News: The NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund, Inc. will present oral argument today in support of a motion…

    BAA) NAACP LEGAL DEFENSE AND EDUCATIONAL FUND, INC. 

egal ‘efense E. 10 Columbus Circle, New York, N.Y. 10019 (212) 586-8397 

Patrice Miles 
Public Relations Director 

LDF Washington Office 

(202) 638-3278 

NEW YORK, NEW YORK, JANUARY 27, 1983--The NAACP Legal Defense and 

Educational Fund, Inc. will present oral argument today in 

support of a motion for summary judgment dismissing the case 

brought against it by the National Association for the Advancement 

of Colored People over use of the initials NAACP. 

"At a time when we should be fighting the Reagan Administra- 

tion setbacks, it is unfortunate that the Association is wasting 

their resources and our energies ina case which never should have 

been filed," said Jack Greenberg, LDF Director-Counsel. 

LDF filed the motion for summary judgment on the ground that 

the facts in dispute are so clear that a protracted trial is 

unnecessary. 

. In 1939 the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational 

Fund (LDF) was incorporated as an independent 
charitable corporation with the consent of the 
National Association for the Advancement of 
Colored People and with explicit, unconditional 
and unlimited authorization to use the initials 
NAACP. 

. In 1957 LDF established its own Board of Direc- 
tors, staff and budget separate from the National 
Association for the Advancement of Colored People 
in response to Internal Revenue Service tax law. 
Until 1957, LDF shared an interlocking Board of 
Directors and staff. 

Contributions are deductible for U.S. income tax purposes 
The NAACP LEGAL DEFENSE & EDUCATIONAL FUND is not part of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People although it 
was founded by it and shares its commitment to equal rights. LDF has had for over 25 years a separate Board, program, staff, office and budget. 



. For 42 years the NAACP Legal Defense and Educa- 
tional Fund, Inc. has been so known to the 
public. LDF has built a large organization and 
developed substantial reservoirs of good will 
using a name that includes the NAACP initials. 
Millions of dollars and years of effort have been 
spent soliciting gifts and recruiting legal 
talent, all under the name of the NAACP Legal 
Defense and Educational Fund, Inc. Judges and 
attorneys have come to equate the highest in- 
tegrity and legal standards with defendant's work 
under its current name. 

. To cease using the NAACP initials would waste much 
of LDF's good will and fundraising efforts. Its 
public identity would largely vanish. Its now 
distinctive name would be virtually lost in the 
plethora of Legal Defense and Legal Defense and 
Educational Funds. 

. The public interest in promoting racial justice 
and equality would be seriously impaired if the 
initials NAACP were removed from the organiza- 
tions' name. : 

. The public identity of one of the staunchest 
defenders of equal rights for black people would 
be erased. Available funds for this vital cause 
would diminish and a powerful voice would be 
substantially weakened. 

The NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund, Inc. will be 

represented without fee by Jay Topkis of the law firm of Paul, 

Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton and Garrison; Vernon Jordan of Akins and 

Gump; and Barrington D. Parker, Jr. of Parker, Auspitz, Neeseman 

& Delehanty.