In advance of Monday’s Senate Judiciary Committee vote on the nomination of Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson for Associate Justice of the U.S. Supreme Court, Joel Motley, son of former NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund, Inc. (LDF) attorney and lead strategist on the seminal Brown v. Board of Education litigation, who later became the first Black woman to serve as a federal judge, Constance Baker Motley, issued the following statement:
“During Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson’s confirmation hearings, the nation witnessed the expertise, experience and integrity that makes her exceedingly qualified to serve as the next Associate Justice of the Supreme Court. Just as my mother faced during her own confirmation hearings to become the first Black woman to serve as a federal judge, Judge Jackson was met with falsehoods and attacks on her credibility.
“Through it all, however, Judge Jackson showed time and again why she has the temperament and ability to serve on our nation’s highest court. It is imperative that senators on both sides of the aisle vote in favor of her confirmation. Not only will it mark another historic step forward for our nation, but Judge Jackson is exactly the kind of jurist needed on the Supreme Court.”
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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.