Congressman Correa is committed to working across party lines to strengthen the middle class and give everyone a shot at the American Dream by investing in education, healthcare, and our fading infrastructure, and has introduced legislation to protect the legal rights of immigrants, care for veterans, and fight against the wasteful spending of taxpayer money.
