[Congressional Record Volume 167, Number 144 (Monday, August 9, 2021)]
[Senate]
[Pages S6108-S6109]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                     REMEMBERING ISIDORE B. TORRES

 Mr. PETERS. Madam President, I rise today to honor the memory 
and legacy of a trailblazer, the Honorable Isidore B. Torres, one of 
the first Hispanic judges in the State of Michigan and a prominent 
figure within the Michigan Latino community, who passed earlier this 
year.
  Born in 1947 in Texas to Chicano migrant workers, Judge Torres began 
his life traveling between Texas and Michigan, following whatever work 
was available, until later in his childhood when his parents settled in 
Bay City, MI, so their children could receive an education. Once 
settled, Judge Torres and his siblings were still expected to 
contribute to the family's well-being and would come home from school 
to help their mother work in sugar beet fields outside of Bay City.
  Upon graduation from Bay City Central High School in 1966, a guidance 
counselor advised Judge Torres not to pursue a legal education and 
instead suggested other careers, particularly those that were attached 
to Hispanic stereotypes and influenced by prejudice. Ignoring other's 
doubts and racial biases, Judge Torres graduated with his bachelor's 
degree in criminal justice from Michigan State University in 1973 and 
later earned his law degree from Wayne State University in 1976.
  Beginning his career with Neighborhood Legal Services in Detroit, in 
1978, Judge Torres was hired by the city of Detroit as senior assistant 
corporation counsel and later cofounded the law firm of Torres & 
Horvath. In 1983, he was appointed by Governor Blanchard to the 36th 
District Court, where he became the first Hispanic magistrate and later 
judge in the Wayne County court system.

[[Page S6109]]

  Eventually, Judge Torres rose to the Wayne County Circuit Court and 
handled first criminal and then civil cases until he retired in 2010. 
He was also appointed to serve on numerous commissions including the 
Michigan Supreme Court Racial/Ethnic Task Force, Michigan Sentencing 
Guidelines Commission and State Bar of Michigan Open Justice 
Commission.
  Throughout his successful career and during his well-earned 
retirement, Judge Torres remained humble and spent a large amount of 
time within the community helping people navigate whatever legal 
troubles they had. He stayed strongly tied to and felt passionately 
about his Chicano roots and never lost sight of what was most important 
to him: working to ensure equal access to justice for all.
  I ask you and my fellow colleagues to join me in celebrating the life 
of the Honorable Isidore B. Torres. As we remember Judge Torres' life, 
I hope his family--including spouse Goharik Karian Torres, children 
Felipe Torres, Laura Torres, Marissa Savitskie, and five 
grandchildren--finds comfort in the precious moments and memories they 
shared with him, in the lessons he taught them, and in the love he 
showed them.

                          ____________________