?Norton Remembers John A. Payton

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Congresswoman Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-DC) today issued the following statement on the passing of John A. Payton, president and director-counsel of the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund:

"With the passing of John Payton, we have lost one of our most distinguished citizens and one of the nation's brightest lights in the law, and I have lost a dear and valued friend. John Payton managed to do it all in the law, including a distinguished career in private practice, but he could not resist public service. He poured his considerable brilliance into service as corporation counsel (now called attorney general) for the District of Columbia and as president and director-counsel of the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund, where he served until he died after a brief illness. John Payton's memory is etched in his landmark cases, but he lives in the hearts of his many friends and the thousands more who have benefited from his remarkable life."

Published: March 23, 2012