Center for Human Rights and Constitutional Law
Mail: PO Box 770
Bell Gardens, CA 90201
March 2025
The Board of Directors of the Center for Human Rights and Constitutional Law (the Center), Foundation is pleased to announce the appointment of Sergio Perez as Executive Director, effective February 10, 2025. Sergio is replacing Interim Director Sarah Kahn, who stepped in after the Center’s Founder and President Peter Schey fell ill in October 2023 and passed away on April 2, 2024, from complications of cancer. The Board thanks Sarah for her incredibly deft handling of the Center’s work during the transition.
“I am proud of what the Center has accomplished in the difficult year after Peter’s death and thrilled to welcome Sergio as our Executive Director,” said Kahn. “I know that he will expand the Center’s impact through community-led legal and nonlegal advocacy. We look forward to fighting for justice under his leadership in the coming years.”
Sergio has worked within the fields of civil rights and the abuse of government power for nearly 15 years. Upon graduating from Yale Law School, he joined the U.S. Department of Justice’s Civil Rights Division as a trial attorney, investigating and litigating allegations of unconstitutional policing practices across the United States and its territories. He was part of the team that investigated and prosecuted Arizona’s Sheriff Joe Arpaio and the Maricopa County Sheriff's Office for racial profiling and other unlawful policing practices, including discrimination of undocumented persons.
Sergio also previously served as the Executive Director of Orange County's Office of Independent Review (OIR). OIR has oversight authority over justice-related county agencies, including the Orange County Sheriff’s Department and the Office of the District Attorney. He also previously worked with the Los Angeles County Office of the Inspector General to investigate allegations of excessive force within the County's juvenile halls and camps. He then served as chief author of a public report that brought to light troubling practices and ultimately led to the elimination of pepper spray in those facilities.
Sergio is a Los Angeles native, the son of formerly undocumented immigrants from Mexico, and the first in his family to graduate from high school.
“I am excited to join the Center and its amazing team. Our immigrant and refugee communities are under constant attack by the Trump administration, which acts without bounds in its war on the rights and humanity of the adults and children who seek peace in the United States. I look forward to continuing the Center’s legacy in securing dignity and respect for our most vulnerable, while centering the expertise and needs of the community,” Perez said.