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A legal defense fund is any fund set up to provide legal help and to safeguard the rights and interests of a particular individual or group. A legal defense fund pays legal fees associated with filing or defense of suits associated with a particular interest such as the safeguarding the environment, animal rights or civil rights. There are several kinds of legal defense funds such as animal legal defense fund, service members legal defense fund, home school legal defense fund etc.
One of the most well known legal defense funds is the NAACP Legal Defense Fund. The Legal Defense Fund was incorporated in 1939 with Thurgood Marshall as director. From 1945 to 1954 the LDF's legal campaign developed a sustained assault on segregation in education. The LDF was behind the lawsuits that resulted in the desegregation decisions of 1954, Brown v. Board of Education and Bolling v. Sharpe. For about a decade after Brown, the Legal Defense Fund concentrated on efforts to defend itself against attempts by southern legislatures to keep it from operating (for example, by charging it with unethical practices in soliciting clients, while attempting to compel school boards to comply with the desegregation decision). In 1963 the Supreme Court in NAACP v. Button,held that the Legal Defense Fund's activities in supporting litigation were protected by the First Amendment. In the 1960s the Legal Defense Fund provided legal support for African Americans prosecuted during sit in demonstrations. After enactment of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, the LDF developed a substantial litigation campaign to eliminate racial discrimination in employment. Motivated by concern that the death penalty was administered in ways that amounted to discrimination against African Americans, the Legal Defense Fund also challenged capital punishment.
Organizations performing similar types of work
Id ↑ Name Address State Established Total Income
1 National Legal Aid And Defender Association 1140 Connecticut Ave Nw St 900, Washington, DC 20036 DC 1950-
2 South Coastal Counties Legal Services Inc PO BOX 2507, Fall River, MA 02722-
3 Southern California Housing Rights Center 3255 Wilshire Blvd Ste 1150, Los Angeles, CA 90010-
4 Thomas More Society 29 S La Salle St, Chicago, IL 60603-
5 Constitutional Accountability Center 1200 18th St Nw Ste 1002, Washington, DC 20036-
6 Western New York Law Center Inc Ste 1130, Buffalo, NY 14203 NY 1996-
7 District Of Columbia Appleseed Center For Law And Justice Inc 1111 14th St Nw Ste 510, Washington, DC 20005-
8 American Freedom Law Center Inc PO BOX 6314, Chandler, AZ 85246-
9 Capital Area Immigrants Rights Coalition 1612 K St Nw Ste 204, Washington, DC 20006-
10 Wisconsin Institute For Law & Liberty Inc 1139 E Knapp St, Milwaukee, WI 53202-
11 Workers Rights Law Center Of New York Inc 101 Hurley Ave Ste 5, Kingston, NY 12401-
12 Environmental Defender Law Center 407 W Koch St, Bozeman, MT 59715-
13 Southern Legal Resource Center PO BOX 1235, Black Mtn, NC 28711-
14 Workplace Fairness 920 U St Nw, Washington, DC 20001-
15 The American Unity Legal Defense Fund Inc 7250 Baldwin Ridge Rd, Warrenton, VA 20187-
16 Center For Class Action Fairness 1718 M St Nw, Washington, DC 20036-
17 Center For International Free Expression Inc 3815 Yuma St Nw, Washington, DC 20016-
18 District Of Columbia Citizens Legal Defense Fund 2932 Macomb St Nw, Washington, DC 20008-
19 Louis D Brandeis Center Inc 1776 I Street Nw Suite 900, Washington, DC 20006 DC 2012-
20 Patients Not Patents Inc 1712 Eye St Nw Suite 915, Washington, DC 20006 DC 2006-
Read more: http://www.nonprofitfacts.com/DC/District-
As long as you don't tell people giving you donations that the donation is tax deductible you wouldn't need to have clearance from the IRS first. If you state, you're giving money with no personal benefit, then all you would need is to set up a separate fund at a banking institution so that the account would not be co-
I'd also suggest you appoint an independent party such as an attorney or accountant to be the person signing the checks, not a friend or family member, so there's no hint of abuse of the funds.