Statement of Ralph B. Everett, Esq., President and CEO, Joint Center for Political and Economic Studies, on the Death of John Payton, President and Director-Counsel of the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund, Inc.

We mourn the death of civil rights champion John Payton. As President and Director-Counsel of the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund, Inc. (LDF), he was a tireless and enormously effective advocate in the struggle to advance voting rights and to eliminate discrimination. Even before joining LDF, John had firmly established himself as one of the legal community’s leading lights and as a courageous leader in the effort to help our country live up to its promise of equal justice and opportunity for all.  He was a friend and mentor to many in the civil rights and legal communities. We join them in remembering John’s many contributions to building a better America, and we express our deepest sympathies to his family.