Wednesday, November 27, 2024 | news
On Monday, Walmart announced it will roll back its diversity, equity, inclusion, and accessibility (DEIA) policies, despite previously emphasizing the importance of these initiatives and amid an increasingly polarized racial climate. In response, Janai Nelson, President and Director-Counsel of the Legal Defense Fund (LDF), issued the following statement: “Considering people of color constitute nearly half […]
Thursday, October 5, 2023 | news
On Monday, the Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office (JSO) released body-worn camera footage of a brutal law enforcement attack on Le’Keian Woods, a 24-year-old Black man. In response to this, Legal Defense Fund (LDF) President and Director-Counsel Janai Nelson issued the following statement: “Our hearts go out to Le’Keian Woods and his family during this traumatic time, […]
Wednesday, December 17, 2025 | news
Today, the U.S. Congress passed the Fiscal Year 2026 National Defense Authorization Act (FY26 NDAA), which includes sweeping provisions rolling back existing diversity, equity, inclusion, and accessibility initiatives across the Department of Defense and prohibiting such initiatives in the future. The bill specifically eliminates or restricts programs designed to ensure fair recruitment, retention, training, and […]
Tuesday, April 2, 2019 | news
Senate Republicans are poised to decrease the amount of time legislators can debate district court and certain executive nominees from 30 hours to just two hours. Lisa Cylar Barrett, Policy Director at the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund, Inc., issued the following statement: “Senate Republicans have already razed Senate norms in order to fill […]
Tuesday, January 21, 2025 | news
The Legal Defense Fund (LDF) today condemned a series of Executive Orders issued by President Trump on the first day of his second and final term in office that are a sweeping attack on democracy and civil rights. These actions include, among others, rescinding vital voting rights measures and police reforms, challenging birthright citizenship, increasing […]
Tuesday, July 3, 2018 | news
The U.S. Departments of Justice and Education plan to announce today that they are rescinding guidance issued to help promote diversity and reduce racial isolation in K-12 schools and higher education. The guidance emphasizes ensuring that, “our nation’s students are provided with learning environments comprised of students of diverse backgrounds” which “greatly contribute[s] to the […]
Friday, June 6, 2025 | news
On Wednesday, the Trump administration issued a proclamation imposing immigration and travel restrictions for people from 12 different countries, primarily in Africa and the Middle East. The President’s proclamation contains a number of harmful racial stereotypes and makes especially egregious comments about Haitian communities. The ban is set to take effect on June 9, 2025. […]
Wednesday, March 12, 2025 | news
Yesterday, the Trump Administration announced plans to eliminate nearly half of all positions within the U.S. Department of Education, an extraordinary step toward executing the Project 2025 playbook to weaken federal civil rights enforcement and eliminate programs and resources vital to the agency’s mission of providing all students, including Black students, with equal educational opportunities. […]
Thursday, April 24, 2025 | news
On April 23, 2025, the White House issued a series of executive orders aimed at school accreditation, protections against discriminatory policies, and fair school discipline practices. These orders will make it harder for accreditors to ensure that colleges provide quality outcomes for all students, make it easier for schools to subject students to discriminatory disciplinary […]
Thursday, August 3, 2023 | news
On July 29, 28-year-old O’Shae Sibley, a gay Black man, was stabbed to death at a Brooklyn gas station after he was reportedly attacked by a group of men who had berated Sibley and his friends with homophobic slurs. The New York Police Department is currently investigating the incident as a hate crime. No arrests […]
