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From its inception, the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund, Inc. (LDF) has served on the front lines of civil rights litigation efforts. Only the federal government has litigated more civil rights cases before the Supreme Court. Our goal is to keep our supporters abreast of key developments in civil rights jurisprudence by providing substantive, yet concise, overviews of some of the noteworthy cases before the Court. Of the many cases the Court will hear this term, here we highlight five that present issues related to civil rights. 
These cases are Thompson v. Clark; New York State Rifle and Pistol Association v. Bruen; United States v. Vaello-Madero; Cummings v. Premier Rehab Keller, PLLC; and Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization.
In each case snapshot, we provide the question presented, the background of the case, the key legal issues, the case’s importance to civil rights, and a description of LDF’s amicus brief, if applicable. We hope this summary will be easy to digest and will underscore the importance of the U.S. Supreme Court (and other courts) to our lives and the future of our democracy.

2021 SCOTUS Cases

Question Presented:
Whether the rule that a plaintiff must await a favorable termination of their criminal charges before proceeding with a Section 1983 action alleging unreasonable seizure requires the plaintiff to make the burdensome showing that the criminal proceeding “ended in a manner that affirmatively indicates his innocence.”

ARGUMENT DATE: OCTOBER 12, 2021

Question Presented:
Whether New York’s denial of the petitioners’ applications for unrestricted concealed carry licenses for general self-defense violates the Second Amendment.

ARGUMENT DATE: NOVEMBER 3, 2021

Question Presented:
Whether elderly people, people with impaired sight, and people with disabilities who, by reason of their physical capacities, qualify for Supplemental Security Income (SSI) are deprived of equal protection of the laws under the Fifth Amendment when the United States excludes them from the SSI solely because they reside in Puerto Rico.

ARGUMENT DATE: NOVEMBER 9, 2021

Question Presented
Whether the right to recover compensatory money damages under Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, 29 U.S.C. § 701, et seq., which prohibits discrimination on the basis of disability by recipients of federal funds, includes compensation for emotional distress and other non-economic harms.

ARGUMENT DATE: NOVEMBER 30, 2021

Question Presented:
Whether all prohibitions on elective abortions before 24 weeks into a pregnancy are unconstitutional.

ARGUMENT DATE: DECEMBER 1, 2021