NAACP Legal Defense Fund : Defend, Educate, Empower

May 17, 1954 marks a defining moment in the history of the United States.  On that day, the Supreme Court declared  the doctrine of  “separate but equal” unconstititutional and handed LDF  the most celebrated victory in its storied history.

Although the...

In 1971, the Supreme Court issued a unanimous ruling in Griggs v. Duke Power, which transformed our nation’s work places.  As a result of LDF’s advocacy, the Supreme Court embraced a powerful legal tool – now known as the “disparate impact” framework...

In Smith v. Allwright, Thurgood Marshall rose in front of the United States Supreme Court to argue that Texas’s Democratic primary system allowed whites to structurally dominate the politics of the one-party South. Specifically, the case presented the question of whether the...

Few cases involving the intersection of race, criminal law, and procedure have had the reach and impact of McCleskey v. Kemp.  The Supreme Court’s decision in McCleskey protected criminal justice laws and policies from being challenged on the basis of racially...