Monday, November 7, 2016 | news
Dylan Roof Shouldn’t Get the Death Penalty Today is the start of the federal death penalty trial of Dylann S. Roof, the white man accused of murdering black worshipers at the Mother Emanuel church in Charleston, S.C. The killings of “the Charleston Nine” last year were as violent and seared with racial hatred as the […]
Thursday, April 20, 2017 | news
Buck may not stop here after all. Twenty years after Duane Buck was put on Death Row, partly due to racist testimony from a so-called “expert witness”, a Texas court vacates his death sentence.
Wednesday, June 7, 2017 | news
Who Is Dangerous, and Who Dies? Then, not long ago, I read about the case of Buck v. Davis, decided by the Supreme Court on Feb. 22. Duane Buck had been convicted of capital murder in 1997. He killed his ex-girlfriend and one of her friends. The details of the crime are appalling, but no […]
Tuesday, November 29, 2016 | news
The NAACP Legal Defense Fund and Criminal Justice in the 21st Century The NAACP Legal Defense Fund used the legal system to overcome separate but equal, desegregate schools and public facilities, and bring some measure of equal justice to African Americans living under Jim Crow laws in the U.S. What role does this legendary organization […]
Wednesday, July 2, 2014 | news
Today, the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund, Inc. (LDF) announced that Christina Swarns has been appointed its permanent Director of Litigation. For the past year, Ms. Swarns has served as LDF’s Interim Litigation Director and, since 2003, she has Directed LDF’s Criminal Justice Practice Group. As LDF’s Director of Litigation, Ms. Swarns will provide […]
Wednesday, September 8, 2021 | staff
Christina Das is an Attorney at the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund, Inc. (LDF), where she works to advance and defend voting rights and racial equity through legislation and policy change. Christina’s experience includes executing strategic campaigns to expand voter access for Black people, such as passing in-person Early Voting in South Carolina in […]
Monday, June 26, 2017 | news
Read the PDF of our staement here. Christina A. Swarns to Step Down as LDF Litigation Director Will Be Succeeded by Samuel Spital After 14 years with the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund, Inc. (LDF) – the last three as Litigation Director – Christina A. Swarns is leaving LDF to lead the Office of the […]
Tuesday, July 27, 2021 | case-issue
On June 10, 2019, LDF filed a lawsuit under Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act, challenging the method of electing judges to the Arkansas Supreme Court and Court of Appeals, the two highest courts in the state. The election processes for those courts have for decades denied Black voters an equal opportunity to participate in […]
Friday, March 30, 2018 | staff
Chris Kemmitt is Director of Litigation at the Legal Defense Fund (LDF). As one of two Directors of Litigation, Chris co-leads the litigation department with Deuel Ross. He supervises LDF’s litigation efforts related to the criminal legal system and economic justice. Chris joined LDF in 2015 and has been a member of the litigation management […]
Tuesday, July 5, 2016 | news
LDF Senior Counsel Chris Kemmitt visited WPFW’s emPower Hour on June 30, 2016 to talk about the U.S. Supreme Court’s Utah v. Strieff decision and Justice Sotomayor’s dissent.
