President Donald Trump announced on July 9th, 2018, his nomination of Judge Brett Kavanaugh to replace Justice Anthony Kennedy on the U.S. Supreme Court. Sherrilyn Ifill, President and Director-Counsel of the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund, Inc. (LDF), issued the following statement: “This nomination is a turning point for our country. We have litigated racial discrimination issues at the
For over 30 years, the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund, Inc. (LDF) has conducted a full and thorough analysis of the civil rights record of each nominee to the United States Supreme Court. Following our review, we issue a comprehensive report setting forth our analysis of that record and indicating our view of the candidate’s likely approach to deciding
By: Natasha Merle, Associate Counsel and Fried Frank Fellow at the NAACP Legal Defense Fund On November 8th, millions of Americans went to their local polling precincts and cast ballots in the general election. By the early morning of November 9th, voters knew not only the President-Elect but also who would occupy 99 of the 100 seats in the Senate
LDF Called on Congress to Exercise its Oversight Authority Over the Department of Justice by Kyle Barry, LDF Policy Counsel Following the white supremacist violence in Charlottesville, the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund, Inc. (LDF) called on Congress to exercise its oversight authority over the Department of Justice (DOJ) to ensure the agency was doing everything in its power to
By Cristian A. Farias, Writer-in-Residence at the Thurgood Marshall Institute of the NAACP Legal Defense Fund When the Supreme Court decided the seminal Brown v. Board of Education, the justices made it plain that the “original meaning” of the Constitution’s guarantee of equal protection had little bearing on their decision to end school segregation once and for all. Chief Justice Earl Warren,
by Todd A. Cox, LDF Policy Director Today marks the 50th anniversary of the landmark civil rights Supreme Court decision in Newman v. Piggie Park, which ruled that businesses cannot justify discrimination — such as refusing to serve Black customers as was the case then — because of religion. Yet, the issue is now being re-litigated. This time, by framing the issue as one of free
By Todd A. Cox, LDF Policy Director In honor of Martin Luther King Jr. Day, many Senate Republicans released statements or tweets commemorating Dr. King’s legacy of social justice. In a statement, Senator Lindsey Graham said, “We honor Dr. King because he gave his life to a worthy cause which was to make America a more socially just place.” And in a Twitter
by Leah Aden, LDF Senior Counsel In 2020, the federal government will undertake the monumental and important task of attempting to count each person residing within our country’s borders. An exercise that has taken place every 10 years, since 1790, and is mandated by the U.S. Constitution, it cannot be overstated how important the Census is to the well-functioning, representative
