Today, the United States Senate confirmed Myrna Pérez to serve on the Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit. An exceptional voting rights attorney who is intimately familiar with election law, Judge Pérez becomes the only Latina sitting on the 2nd U.S. Circuit Court.
In response to Judge Pérez’s confirmation, Sherrilyn Ifill, President and Director-Counsel of the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund, Inc. (LDF), issued the following statement:
“We congratulate Myrna Pérez on her well-deserved confirmation to the Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit — a court that holds special significance to LDF because of its connection with our founder, Thurgood Marshall, who served on the 2nd Circuit, during a career that would ultimately see him become the first Black justice in the history of the U.S. Supreme Court. Ms. Perez will be the sole Latina on the Second Circuit of Appeals.
“Judge Pérez will bring professional diversity to the Court, taken in part from her experience as Director of the Voting Rights and Elections Program for the Brennan Center for Justice, where she litigated complex civil challenges and established herself as a respected legal advocate, academic, and expert. We have worked with Ms. Pérez in her role as litigator and are confident that she will bring her professional expertise, her distinct perspective, and her unwavering commitment to our constitutional democracy to the Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit.
“Her unassailable expertise in voting rights and election litigation; her professional record as a litigator and academic; and her reputation for integrity, intellectual rigor, and sharp analysis make us confident that Judge Pérez will bring an invaluable perspective to the court — especially at a time when the state of democracy itself is in peril.”
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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.
