In Their Words Women of LDF on Constance Baker Motley’s Enduring Legacy Through her storied career, Constance Baker Motley left an indelible mark, advancing civil rights in the United States, improving countless lives through her work on desegregation and equity — and breaking numerous professional barriers in the process. Motley was the first Black woman to be elected to the
Lawyer. Advocate. Judge. Elected Official. Motley with LDF founder Thurgood Marshall and former LDF Director-Counsel Jack Greenberg. LDF’s first female attorney, Constance Baker Motley wrote the original complaint in Brown v. Board of Education and pioneered the legal campaigns for several seminal school desegregation cases. She was the first Black woman to argue before the Supreme Court and went on
LDF filed a federal lawsuit against Secretary of State Laurel M. Lee challenging Florida’s new law that greatly restricts voting access. The lawsuit argues that S.B. 90 creates unnecessary barriers and burdens that disproportionately impact Black and Latinx voters, and voters with disabilities, violating Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act, the First, Fourteenth, and Fifteenth Amendments to the United
All Hands on Deck: Closing the COVID-19 Racial and Ethnic Gap in Maryland April 23, 2021 On March 1, 2021, Governor Larry Hogan announced Maryland’s plan to improve equity in vaccine distribution. This equity plan included a public-private partnership between Maryland’s health department, the University of Maryland Medical System, and Johns Hopkins Medicine to focus on vaccinating the most vulnerable