Hoyer Statement on the Passing of John A. Payton

WASHINGTON, DC - House Democratic Whip Steny H. Hoyer (MD) released the following statement on the passing of John A. Payton, President and Director-Counsel of the NAACP Legal Defense Fund:

"Yesterday, our nation lost a champion in John Payton. As President of the NAACP Legal Defense Fund, John oversaw key civil rights cases before the Supreme Court and had a reputation as one of America's leading civil rights litigators. He won important victories for the protection of voting rights and employment non-discrimination, and John's work has helped further the cause of equal justice under law. His sudden and tragic loss is a blow to all of us who admired him as a legal scholar and as a concerned citizen. I join in offering my condolences to his wife, Gay McDougall, and to their family."