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A Tribute to Cassandra Q. Butts, Former LDF Assistant Counsel

Update June 2, 2016: Public visitation will be held on Monday, June 6th, 6:00pm – 8:00pm at McGuire Funeral Service, Inc., 7400 Georgia, Ave., NW, Washington, DC 20012. A memorial service will be held on Tuesday, June 7th, 6:30pm-8:30pm Metropolitan AME Church, 1518 M. Street, NW, 20005. The NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund, Inc. […]

A Reflection on the 60th Anniversary of Brown v. Board of Education

A Reflection from Sherrilyn Ifill May 17th marks the 60th anniversary of the Supreme Court’s decision in Brown v. Board of Education, the constitutional moment that compelled our country to reckon with its history and confront the unfulfilled promise of equality first articulated in our founding documents. Brown v. Board literally changed America. It is a mid-20th century course correction […]

A New Vision for School Safety

Damon Hewitt, Director of Education Practice Group, spoke at a press conference organized by the Student Safety Coalition, a diverse group of educators, parents, students, advocates and legal experts. They implored the next mayor to implement reforms that end overly aggressive policing in the city schools and restore authority over school discipline to professional educators. […]

A Missed Opportunity to Help Ex-offenders

Last week the D.C. Council failed to act on the Returning Citizens Anti-Discrimination Act of 2012, opting instead to adopt a much weaker approach to helping ex-offenders in the city find jobs. If enacted, the Returning Citizens Anti-Discrimination Act would have prohibited employers from inquiring into an applicant’s criminal history until after they make a provisional […]

A Message from LDF’s President and Director-Counsel Sherrilyn Ifill on Our Work Amid the COVID-19 Pandemic

The coronavirus pandemic has caused profound anxiety and uncertainty throughout the United States. At the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund, Inc. (LDF), we are deeply committed to ensuring the health and safety of our families, colleagues, and communities. We recognize that this crisis has exposed issues that this country has ignored for too long regarding its treatment of disenfranchised groups, including communities of […]

A conversation with LDF’s Sherrilyn Ifill and authors Ta-Nehisi Coates and Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie

On, February 21st, LDF Board member, Robyn Coles, and friend of LDF, Pauletta Washington, hosted an evening of engagement featuring an intimate conversation with: Sherrilyn Ifill, LDF President and Director-Counsel Ta-Nehisi Coates, author and distinguished writer in residence at NYU’s Arthur L. Carter Journalism Institute Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, author and MacArthur Foundation Fellow Of the […]

A civil rights retrospective

2013 has been particularly eventful for those of us working to protect civil rights. LDF has been aggressively involved in safeguarding all Americans’ civil rights — in particular — the right to vote. Read below for a look back on this historic year. Protecting the right to vote in the wake of Shelby County, Alabama […]

A Call to Community: Why We Cannot Wait for the Next Troy Davis

LDF’s Senior Community Advocate, Lumumba Akinwole-Bandele, and Dr. Khalilah L. Brown-Dean reflect on the first anniversary of Troy Davis’ execution and the continuing fight against the death penalty. The public’s response to Troy Davis’s plight reflects a persistent and troubling pattern among communities of color: intense organizing in response to overt instances of racial injustice […]

9th Circuit Court of Appeals Leaves Discriminatory Disfranchisement Law in Place

Last evening, the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals rendered a decision in Farrakhan v. Gregoire that leaves a racially discriminatory disfranchisement law in place. LDF argued before the court in September on behalf of African-American, Latino, and Native American plaintiffs who had been denied the right to vote under Washington State’s law, which bars those […]

80th Anniversary

64th Anniversary of Brown v. Board of Education

In 2018, the landmark U.S. Supreme Court case Brown v. Board of Education turned 64. Brown invalidated racial segregation in public schools throughout the United States and paved the way for integration in nearly every aspect of American life. The case was litigated by some of the nation’s best attorneys, including Thurgood Marshall, Robert Carter, […]

60 Civil Rights Groups Urge DeVos to Select an Assistant Secretary who will Protect Civil Rights of All Students

60 Civil Rights Groups Urge DeVos to Select an Assistant Secretary who will Protect Civil Rights of All Students Read the PDF of our statement here. WASHINGTON – Today, 60 civil rights groups sent a letter to U.S. Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos emphasizing the importance of the U.S. Department of Education’s Office for Civil […]

5th Circuit Preserves Higher ED Opportunity Victory

On Friday, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit rebuffed a request to reconsider its prior ruling upholding the constitutionality of the admissions program utilized by the University of Texas at Austin (UT Austin) to assemble a diverse student body.   Read full case update.

5th Circuit Preserves Higher ED Opportunity Victory

On Friday, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit rebuffed a request to reconsider its prior ruling upholding the constitutionality of the admissions program utilized by the University of Texas at Austin (UT Austin) to assemble a diverse student body.  Fisher v. University of Texas at Austin is the first federal appellate challenge to […]

54th Anniversary of Selma March