Today, the U.S. District Court for the District of Maryland announced that NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund, Inc., (LDF) Senior Counsel Ajmel Quereshi has been appointed as a magistrate judge.
A member of the LDF team since 2015, Mr. Quereshi has litigated on behalf of Black Marylanders’ right to equal economic opportunity and in response to the closing of Baltimore’s Red Line light rail; on behalf of low-income Americans’ right to greater housing security and in response to the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development’s attempt to suspend a rule to provide greater housing opportunities for low-income families; and on behalf of public school students and parents in Baltimore and in response to the repeated failure of Maryland officials to fulfill their duty to provide a quality education to all students.
In response, LDF issued the following statements:
Sherrilyn Ifill, LDF President and Director-Counsel
“Ajmel is a treasured and highly skilled senior attorney on the LDF staff. He is fair and deeply knowledgeable about the challenges of litigation. He will be an excellent magistrate for our federal court in Maryland.”
Janai S. Nelson, Associate Director-Counsel
“While his loss will be keenly felt within LDF, we could not be happier to congratulate Ajmel for his much-deserved appointment as a magistrate judge for the U.S. District Court for the District of Maryland. He will bring to the district court the same passionate dedication to equal justice under the law that has inspired so many of his LDF colleagues during his tenure as Senior Counsel.”
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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.
