Thursday, July 17, 2025 | news
Read a PDF of our statement here. Today, the Legal Defense Fund (LDF) honors the tremendous legacy of celebrated civil rights leader and former Georgia Congressman John Lewis. July 17 marks the fifth anniversary of his passing. As many celebrate this John Lewis National Day of Action, LDF urges legislators to take meaningful steps to […]
Tuesday, August 6, 2024 | news
Today marks the 59th anniversary of the passage of the Voting Rights Act of 1965 (VRA), signed into law by President Lyndon Johnson on August 6, 1965. Hailed as one of the most critical civil rights laws ever passed, the VRA mandated the promise of equal voting rights in the United States into law, enacting […]
Saturday, March 5, 2016 | news
Last weekend marked the 51st Anniversary of “Bloody Sunday” — the attempted Selma to Montgomery, Alabama march that began on the Edmund Pettus bridge, was thwarted by brutal state violence, and was later resumed, leading to the passage of the Voting Rights Act of 1965 (VRA). On that infamous Sunday of March 7, 1965, Alabama state troopers […]
Monday, October 2, 2017 | news
Read a PDF of our statement here. LDF Commemorates the 50th Anniversary of Thurgood Marshall’s Swearing-In to the U.S. Supreme Court Fifty years ago today, Thurgood Marshall was sworn in as an Associate Justice of the United States Supreme Court, becoming the nation’s first African-American Supreme Court Justice. A graduate of Howard University School of Law—first […]
Wednesday, March 11, 2015 | news
On Sunday March 8th, Sherrilyn Ifill gave remarks at the traditional service Sunday morning at Brown Chapel AME Church, afterward participating in a symbolic march that drew an unprecedented 80,000 participants to the Edmund Pettus Bridge. The service included remarks from Attorney General Eric Holder, Martin Luther King III, the Rev. Jesse Jackson, the Rev. Al Sharpton among others. […]
Wednesday, March 12, 2014 | news
This weekend marked the 49th Anniversary of “Bloody Sunday,” the Selma to Montgomery, Alabama march that grew out of voter registration movements spearheaded by SNCC, the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee. Lawyers from the NAACP Legal Defense Fund, including President & Director-Counsel Sherrilyn Ifill; Director of the Washington D.C. office Leslie Proll; and the Political Participation […]
Friday, August 6, 2010 | news
(New York) — Today, the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund, Inc. (LDF) commemorates the 45th anniversary of the signing of the Voting Rights Act, a bill that remains a cornerstone feature of American democracy. The Act is widely considered one of the most successful and effective civil rights statutes ever passed by Congress and […]
Tuesday, March 28, 2017 | news
The memorial service for Roger Wilkins will be held on Saturday, May 20, 2017 at 1:30 p.m. at Robert L. Smith Meeting Room in the Quaker Meeting House and Arts Center at Sidwell Friends School (3825 Wisconsin Ave., NW, Washington, DC 20016). A reception will follow at the school. Free parking is available on campus. […]
Tuesday, December 20, 2016 | news
Read the PDF of our statement here. The NAACP Legal Defense Fund mourns the loss of long-time board member Louis Harris. Harris was a giant of American political life, revolutionizing the use of public opinion analysis in the sphere of politics and public policy. His early work with candidate – later President – John F. Kennedy, […]
Wednesday, August 6, 2025 | news
Sixty years ago today, President Lyndon B. Johnson signed the Voting Rights Act of 1965 (VRA) into law, enshrining protections for voters who were historically denied access to the ballot box. The VRA was one of the most significant achievements of the civil rights movement, ending discriminatory practices used to prevent Black voters from exercising […]
