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Divided Court Denies Case Where Race Impacted Death Sentence

We are gravely disappointed that the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals has dismissed Duane Buck’s appeal and failed to recognize that his death sentence is the unconstitutional product of racial discrimination. As noted by three members of the Court, ‘[t]he record in this case reveals a chronicle of inadequate representation at every stage of the proceedings, the […]

Diverse Coalition Sends Letter to Congressional Leaders Urging Swift Action in Response to Police Killings

Today, the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund, Inc. (LDF) joined 385 other organizations, assembled by the Leadership Conference on Civil Rights, in sending a letter to congressional leadership requesting swift and decisive action in response to recent police killings and other violence against Black people across the country. The letter describes urgently needed reforms […]

Diverse Coalition of Students and Community Organizations Ask to Intervene in Suit to Defend Expanded Access to Elite New York City Public Schools

 LDF, ACLU, NYCLU, and LatinoJustice PRLDEF File Motion to Intervene to Allow Students and Advocacy Groups to Join the Defense of Efforts to Improve Racial Equity at Specialized High Schools A diverse group of public school students and local community-based organizations asked a federal court to allow them to intervene today in a lawsuit over a […]

Diverse Coalition of Student and Community Organizations Permitted to Intervene in Suit to Defend Expanded Access for Black and Latinx Students to New York City’s Specialized High Schools

In a recent decision, Teens Take Charge – a public school student-led organization, the Hispanic Federation, Desis Rising Up & Moving (DRUM), the Coalition for Asian American Children and Families (CACF), and multiple Black and Latinx public school students and their families were granted intervenor status in Christa McAuliffe Intermediate School PTO v. Bill de […]

District Court Rules for LDF Clients in St. Martin Parish Desegregation Case

On August 1, a federal district court in Louisiana issued a ruling in Thomas v. School Board of St. Martin Parish, ordering the school board to follow a plan proposed by the plaintiffs that advances desegregation efforts in the district. The Court’s order adopts the plaintiffs’ remedial proposal to keep Black and white students together […]

District Court Rejects Federal Challenge to Arkansas Congressional Map: Eastern District of Arkansas Court Finds Lack of Evidence that Map is a Racial Gerrymander and is Racially Dilutive

Read a PDF of our statement here.  After years of litigation, a three-judge federal panel granted Defendant’s summary judgment motion in Christian Ministerial Alliance, et al. v. John Thurston, unanimously ruling that the 2021 enacted Arkansas congressional map did not constitute a racial gerrymander and amount to intentional racial discrimination. The panel’s ruling prematurely stops […]

District Court Rejects Citizenship Status Question for 2020 Census

District Court Orders Alabama to Adopt New Congressional Map with Two Black Opportunity Districts

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. – A district court in Alabama today ordered the state to adopt a congressional map that includes two districts where Black voters will have the opportunity to elect the candidates of their choice. This map remedies Alabama’s previous map, which the U.S. Supreme Court ruled was discriminatory in Allen v. Milligan. Last week, […]

District Court Grants LDF’s Motion to Intervene in Georgia Lawsuit Challenging Section 5 of the Voting Rights Act

Today the Court granted LDF’s motion to intervene in Georgia v. Holder, a case in which Georgia seeks pre-approval of a voting change that would significantly alter the voter registration process in the state.  If Georgia cannot preclear the change, it seeks to invalidate Section 5, a core provision of the Voting Rights Act.  

District Court Denies Request from Shelby County, Alabama for $2 Million in Attorney’s Fees

This week, the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia denied a request from Shelby County, Alabama for $2 million in attorney’s fees after the Supreme Court’s decision in Shelby County v. Holder. The plaintiff County’s request was made under a provision in the Voting Rights Act that permits fee requests to successful litigants in actions “enforc[ing] voting guarantees […]