Janai Nelson
@janainelson
President & Director-Counsel of LDF (NAACP Legal Defense & Educational Fund, Inc.) the nation's premier racial justice & civil rights law organization. Posts are my own.
The face of courage and conviction. Traits that so many of our leaders lack. Rest in peace and power, Mr. Lewis. We will not stop making good and necessary trouble in your name.
Mayor Zohran Mamdani and his team lead the most racially and ethnically diverse city in the U.S. LDF has been leading the fight for racial justice in America for over 85 years. Thank you, Mr. Mayor for an energizing meeting and our shared mission of racial equity.
Call your Senators today and demand they vote NO on Todd Blanche as U.S. Attorney General: 202-224-3121
When your cause is just, you don’t need a cover. If your beliefs are popular, you pursue them openly. Only when you know your actions are immoral, do you don a mask.
The first paragraph of Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson’s concurrence is a devastating takedown of Justice Thomas’s heinous opinion: “The Reconstruction Amendments were an anticaste, antisubordination reset for the Nation, not a mere spot treatment for the dark stain of slavery.”
VICTORY! In what should have been a 9-0 decision, a 5-1-3 majority struck down Trump’s executive order banning birthright citizenship. LDF proudly defends birthright citizenship and the sanctity of the 14th amendment. Kudos to our outstanding ACLU co-counsel. www.supremecourt.gov/opinions/25p...
As LDF forecast in our amicus brief, Trump’s overt racially-motivated opposition to Haitian nationals remaining in the U.S., regardless of immigration status, has now been rewarded by the Supreme Court. www.supremecourt.gov/DocketPDF/25...
Juneteenth is not only a celebration of freedom: It’s a reminder that we are not free until ALL of us are free. This Juneteenth we face a nationwide authoritarian attack on fair representation and civil rights. We defeated authoritarianism before, and we will do it again.
This was one of the worst weeks on recent record of the Trump takeover govt abusing taxpayer funds to terrorize nonprofits. From a scam cong’l hearing on SPLC to cont’d harassment of Democracy Defenders to an FBI raid of Ohio Organizing Collaborative & immigrants rts group AMICA …
The sham congressional hearing on @SPLCenter is the latest attempt by the corrupt Trump admin to silence its critics and redirect attention from its own extremism. This is an abuse of taxpayer resources when Congress should be focused on oversight and improving Americans’ lives.
The California race is good practice for November. There will be manufactured allegations of fraud, attacks on mail-in voting (Trump’s personally preferred voting method), and myriad efforts to spoil the election. Voters must be discerning and patient. Sometimes you just have to let it cook.
This is now a game of truth or dare for SCOTUS. A month ago 6 justices held “Section 2 imposes liability…when the evidence supports a strong inference that the state intentionally drew its districts to afford minority voters less oppty b/c of their race.”
HAPPENING NOW: LDF’s Associate Director-Counsel Todd Cox testifies before the Senate Judiciary Committee’s Subcommittee on the Constitution: “Enforcing Callais: Implementing the Supreme Court’s Command Against Racial Gerrymandering” www.judiciary.senate.gov/committee-ac...
State-sponsored racial segregation was outlawed and the civil rights movement that transformed this country took off giving life to the 14th Amendment.
72 years ago the brave clients and lawyers behind the landmark Brown v. Board case secured a victory in the Supreme Court that helped civilize America.
Every year we gather in community to celebrate and support LDF’s critical work at our National Equal Justice Awards Dinner! Last night was our 38th and it was an extraordinary moment of joy and jubilation to energize us for the ongoing fight. Thank you to everyone who attended!
Justice Sotomayor’s powerful dissent joined by Justices Kagan and Jackson underscores that nothing in Callais requires this result. We proved international racial discrimination against Black voters under the 14th Amend and SCOTUS ignored facts and law with no reasoning.
BREAKING: SCOTUS’s extremist justices cleared the way to undo the fair maps in Alabama that gave Black voters real representation for a mere two years under Allen v. Milligan. Evidence of Court capture is undeniable. We, the people, must mobilize to refound democracy on our own.
Yet, In the second sentence of our opposition papers to the Court we clearly stated: “This Court should afford Appellants the opportunity to consider seeking rehearing in the ordinary course. See Supreme Court Rule 44.1 (allowing 25 days for a party to seek rehearing.”) 4/ 5
Just as galling, in bending its rule only the third time in 25 years to accommodate the Callais plaintiffs’ request for a hasty transmission of the decision, SCOTUS said “the Robinson appellants … have not expressed any intent to ask this Court to reconsider its judgment.” 3/5
BREAKING: SCOTUS just denied our motion to recall the judgment in Louisiana v. Callais, which the Court transmitted prematurely and in contravention of the procedural rules that typically affords litigants 25 days to request a rehearing of a case that was wrongly decided. 1/5
How it started … how it’s going! Maryland did it! The legislature passed the Maryland Voting Rights Act, making history and protecting democracy on bill at a time. Congratulations to all the advocates to helped push it through—especially LDF’s MD Team!
The 14th Àmendment is the dividing line between a true constitutional democracy and cosplaying as one. Shoutout to @sherrilynifill for organizing an excellent 14A symposium at @howardlawschool, incl’g a panel with me, @RepRaskin & @CardozoLaw’s Wilfred Codrington.
Two books arrived that I can’t wait to read: Senator Cory Booker’s STAND and Damario Simmons REDEEM A NATION. Congratulations to both authors for these important and timely contributions to the discourse!
Trump has a body count of disbarred lawyers that should make anyone who wants to continue to practice law after he becomes a distant nightmare think twice about being his DOJ nominee. Pam Bondi is likely the next casualty.
Cecilia Wang, you were absolutely phenomenal today. Birthright citizenship could not have a better champion and advocate! LDFxACLUxLULACxAsianLawCaucusxDemocracyDefenders