Read a PDF of our statement here.
Sherrilyn Ifill, President and Director-Counsel of the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund, Inc. (LDF), issued the following statement in response to the dismissal of Attorney General Jeff Sessions by President Trump:
“Although we openly opposed Jeff Sessions’ appointment as attorney general and have repeatedly criticized his failure to enforce the nation’s civil rights laws, we find his dismissal an ominous sign that the president continues to jeopardize the independence of the Department of Justice. The next attorney general should be strongly committed to equal justice for all Americans, and he or she should respect the rule of law above all else. We also expect that leaders of both houses of Congress will intervene to protect the Justice Department from any attempts to undermine its independence, including any attempt to prematurely end or compromise the special counsel’s investigation into the 2016 election.”
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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 and 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.
