Today, the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund, Inc. (LDF) sent a letter urging the Senate to oppose the nomination of Kathryn Mizelle to the United States District Court for the Middle District of Florida. This vote comes at a time when the country is facing a catastrophic health and safety crisis which should be the focus of the Senate. To date, there are more than 11.4 million confirmed cases of COVID-19 in the United States and over 248,350 deaths. The unemployment rate remains high among the general population at 6.9% and at approximately 10.8% among the Black population. Despite the ongoing public health and economic crisis caused by this pandemic, the Senate has failed to consider critical legislation passed by the U.S. House of Representatives on May 15, 2020, the Health and Economic Recovery Omnibus Emergency Solutions (“HEROES”) Act, which provides relief for the COVID-19 crises facing the nation.
Furthermore, on September 8, 2020, the American Bar Association’s (“ABA”) Standing Committee on the Federal Judiciary delivered a letter to Chairman Graham and Ranking Member Feinstein with an assessment of Ms. Mizelle as “Not Qualified” to serve as a district court judge for the Middle District of Florida.
Read the full letter here.
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Founded in 1940, the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund, Inc. (LDF) is the nation’s first civil and human rights law organization. LDF has been completely separate from the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) since 1957—although LDF was originally founded by the NAACP and shares its commitment to equal rights. LDF’s Thurgood Marshall Institute is a multi-disciplinary and collaborative hub within LDF that launches targeted campaigns and undertakes innovative research to shape the civil rights narrative. In media attributions, please refer to us as the NAACP Legal Defense Fund or LDF. Follow LDF on Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook.
