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| NOW Legal Defense and Education Fund | |
|---|---|
| Name | NOW Legal Defense and Education Fund |
| Founded | 1970 |
| Founder | Betty Friedan, Gloria Steinem, Pauli Murray |
| Type | Nonprofit advocacy organization |
| Headquarters | New York City |
| Dissolved | 2001 (merged) |
| Merged into | Legal Momentum |
| Focus | Civil rights, Women's rights, Reproductive rights |
NOW Legal Defense and Education Fund
The NOW Legal Defense and Education Fund was a prominent American legal advocacy organization formed to advance women's rights through litigation, education, and policy work. Closely associated with figures such as Betty Friedan, Gloria Steinem, and Aileen Hernandez, it pursued cases and campaigns touching reproductive rights, employment discrimination, and constitutional law. The Fund operated alongside institutions like the National Organization for Women and intersected with movements led by activists such as Ruth Bader Ginsburg and Dorothy Kenyon.
Created amid the resurgence of second-wave feminism and events like the Women's Strike for Equality, the Fund evolved from networks including National Organization for Women chapters and legal projects at American Civil Liberties Union. Early leaders drew on precedents from litigators like Pauli Murray and judges such as Constance Baker Motley. In the 1970s and 1980s the Fund litigated at venues including the United States Supreme Court, the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit, and state supreme courts such as the New York Court of Appeals. Over decades it engaged with national debates around Roe v. Wade, the Equal Rights Amendment, and federal statutes like the Civil Rights Act of 1964. In 2001 the organization merged with Legal Momentum, consolidating archives that include correspondence with figures like Shirley Chisholm and Eleanor Holmes Norton.
The Fund's mission emphasized strategic litigation, public education, and legislative advocacy to advance gender equality under federal measures such as the Equal Pay Act of 1963 and constitutional protections from the Fourteenth Amendment. It ran legal clinics, filed amicus briefs before the Supreme Court of the United States, and provided support to plaintiffs in cases related to Title VII of the Civil Rights Act. Programs connected the Fund to academic institutions like Columbia Law School and Harvard Law School clinics, and to policy entities including the Brookings Institution and Urban Institute. The Fund worked on issues ranging from sexual harassment claims that referenced precedents from Meritor Savings Bank v. Vinson to reproductive liberty rulings inspired by Griswold v. Connecticut.
The Fund participated in landmark litigation alongside attorneys and organizations such as Marcia Greenberger, Nancy Stearns, and the ACLU Women's Rights Project. It filed briefs and supported litigants in challenges to restrictive statutes influenced by cases like Planned Parenthood v. Casey and represented plaintiffs in employment discrimination suits echoing Price Waterhouse v. Hopkins. The Fund’s work intersected with litigation addressing military policies at institutions such as West Point and United States Naval Academy, and with educational equity disputes invoking Title IX and cases connected to Brown v. Board of Education jurisprudence on equal protection. The Fund also campaigned on legislative fronts during debates over the Equal Rights Amendment and judicial confirmations involving nominees like Antonin Scalia and Clarence Thomas.
Governance comprised a board of directors and legal directors drawn from law firms such as Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom and academic appointments at Yale Law School and NYU School of Law. Funding derived from foundations including the Ford Foundation, the Carnegie Corporation, and philanthropic supporters like the Soros network alongside individual donors such as Katharine Graham and Mellon philanthropy. The Fund coordinated pro bono representation with firms such as Cravath, Swaine & Moore and hosted internships linked to programs at Georgetown University Law Center and New York University. Financial oversight engaged accountants and auditors familiar with nonprofit regulation under statutes administered at the Internal Revenue Service.
The Fund partnered with national groups including National Organization for Women, the American Civil Liberties Union, and Planned Parenthood Federation of America, and with academic centers such as the Brennan Center for Justice. It worked with coalitions representing labor interests like the AFL–CIO and civil rights organizations such as the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund. Internationally, the Fund exchanged strategies with entities like Amnesty International and UN bodies including the Commission on the Status of Women. Its advocacy influenced policy debates involving legislators such as Tip O'Neill and Barbara Mikulski, and informed reporting in outlets like The New York Times and The Washington Post.
Critics from conservative and libertarian circles such as Phyllis Schlafly and think tanks like the Heritage Foundation challenged the Fund’s positions on Roe v. Wade and affirmative action, framing litigation as judicial activism akin to disputes over judicial review. Some feminist activists—including proponents of different strategies like Andrea Dworkin and bell hooks—argued the Fund prioritized courtroom tactics over grassroots organizing. Debates arose around donor influence, strategic choices during the Equal Rights Amendment campaign, and litigation stances in cases involving intersecting claims of race, class, and gender advanced by advocates such as Angela Davis.
The Fund’s legacy endures through jurisprudential contributions, alumni who advanced to roles in institutions like the United States Department of Justice, federal judiciary appointments, and legal doctrines shaping protections against sex discrimination. Its merger into Legal Momentum preserved litigation toolkits, archives, and precedents cited in subsequent decisions by the Supreme Court of the United States and federal appellate courts. The Fund influenced generations of litigators trained at clinics affiliated with Harvard Law School, Yale Law School, and Columbia Law School, and its strategies informed international gender-equality litigation before bodies such as the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights.
Category:Defunct organizations of the United States Category:Women's rights in the United States