Your Search Results

Statement from LDF on Senate Attacks on Thurgood Marshall

(Washington, DC) – During the Senate confirmation hearings of Elena Kagan to be Associate Justice of the U.S. Supreme Court, several Senators have disparaged Justice Thurgood Marshall, his judicial philosophy, and his connection to Elena Kagan, who once clerked for Justice Marshall. In response to these attacks, NAACP LDF President and Director-Counsel John Payton issues […]

Statement by the President on the Passing of John Payton

Michelle and I were saddened to hear about the passing of our dear friend John Payton. As president and director-counsel of the NAACP Legal Defense and Education Fund, John led the organization’s involvement in five Supreme Court cases. A true champion of equality, he helped protect civil rights in the classroom and at the ballot […]

Statement by National Black Faith and Civil Rights Leaders Encouraging Communities to Continue to “Stay at Home” in States Lifting Orders

Rev. Al Sharpton (NAN), Rev. Dr. W. Franklyn Richardson (CNBC), Sherrilyn Ifill (NAACP LDF), Marc Morial (NUL), Derrick Johnson (NAACP), Melanie Campbell (BWR), Kristen Clarke (Lawyers’ Committee) & the Heads of the Nation’s Nine Largest Historically Black Religious Denominations Encourage Communities to Stay at Home (April 24, 2020) – A group of national Black faith […]

Statement by LDF President and Director-Counsel John Payton on the Vital Importance of Higher Education Diversity in Response to the Supreme Court’s Decision Today to Review the University of Texas at Austin’s Race-Conscious Admissions Policy.

Today, the Supreme Court granted certiorari in Fisher v. University of Texas at Austin, the first federal appellate challenge to the use of race in university admissions since the Court’s landmark 2003 decision in Grutter v. Bollinger.  Last year, a three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit unanimously affirmed that […]

Statement by LDF on the Tragic Events in El Paso, TX and Dayton, OH

Read a PDF of our statement here.  LDF’s President and Director-Counsel Sherrilyn Ifill issued the following statement on the tragic events in El Paso, Texas and Dayton, Ohio: “LDF deeply mourns those killed in the mass shootings in El Paso, TX, and those killed just hours later in a mass shooting in Dayton, Ohio. We […]

Statement by Debo P. Adegbile, NAACP LDF Acting Director-Counsel and President in Support of National Voter Registration Day

September 25, 2012: National Voter Registration Day       “We stand today with all Americans on National Voter Registration Day to encourage the estimated 6 million Americans who did not vote in 2008 because they either missed a registration deadline or did not know how to register to make their voices heard.  We must […]

State VRA Model Bill

State Voting Rights Acts Model State Voting Rights Act Fill out the form below to request a copy of the Model State Voting Rights Act. Published Jan. 22, 2026 This publication presents a model State Voting Rights Act (“State VRA”), developed by five legal organizations with deep experience in both voting rights advocacy and litigation […]

State VRA Form

State Voting Rights Acts Join the Movement to Protect Voting Rights and Democracy in Your State Fill out this form to receive resources and information about State VRAs and how you can get involved. 

State Voting Rights Acts: Protecting Voting Rights and Democracy

Political Participation State Voting rights Acts Protecting Access to the Ballot Box State by State As Black voters and other voters of color across the country face the greatest assault on their voting rights since the Jim Crow era, a growing number of states are acting to protect the right to vote and safeguard our […]

State Voting Rights Acts Protect Democracy