Thursday, December 19, 2013 | news
Statement from Sherrilyn A. Ifill, President and Director-Counsel of the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund, Inc. The NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund, Inc. applauds President Obama’s decision today to commute the sentences of eight people currently serving extraordinarily inflated prison terms for nonviolent crack cocaine offenses. The President’s ability to commute sentences is an extraordinary power, […]
Thursday, November 20, 2014 | news
(Washington, D.C.)–The NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund, Inc. supports President Obama’s decision to use executive authority to begin building a framework for comprehensive immigration reform. The President’s action is a positive first step to address the approximately 11 million undocumented immigrants who currently reside in the United States, many of whom are children who […]
Tuesday, December 13, 2022 | news
Today, President Biden signed the Respect for Marriage Act into law after bipartisan votes in the United States House of Representatives and United States Senate advanced the bill to his desk on December 8. In response to the Act becoming law, Legal Defense Fund (LDF) President and Director-Counsel Janai Nelson issued the following statement: “LDF […]
Friday, January 17, 2025 | news
Today, President Biden commuted the sentences of thousands of people incarcerated under racially disparate sentencing schemes, including those resulting from the War on Drugs, and many more who are serving sentences they would not receive under today’s law and the Biden Administration’s policies. This act of clemency will result in sentencing reductions for nearly 2,500 […]
Thursday, October 6, 2022 | news
Today, President Biden announced major steps in reforming the nation’s long-standing criminalization of people – disproportionately Black and Brown persons – for possessing or using cannabis, including pardons for prior federal offenses related to cannabis possession. In response, Legal Defense Fund (LDF) President and Director-Counsel Janai Nelson issued the following statement: “We strongly applaud President Biden […]
Friday, December 20, 2013 | news
LDF is delighted that President Obama has nominated Sharon Y. Bowen to be the next Commissioner of the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC). This appointment is a welcome addition to the President’s recent appointment of women and African Americans to key positions in the financial regulatory regime. If confirmed, Ms. Bowen will be the first […]
Saturday, November 8, 2014 | news
The NAACP Legal Defense Fund (LDF) applauds President Obama’s historic appointment of the first African American female Attorney General of the United States, Loretta Lynch. Ms. Lynch, U.S. attorney for the Eastern District of New York, would serve as the 83rd Attorney General, filling the post of the first African American Attorney General, Eric Holder. The […]
Thursday, February 11, 2016 | news
The NAACP Legal Defense & Educational Fund, Inc. (LDF) is thrilled by President Obama’s announcement today of the nomination of Judge Abdul K. Kallon to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit. If confirmed, Judge Kallon would become the first African-American judge from Alabama on the Eleventh Circuit. Indeed, since 1891, only white […]
Friday, August 23, 2013 | news
The Passage of the Act Is Another Major Step Towards Ending Discriminatory Stop-And-Frisk Practices New York — Today, the City Council of New York overturned Mayor Bloomberg’s veto of the Community Safety Act. The Act includes two bills which establish more oversight over the New York City Police Department (NYPD) and reign in its unlawful practices. One bill […]
Tuesday, January 31, 2023 | news
Today, the U.S. Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights released a fact sheet confirming that diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) training programs are in accordance with Title VI of the 1964 Civil Rights Act. Title VI states that “no person … shall be excluded from participation in, be denied the benefits of, or be […]
