Jason Bailey is Senior Counsel at the NAACP Legal Defense Fund (“LDF”), where he litigates civil rights cases across the country involving housing discrimination, employment discrimination, environmental justice, education, and the First Amendment. His work includes serving as counsel in challenges to discriminatory water lien and utility shutoff practices under the Fair Housing Act, including Pickett v. City of Cleveland and Taylor v. City of Detroit. He has also served as counsel in First Amendment matters, including South Carolina State Conference of the NAACP v. Weaver and Dream Defenders v. DeSantis. In addition to his litigation work, Jason engages in policy advocacy on these issues and has co-authored several reports for LDF’s Thurgood Marshall Institute, including The Bad Housing Blues: Discrimination in the Housing Choice Voucher Program in Memphis, Tennessee and Foreclosures, Evictions, and Utility Shutoffs: The Fair Housing Impact of COVID-19 on Black Communities.
Before returning to LDF, Jason served as a Deputy Chief in the Federal Coordination and Compliance Section at the U.S. Department of Justice’s Civil Rights Division. In that role, he managed and directed enforcement activities under Title VI, the Safe Streets Act, and related authorities to address discriminatory law enforcement and correctional practices, advance environmental justice, and promote meaningful language access.
Jason’s other federal service includes serving as a Senior Advisor for Civil Rights in the Environmental Protection Agency’s Office of Environmental Justice and External Civil Rights, where he provided legal guidance in environmental justice investigations pursuant to Title VI. Earlier in his career, Jason litigated employment discrimination cases on behalf of workers as a Trial Attorney at the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission in Memphis, Tennessee.
Jason previously served as a law clerk for the Honorable Susan O. Hickey in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Arkansas. He began his legal career as an Equal Justice Works Fellow at the Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law, where he led a project designed to address housing discrimination in Arkansas.
Jason graduated magna cum laude from the University of Arkansas School of Law. He also holds a Master of Public Administration from Arkansas State University and a Bachelor of Arts in Political Science from the University of Arkansas at Monticello. He is admitted to practice in Arkansas and the District of Columbia.
