Roger . Cisneros
The Honorable Roger Cisneros (Retired) and former Colorado State Senator began life as the fifth child born to parents living in the small New Mexico hamlet of Questa, New Mexico, on January 22, 1924, where he attended a one-room school. For this budding scholar, the one-room school was an asset rather than a liability since it provided him with the opportunity to listen and participate in third grade activities. Judge Cisneros recalls that at that time, there were no electric lights, no radio and no television. Reading was a joy to him, and as an eighth grader, he was found to have the highest IQ for his age group in Taos County. Educating a boy in those days was a real sacrifice for struggling farmers who could barely eke out a living from barren, lifeless land with no irrigation, but sacrifice they did, and at Menaul High School in Albuquerque, New Mexico, he earned medals both as a scholar and as a track star. Who could have known that his early struggles with the English language, herding sheep in lonely terrain, running barefoot in the sand, riding horseback for days and reading at every opportunity would prove to prepare him for his role as a distinguished attorney, able legislator, extraordinary leader and a champion of civil rights.
Following high school, he served as a sergeant with the Army Air Corps from 1943 until 1946 with the 333rd Bomb Group in Okinawa, in the South Pacific. When he enlisted, he had hoped to become a pilot, but the quota was full, so he was tested and sent Cryptography school to learn to decode messages. During his deployments overseas on crowded military ships he was often requested to change places with some other soldiers because some did not want to be in the company of “Blacks.” Under the Okinawan sun he became very dark and when he returned to Longmont, Colorado where his parents had started a dairy farm, he was refused service in the local café that had signs that said "white trade only." Discrimination had become a way of life.
Finding his opportunities limited, he decided to attend the University of Denver and obtained a Business degree in 1950. After graduating and going to work for the federal government, he realized there were very few Hispanic lawyers so he obtained a Law degree from Westminster Law School in 1957 and became one of only five Latinos who practiced Law in the State of Colorado. One of his first cases as a lawyer, Gallegos v. People, involved an involuntary confession by a juvenile. The Colorado Supreme Court affirmed the defendants' convictions, but he appealed the case to the U.S. Supreme Court, which reversed the lower court's decision.
He carried on a successful law practice for many years and was elected to the Colorado State Senate in 1964, serving his Denver district for 12 years. As a Senator, he served as Caucus Chairman for two sessions, served on the Organization of State Government Committee implementing State Constitutional amendments, and was chosen by Tom Gavin of the Rocky Mountain News as one of three outstanding first term Senators. In 1978, Governor Richard Lamm appointed him to the State of Colorado District Court where he served in the domestic, civil and criminal divisions. Judge Cisneros retired in 1986 and served three more years as a senior judge.
Throughout his professional life he has found time to serve on a multitude of civil boards and organizations. In addition to serving on the Denver Commission on Community Relations, the National Advisory Board of the Small Business Administration and the Colorado Anti-Discrimination Commission, Judge Cisneros was a founder of the Marlee Garfield Improvement Association, founder of the Board of the Mexican American Legal Defense and Education Fund and founder of the Latin American Research and Service Agency (LARASA). He also served as president of the Latin American Educational Foundations and the United Latin American Organization.
Additionally, he served on The Colorado Olympic Commission when Denver was assigned the Winter Olympics, the Denver YMCA, the Denver Art Museum, Girls Club Inc., the West Side Action Council, and The Southwest Youth Service Board. He was appointed by the Denver School Board to serve on the Denver Equality of Education Opportunity Committee, and was appointed by Federal Judge William Doyle to the Community Education Council to supervise Denver Schools' integration program. He has served on the Colorado Board of Law Examiners, as a Vice President of the Denver Bar Association, as Chairman of the Continuing Legal Education Committee and was a member of the Governor's Commission on Child Support.
In honor of Judge Cisneros' dedication to the community, a jury room inside the new Denver Justice Center was named after him in 2009. He is truly a Colorado Legal Legend.
(12/12)
