Difference between revisions of "ACLU"

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The '''American Civil Liberties Union''' ('''ACLU''') is a major [[United States|American]] [[non-profit]] [[organization]] with headquarters in [[New York City]], whose stated mission is "to defend and preserve the individual rights and liberties guaranteed to every person in this country by the Constitution and laws of the [[United States]]".<ref name="about">{{cite web | title=About Us
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[[Image:Nghfuyr.png|right|thumb|Current logo of the ACLU.]]
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| work= American Civil Liberties Union web site  | publisher =ACLU
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The '''American Civil Liberties Union''' ('''ACLU''') is a [[leftist]], [[secular]]-[[Progressivism|progressive]], and pro-[[eugenics]]<ref>Hellmann, Jesse (February 15, 2018). [https://thehill.com/policy/healthcare/374047-aclu-sues-to-block-ohio-law-that-bans-down-syndrome-abortions ACLU sues to block Ohio law banning Down syndrome abortions]. ''The Hill''. Retrieved February 20, 2021.</ref><ref>Hawkins, Kristin (January 17, 2019). [https://www.lifenews.com/2019/01/17/aclu-it-would-be-perverse-not-to-kill-babies-with-down-syndrome-in-abortions/ ACLU: It Would be “Perverse” Not to Kill Babies With Down Syndrome in Abortions]. ''LifeNews.com''. Retrieved February 20, 2021.</ref> [[organization]]. It was run for its first 30 years by an [[United States of America|American]] named [[Roger Baldwin]], who helped found it in 1920.  Baldwin supported communism, but later denounced it in his book, ''A New Slavery'', which condemned "the inhuman communist police state tyranny."<ref>[http://www.harvardsquarelibrary.org/unitarians/baldwin.html]</ref> This organization pursues a [[leftist]] agenda that includes [[censoring]] [[prayer]] and recognition of [[God]] in public institutions, such as [[public schools]]. Currently, Anthony Romero is the first openly gay CEO to run the organization. Declassified documents and letters link early ACLU leaders with [[Communist Party]].<ref>[https://dailycaller.com/2011/01/04/the-aclu%E2%80%99s-untold-stalinist-heritage/ The ACLU’s untold Stalinist heritage, Daily Caller, January 4, 2011]</ref> Helen Chaffee Biehle also indicated in her article "Focus: The Seduction of the American Public Library" that the ACLU was also [[nihilism|nihilistic]] and individualistic in its philosophy since its founding.<ref>https://web.archive.org/web/19980119060706/http://www.eagleforum.org/educate/1996/feb96/focus.html<br />"When did these ideas begin to infiltrate the ALA? And who brought them in? During the social turmoil of the late sixties, the Office of Intellectual Freedom in the ALA headquarters in Chicago became very important in the making of policy. Around this time, Judith Krug began her tenure as director of that office, and in 1970 forged strong links between the ALA and the American Civil Liberties Union. The ACLU functioned under a philosophy of nihilism/individualism since its founding by Roger Baldwin after the turn of the century. For a time in the 1970s, Ms. Krug served simultaneously as ALA Intellectual Freedom Director and as a board member of the ACLU, which has given her several awards. The ACLU, according to George Grant's 1989 study, believes that children should have the same rights as adults, that pornography should be protected by the Constitution, that the First Amendment's free speech clause implies a right to receive information, and that the smallest limitation of any speech or expression will automatically lead to totalitarian repression."</ref> Even left-leaning figures such as civil libertarian [[Alan Dershowitz]] have criticized the ACLU for being a partisan left-wing advocacy group rather than actually defending civil liberties.<ref>Dershowitz, Alan (June 13, 2018). [https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/opinion/alan-dershowitz-the-final-nail-in-the-aclus-coffin Alan Dershowitz: The final nail in the ACLU's coffin]. ''Washington Examiner''. Retrieved June 13, 2018.</ref>
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| url=http://www.aclu.org/about/ | accessdate =2006-05-03  }}</ref>
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It works through litigation, legislation, and community education.<ref name="about" /> The ACLU reported over 500,000 members at the end of 2005.  
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[[Lawsuit]]s brought by the ACLU have been influential in the evolution of [[U.S. constitution]]al law.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.aclu.org/scotus/index.html|title=ACLU Supreme Court Cases | accessdate =2006-10-14  }}</ref> The ACLU provides legal assistance in cases in which it considers civil liberties to be at risk. Even when the ACLU does not provide direct legal representation, it often submits ''[[amicus curiae]]'' [[brief (law)|briefs]].  
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A leaked memo in 2018 showed that the ACLU does not care about defending First Amendment rights and placed [[SJW]] causes along with the concern if free speech will hurt "marginalized communities" over actually defending the Constitution.<ref>Multiple references:
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*Re, Gregg (June 21, 2018). [https://www.foxnews.com/politics/2018/06/21/leaked-anti-gun-memo-suggests-aclu-hesistant-to-defend-free-speech-if-it-hurts-marginalized-communities.html Leaked anti-gun memo suggests ACLU hesitant to defend free speech if it hurts 'marginalized communities']. ''Fox News''. Retrieved June 22, 2018.<br>See also:
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*Shapiro, Ben (June 22, 2018). [https://thehill.com/opinion/civil-rights/393557-aclus-diminishing-interest-in-free-speech-marks-a-foreboding-shift-in ACLU's diminishing interest in free speech marks a foreboding shift in American culture]. ''The Hill''. Retrieved June 22, 2018.
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*Wolfe, Liz (June 22, 2018). [https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/opinion/why-im-no-longer-giving-to-the-aclu Why I'm no longer giving to the ACLU]. ''Washington Examiner''. Retrieved June 22, 2018.
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*Ciccotta, Tom (June 21, 2018). [https://www.breitbart.com/tech/2018/06/21/wsj-the-aclu-has-abandoned-free-expression/ WSJ: The ACLU Has Abandoned First Amendment]. ''Breitbart News''. Retrieved June 22, 2018.</ref> It broke its own rules in 2018 to publicly oppose the confirmation of [[Originalism|originalist]] Judge [[Brett Kavanaugh]].<ref>Gstalter, Morgan (September 29, 2018). [https://thehill.com/blogs/blog-briefing-room/news/409081-aclu-breaks-its-own-policy-comes-out-against-kavanaugh ACLU breaks its own policy, comes out against Kavanaugh nomination]. ''The Hill''. Retrieved September 29, 2018.</ref>
  
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Outside of its legal work, the organization has also engaged in [[lobbying]] of elected officials and political [[activism]].<ref>{{cite news  | last =Saunders  | first =Dylan
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The Oregon ACLU supported a long-held ban on religious clothing in schools, which was repealed in 2010.<ref>February 7, 2010. [https://www.catholicnewsagency.com/news/18589/coalition-seeks-repeal-of-klan-era-ban-on-religious-garb-in-oregon-schools Coalition seeks repeal of Klan-era ban on religious garb in Oregon schools]. ''Catholic News Agency''. Retrieved August 19, 2021.</ref><ref>Brell, Alexandria (March 8, 2010). [https://sundial.csun.edu/22460/opinions/oregon-repeals-religious-clothing-ban-amen-to-that/ Oregon repeals religious clothing ban, amen to that.]. ''Daily Sundial''. Retrieved August 19, 2021.</ref> The anti-religious freedom law was instituted nearly a century ago by political allies of the [[Ku Klux Klan]] who supported [[progressive]] policies, namely [[Democrat]] [[Walter M. Pierce]] and [[RINO]] [[Kaspar K. Kubli]].
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  | title =Mock filibuster cut short after Senate calls it quits
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  | work =Michigan Daily  | publisher =University of Michigan  | date =[[2006-01-31]]
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  | url =http://www.michigandaily.com/news/2006/01/31/News/Mock-Filibuster.Cut.Short.After.Senate.Calls.It.Quits-1545353.shtml  | accessdate =2006-08-16  }}</ref>
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The ACLU is independent and hard to classify on the left/right political spectrum. The ACLU has been critical of elected officials and policies of both [[Democratic Party (United States)|Democrats]] and [[Republican Party (United States)|Republicans]]. However, Republicans consistently rank lower than Democrats in regard to supporting ACLU goals as seen in ACLU voting guides. [http://www.vote-smart.org/issue_rating_detail.php?sig_id=003415M] [[Libertarian]]s have mixed opinions of the ACLU, in general applauding its support of individual liberty, but decrying its support of [[Big government]] policies such as affirmative action.
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==Organizational history==
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==History==
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[[Roger Nash Baldwin]] became head of the [[National Civil Liberties Bureau]] (NCLB) in 1917. An independent outgrowth of the [[American Union Against Militarism]], the Bureau opposed American intervention in [[World War I]]. The NCLB provided legal advice and aid for [[conscientious objector]]s and those being prosecuted under the [[Espionage Act of 1917]] or the [[Sedition Act of 1918]]. In 1920, the NCLB changed its name to the American Civil Liberties Union, with Baldwin continuing as its director. [[Helen Keller]], [[Jeannette Rankin]], [[Jane Addams]], [[Crystal Eastman]] and [[Albert DeSilver]], along with other former members of the NCLB, assisted Baldwin with the founding of the ACLU.<ref name="about" />
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===National Civil Liberties Bureau===
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The ACLU began as the National Civil Liberties Bureau (NCLB), a committee of the American Union Against Militarism (AUAM), a Socialist front group established to exploit antiwar sentiment during World War I.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://blogs.princeton.edu/mudd/2012/09/the-birth-of-the-civil-liberties-bureau-and-the-national-civil-liberties-bureau1917-1919/ |title=The Birth of the Civil Liberties Bureau and The National Civil Liberties Bureau,1917-1919 |date=September 5, 2012 }}</ref> AUAM was co-founded by Morris Hillquit, a Latvian immigrant lawyer who served as liaison between the Socialist International and the Socialist Party of the U.S.<ref>Michael Kazin, quoted in Juliet Kleber, "[https://newrepublic.com/article/141647/opposition-world-war-one-galvanized-left How Opposition to World War I Galvanized the Left]," ''The New Republic'', March 28, 2017</ref> In 1919, the American Socialist Party expressed official support for the Kremlin's fledgling Communist International,<ref>"The Socialist Party of the United States, therefore, declares itself in support of the Third (Moscow) International..." Document No. 7: "Minority Report Adopted by Overwhelming Party Vote on Referendum on Submission to the Emergency National Convention Held at Chicago, September, 1919," reprinted in Joint Legislative Committee of the State of New York Investigating Seditious Activities, ''[https://books.google.com/books?id=Vq0XAAAAYAAJ Revolutionary Radicalism: Its History, Purpose and Tactics]'', Part I, Vol. I (Albany: J.B. Lyon Company, 1920), p. 626</ref> and the following year applied for membership in the Comintern.<ref>[https://www.marxists.org/history/usa/parties/spusa/1920/0312-bran-applicationtoci.pdf Application of the Socialist Party of America for Membership in the Communist International], March 12, 1920</ref> That year, the NCLB changed its name to ACLU.
  
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In the year of its birth the ACLU was formed to protect aliens threatened with [[deportation]], along with U.S. nationals threatened with criminal charges by [[U.S. Attorney General]] [[Alexander Mitchell Palmer]] for their [[communist]] or [[socialist]] activities and agendas<ref name="history">http://www.aclu-cu.org/history.html</ref> (see [[Palmer Raids]]). It also opposed attacks on the rights of the [[Industrial Workers of the World]] (IWW) and other [[trade union|labor union]]s to meet and organize.
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===ACLU Formation===
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After renaming itself from National Civil Liberties Bureau to American Civil Liberties Union, the ACLU selected its first organizational president, [[Harry F. Ward]].
  
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In 1940, the ACLU formally barred communists from leadership or staff positions, and would take the position that it did not want communists as members either. The board declared that it was "inappropriate for any person to serve on the governing committees of the Union or its staff, who is a member of any political organization which supports [[totalitarian dictatorship]] in any country, or who by his public declarations indicates his support of such a principle."<ref>{{cite web | url=http://infoshare1.princeton.edu/libraries/firestone/rbsc/finding_aids/aclu1920/ | title=American Civil Liberties Union: The Roger Baldwin Years (1917–1950)}}</ref> The purge, which was led by Baldwin, himself a former supporter of Communism, began with the ouster of [[Elizabeth Gurley Flynn]], a member of both the [[Communist Party of the USA]] and the [[IWW]].<ref>http://www.harvardsquarelibrary.org/unitarians/baldwin.html</ref>
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In 1924, William J. Burns, former director of the Department of Justice's Bureau of Investigations (precursor of the FBI), testified before Congress:
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{{cquote|I dare say that unless the country becomes thoroughly aroused concerning the danger of this radical element in this country, we will have a very serious situation. These parlor Bolsheviks have sprung up everywhere, as evidenced by this American Civil Liberties Union of New York. They have organized a civil liberties union on the coast. Wherever we seek to suppress these radicals, a civil liberties union promptly gets busy.<ref>Testimony of William J. Burns before a subcommittee of the Committee on Appropriations, U.S. House of Representatives, April 1, 1924, as quoted in The Record of the Fight for Free Speech in 1923: The Work of the American Civil Liberties Union, January to December 1923, in ACLU 1923 [https://books.google.com/books?id=V30zAQAAMAAJ Annual Report]</ref>}}
  
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In the 1988 presidential election, then-[[Vice President]] [[George H.W. Bush]] called then-[[Governor]] [[Michael Dukakis]] a "card-carrying member of the ACLU," which Dukakis proudly acknowledged.<ref>{{cite web | url=http://www.pbs.org/newshour/debatingourdestiny/dod/1988-broadcast.html | title=Debating Our Destiny: The 1988 Debates}}</ref> The phrase now serves as part of a jocular recruitment slogan for the ACLU.
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Four years later, in 1928, a committee of the New York State Legislature agreed:
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{{cquote|The ACLU, in the last analysis, is a supporter of all subversive movements; its propaganda is detrimental to the interests of the state. Its main work is to uphold the Communists in spreading revolutionary propaganda and inciting revolutionary activities to undermine our American institutions and overthrow our Federal government.<ref>As cited in Investigation of Communist propaganda: report, pursuant to H. Res. 220. United States. Congress. House. Special Committee on Communist Activities in the United States. U.S. Govt. Print. Off., 1931, p. 57</ref>}}
  
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The [[September 11, 2001 attacks]] and the ensuing debate regarding the proper balance of civil liberties and security including the passage of the [[USA PATRIOT Act]] led to a 20% increase in membership between August 2001 and December 2002, when total enrollment reached 330,000.<ref>http://www.post-gazette.com/localnews/20021202aclusidebarp8.asp</ref> The growth continued, and in August 2004, ACLU membership was at 400,000.<ref>http://www.madison.com/tct/news/images/index.php?ntid=7175&ntpid=0</ref>
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Three years after that, in 1931, a special committee of the U.S. House of Representatives concurred:
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{{cquote|The American Civil Liberties Union has received large sums from the Garland Fund, of which Roger N. Baldwin is one of its directors. During the trial of the Communists in Gastonia, not for freedom of speech, of the press or assembly, but for a conspiracy to kill the chief of police, of which seven defendants were convicted, the ACLU provided bail for five of the defendants, amounting to $28,500, which it secured from the Garland Fund. All of the defendants convicted jumped their bail and are reported to be in Russia.<ref>House of Representatives. Special Committee to Investigate Communist Activities in the United States. United States. Congress (71st), Investigation of Communist Propaganda. (Washington, D.C.: U.S. Govt. print. off., 1931). Cf. Allan H. Ryskind, "[https://web.archive.org/web/20060109190645/http://www.humaneventsonline.com/article.php?id=9669 George Clooney’s Clueless Movie], ''Human Evants'', October 2005</ref>}}
  
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==Leadership, funding and organizational structure==
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The ACLU's founding members were [[Roger Baldwin]], [[Crystal Eastman]], [[Walter Nelles]], [[Morris Ernst]], [[Albert DeSilver]], [[Arthur Garfield Hays]], [[Helen Keller]], [[Jane Addams]], [[Felix Frankfurter]], and [[Elizabeth Gurley Flynn]]. Baldwin, the driving force behind the ACLU in its early years, testified in 1938 that he had expressed his views in the Harvard Classbook three years previously as follows:
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===Leadership===
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{{cquote|I am for socialism, disarmament, and ultimately for abolishing the State itself as an instrument of violence and compulsion. I seek social ownership of property, the abolition of the propertied class, and sole control by those who produce wealth. Communism is the goal.<ref>Affidavit of Roger N. Baldwin, December 31, 1938, Investigation of un-American propaganda activities in the United States. Hearings before a Special Committee on Un-American Activities, House of Representatives, 75th-78th Congress, pp. 3081-3082.</ref>}}
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Currently, the leadership of the ACLU includes Executive Director [[Anthony D. Romero]]<ref>http://www.aclu.org/about/staff/13279res20030205.html</ref> and President [[Nadine Strossen]].<ref>http://www.aclu.org/about/staff/13278res20020211.html</ref> The national board of directors consists of representatives elected by each state affiliate as well as at-large delegates elected by boards of each affiliate. Each state affiliate has an Executive Director and Board of Directors. 
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In 1940, during the Nazi-Soviet pact, under threat of being listed by HUAC as a Communist front, the ACLU purged from its executive committee any "member of any political organization which supports totalitarian dictatorship in any country, or who by his public declaration and connections indicates his support of such a principle."<ref>Lucille Milner and Martin F. Luthke, ''[https://books.google.com/books?id=s9XBz5mD1OkC Education of an American Liberal]'' (eBookIt.com, 2013), ISBN 1456602063</ref> Among those purged was Elizabeth Gurley Flynn, who would go on to serve as National Chairwoman of the Communist Party USA.<ref>[http://content.cdlib.org/view?query=&docId=kt396n99b3&chunk.id=d0e2699&toc.depth=1&toc.id=0&&x=0&y=0 History of the American Civil Liberties Union], Eleventh Report of the Senate Fact-Finding Subcommittee on Un-American Activities, California Legislature, 1961</ref>
  
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Notably, [[Ruth Bader Ginsburg]], a current Justice of the [[Supreme Court of the United States|U.S. Supreme Court]], was the first director of the ACLU's Women's Rights Project.<ref>{{cite news
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Nevertheless, its continued front activity caused the ACLU to be listed as a Communist front by a joint committee of the California Legislature in 1943:
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  | title = Ruth Bader Ginsburg
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{{cquote|The American Civil Liberties Union may be definitely classed as a Communist front or ‘transmission belt’ organization.<ref>Communist Front Organizations, Fourth Report of the Senate Fact-Finding Committee On Un-American Activities, California Legislature, 1948, p. 107 (PDF p. 117)</ref>}}
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  | work =The Oyez Project  | date =[[2006-01-31]]
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  | url =http://www.oyez.org/oyez/resource/legal_entity/107/biography  | accessdate =2006-10-06  }}</ref> And [[Judith Krug]], Director of the [[American Library Association]]'s<ref>http://www.ala.org/template.cfm?Section=oif Office for Intellectual Freedom</ref> since 1967,<ref>{{cite web | last =Berry III, Editor-in-Chief | first =John N. | authorlink = | coauthors = | year =Jun. 15, 2005 | url =http://libraryjournal.com/article/CA606394.html | title =The Krug Contribution; She Convinced ALA to Put Its Money Where Its Mouth Is | format = | work =Library Journal | publisher =ALA | accessdate =2006-11-19}}</ref> was for three years concurrently on the Board of Directors of the Illinois Division of the ACLU.  "She has been very successful in promulgating the ACLU's views within the country's libraries, and the ACLU has honored her with awards."<ref>{{cite web | last =Biehle | first =Helen Chaffee | authorlink = | coauthors = | year =Jan. 15, 2000 | url =http://www.fflibraries.org/biehle.htm | title =The Internet and the Seduction of the American Public Library | format = | work = | publisher =Family Friendly Libraries | accessdate =2006-11-19}}</ref>
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===Funding===
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Among the NCLB's early high-profile cases include its defense of the [[Rand School of Social Science]].<ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=gKM6AQAAMAAJ&pg=PA337|title=The National Civic Federation Review, Volumes 4-5|date=1919}}</ref>
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The ACLU receives funding from a large number of sources.  The distribution and amount of funding for state affiliates varies from state to state. For example, the ACLU of [[New Jersey]] reported $1.2 million in income to both the ACLU-NJ and its affiliated tax-exempt foundation in the 2005 fiscal year. Of that income, 46% came from contributions, 19% came from membership dues, 18% came from court awarded attorney fees, 12% came from grants, 4% came from investment income and the remainder from other sources. Its expenses in the same period were $800,000, of which 12% went to administration and management {{cite|author=ACLU-NJ|title=Annual Report|publisher=ACLU-NJ|date=2005}} Smaller affiliates with fewer resources, such as that in [[Nebraska]], receive subsidies from the national ACLU.<ref>http://www.aclunebraska.org/faq.htm#10</ref>
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====Foundations====
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==Illegal Immigration==
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The ACLU and its affiliated tax-exempt foundation receive annual support from the [[Ford Foundation|Ford]], [[Rockefeller Foundation|Rockefeller]], [[Carnegie Corporation of New York|Carnegie]], [[Field Foundation|Field]], [[Tides Foundation|Tides]], [[Gill Foundation|Gill]], [[Arcus Foundation|Arcus]], [[Horizons Fund|Horizons]], and other foundations.<ref>http://www.capitalresearch.org/search/orgdisplay.asp?Org=ACL100</ref>
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The ACLU demanded $2.3 million in fees for challenging a law against [[illegal immigration]].  This demand "illustrates the circus the ACLU brought to this case," the Mayor of Hazelton, Pennsylvania said. "They had 20 attorneys sitting in the courtroom at a time, 16 of them doing nothing but running up the bill."<ref>[http://www.centredaily.com/news/state/story/194756.html]</ref>
  
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In October of 2004, the ACLU rejected $1.5 million from both the Ford and Rockefeller Foundations. The Foundations had adopted language from the USA PATRIOT Act into their donation agreements, including a clause stipulating that none of the money would go to "underwriting terrorism or other unacceptable activities." The ACLU views this clause, both in Federal law and in the donors' agreements, as a threat to civil liberties.<ref>http://www.aclusc.org/Page/Clipping/NYTimes/041019Strom.html</ref>
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In the Hazleton case the ACLU persuaded a [[federal]] [[court]] to declare a municipal ordinance to be unconstitutional, even though other federal courts have upheld similar laws since then. The Hazleton case is on appeal.
  
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====Court awarded attorney's fees====
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The ordinance defines "illegal aliens," fines property owners for renting to them, fines business owners for hiring them, and bars businesses from selling them merchandise.  It also requires government documents to be in English only, and requires documents from residents to city officials to be in English.<ref>ACLU Press Release: Hazleton Residents Sue to Halt Harsh Anti-Immigrant Law, August 15, 2006, retrieved 10/14/08 [http://www.aclupa.org/pressroom/hazletonresidentssuetohalt.htm]</ref>
  
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The ACLU periodically receives court awarded legal fees. For example, the New Jersey chapter reported receiving 18% for awarded legal fees in the fiscal year 2005. In 2004, these awards made up 3% of their ACLU Foundation funding and 0% of the ACLU.<ref>http://www.acluprocon.org/pop/ACLUStructure.html#budget</ref> The Public Expression of Religion Act of 2005, introduced by Representative [[John N. Hostettler]], seeks to alter prior civil rights legislation to prevent monetary judgements in the particular case of violations of church-state separation.<ref>http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/z?c109:H.R.2679:</ref> Also, groups such as the [[American Legion]] have taken stances opposing the ACLU's right to collect fees under such legislation.<ref>http://www.legion.org/word/aclu.rtf</ref>
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==Censoring God==
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The ACLU often insists that the [[Establishment Clause]] of the [[Constitution of the United States|Constitution]] requires censorship of religious expression. In 2007, for example, the ACLU of [[Tennessee]] sought to stop prayer and prayer-related activities by the volunteer [[Praying Parents]].  ''Doe v. Wilson County Sch. Sys.'', 524 F. Supp. 2d 964 (M.D. Tenn. Nov. 9, 2007).
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[[Image:ACLU and Islam.jpg|left|300px|It All Depends On Whose Church Is Being Separated]]
  
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Recovery of legal fees by non-profit legal advocacy organizations is common practice. The [[pro-life]] [[Thomas More Law Center]], for example, generally seeks, and is successful in, recovery of legal fees in the same manner as the ACLU.<ref>http://www.thomasmore.org/news.html?NewsID=227</ref><ref>http://www.thomasmore.org/news.html?NewsID=383</ref>
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ACLU chapters frequently sue to compel removal displays of the [[Ten Commandments]] from public property. For example, in ''McCreary County v. ACLU'', 545 U.S. 844 (2005), the ACLU of Kentucky forced two counties to remove displays of the Ten Commandments from their courthouses. In another case ''Glassroth v. Moore'', 229 F. Supp. 2d 1290 (2002) the Alabama chapter sued [[Alabama]] [[Supreme Court]] [[Chief Justice]] Roy Moore to remove a Ten Commandments Monument, with Moore remarking "fearing that I would not obey his order, decided to threaten other state officials and force them to remove the monument if I did not do so." A threat of heavy fines was his way of coercing obedience to that order." In Utah, the ACLU even announced a scavenger hunt for anyone who could find a display of the Ten Commandments monument that the ACLU could demand be removed. The ACLU typically receives substantial legal fees from the government in each of these cases.
  
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Due to the nature of its legal work, the ACLU is often involved in litigation against governmental bodies, which are generally protected from adverse monetary judgements: a town, state or Federal agency may be required to change its laws or behave differently, but not to pay monetary damages except by an explicit statutory waiver.<ref>http://www.oyez.org/oyez/resource/case/959/</ref><ref>http://www.chainyounger.com/pa_cases_against_government.html#1</ref>
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In 1994, the ACLU of New Jersey sued Jersey City, New Jersey to challenge a menorah and a Christmas tree at [[City Hall|city hall]].  A federal district judge declared the display to be unconstitutional, but the appellate court, in a 2-1 opinion written by now-Justice [[Samuel Alito]], found a modified display to be constitutional.  ''ACLU of New Jersey v. Schundler'' (1999).  Then-Judge Alito wrote, "government may celebrate Christmas in some manner and form, but not in a way that endorses Christian doctrine."
  
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In some cases, the law permits plaintiffs who successfully sue government agencies to collect money damages or other monetary relief. In particular, a 1976 federal law (amended in 1988), the Civil Rights Attorney's Fees Awards Act leaves the government liable in some civil rights cases. Fee awards under this civil rights statute are considered "equitable relief" rather than damages, and government entities are not immune from equitable relief.<ref>{{cite web | url=http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/html/uscode42/usc_sec_42_00001988----000-.html | title=Title 42 , Chapter 21, Subchapter I, § 1988. Proceedings in vindication of civil rights}}</ref> Under laws such as this, the ACLU and its state chapters sometimes share in monetary judgements against government agencies.<ref>{{cite web | url=http://www.house.gov/apps/list/press/in08_hostettler/090706peramarkup.html | title=House Judiciary Committee Passes Hostettler's Public Expression of Religion Act}}</ref>
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In 2007, the ACLU Foundation of Texas filed an [[amicus brief]] for removal of a longstanding monument to William Mosher outside Harris County Civil Courthouse because the statute contained a depiction of an open Bible. ''Staley v. Harris County'', 2007 U.S. App. LEXIS 9296 (5th Cir. 2007). The court ruled that Harris County must pay attorneys fees to the [[Americans United for Separation of Church and State]], which often appears along with the ACLU in demanding removal of religious symbols from government property and censoring criticism of evolution in public school.
  
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The ACLU has prevailed in numerous church-state cases. The Georgia chapter was awarded $150,000 in fees after suing a county for the removal of a [[Ten Commandments]] display from its courthouse;<ref>http://www.acluga.org/press.releases/0507/barrow.county.html</ref> a second Ten Commandments case in the State, in a different county, led to a $74,462 judgment.<ref>http://www.acluga.org/docket.html</ref> Meanwhile, the State of [[Tennessee]] was required to pay $50,000, the State of [[Alabama]] $175,000, and the State of [[Kentucky]] $121,500, in similar Ten Commandments cases.<ref>{{cite web | url=http://www.enquirer.com/editions/2003/07/09/loc_kytencommandments09.html | title=State pays ACLU $121,500 in Ten Commandments fight}}</ref><ref>http://www.religioustolerance.org/chr_10cb.htm</ref>
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The ACLU demanded that Los Angeles County remove a tiny cross from the Los Angeles County seal, even though the seal contained nearly a dozen symbols including the Greek goddess Pomona standing on the shore of the Pacific Ocean—about which the ACLU did not complain. The seal also displayed other California motifs, including the Spanish galleon San Salvador, a tuna fish, a cow, stars representing the movie and television industries, the Hollywood Bowl, oil derricks, and a pair of engineering instruments to represent Los Angeles' contributions to industrial construction and space exploration. The cross was a tiny part of the seal. But Los Angeles County gave into the ACLU's demands and spent $700,000 to censor the cross and replace it on all official government documents, publications and signage.
  
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===Organizational structure===
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The ACLU of Louisiana demanded that a school board stop allowing an invocation to be said at the beginning of its meetings. In ''[[Doe v. Tangipahoa Parish School Bd.]]'' (2007), an [[en banc]] [[Fifth Circuit]] dismissed the claim for lack of proof that anyone had been injured or even offended by hearing these invocations.
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The ACLU has its national headquarters located in New York City. The organization does most of its work through 53 locally based affiliates chapters. The chapters generally correspond to state lines, but [[California]] has three affiliates, [[Pennsylvania]] has two, and [[The Dakotas]] share one.  These affiliates maintain a certain amount of autonomy from the national organization, and are able to work independently from each other.  Many of the ACLU's cases originate from the local level and are handled by lawyers from the local affiliates.
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<!-- An example illustrating state chapter autonomy would be useful here. The illustration using the internment issue was removed; see the talk page. -->
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Affiliates (the state organizations) are the basic unit of the ACLU's organization.  In a twenty-month period beginning January 2004, the ACLU's [[New Jersey]] chapter, to take one example, was involved in fifty-one cases according to their annual report -- thirty-five cases in state courts, and sixteen in federal court. They provided legal representation in thirty-three of those cases, and served as amicus in the remaining eighteen. They listed forty-four volunteer attorneys who assisted them in those cases.  
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In the ACLU's quest to attack the Christian religion any chance it gets, they are suing in Alaska courts to remove the property tax exemption from church owned properties.<ref>[http://www.theacru.org/acru/aclu_doesnt_want_to_pay_taxes_expects_churches_to_pay_them/ ACLU Doesn't Want to Pay Taxes; Expects Churches to Pay Them] The American Civil Rights Union</ref>
  
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Each affiliate is registered as both a 501(c)(3) and 501(c)(4) entity. All membership dues and tax-deductible donations are shared between the affiliates and the national office. <!-- Is this true? If so, it would mean that a donor could not earmark a contribution to be spent on a particular project or on particular projects. -->
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An Indiana judge has upheld the issuance of license plates bearing the message "In God We Trust," dismissing a constitutional challenge by the ACLU.<ref>[https://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,351721,00.html Indiana Judge Dismisses ACLU Challenge, Upholds 'God' License Plate] AP, April 18, 2008</ref>
  
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==Positions==
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The ACLU persuaded the [[Ninth Circuit]] to forbid Congress from transferring a cross to private owners who would preserve it in the Mojave Desert, in Buono v. Kempthorne <ref>[http://www.ca9.uscourts.gov/ca9/newopinions.nsf/5E8062E92D0210668825734D007E25AA/$file/0555852.pdf?openelement UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS FOR THE NINTH CIRCUIT] USCOURTS.GOV</ref>
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While the bulk of the ACLU's cases involve the [[First Amendment]], [[Equal Protection]], [[Due Process]], and the [[Privacy|right to privacy]]<ref>see, ''e.g.'', the [[Louisiana]] chapter's [http://www.laaclu.org/Complaints/complaints.html "Complaint Guidelines"]</ref>, the organization has taken positions on a wide range of issues. Broadly, the ACLU supports:
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[[Image:Antonio Villaraigosa.jpg|right|thumb|260px|[[Los Angeles]] Mayor [[Antonio Villaraigosa]] speaking at an [[ACLU]] event.  Villaraigosa is a former board member and president of the ACLU Southern California affiliate.]]
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*[[Status of religious freedom in the United States|Religious Liberty]]: Defends the individual right of Americans of all religions to practice and/or display affirmations of their faith in public, but not on public property with government sponsorship or endorsement.<ref>{{cite web | url=http://www.aclu.org/religion/govtfunding/26527res20060824.html | title=The Mt. Soledad Latin Cross: Q&A | accessdate =2006-10-21  }}</ref><ref>{{cite web | url=http://www.aclu.org/religion/tencomm/16254res20050302.html | title=ACLU's Defense of Religious Liberty: Q&A | accessdate =2006-10-21}}</ref>
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*[[Separation of church and state in the United States|Separation of church and state]]; under this mandate, the ACLU:
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**Opposes the government-sponsored display of religious symbols on [[public property]];
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**Opposes official prayers, religious ceremonies, and some kinds of "[[moment of silence|moments of silence]]"<ref>http://www.aclu.org/religion/gen/16039res20020311.html</ref> in public schools or schools funded with public money;
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*Full [[freedom of speech]] and of the press, including school [[newspaper]]s;
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*[[Reproductive rights]], including the right to use [[contraception]] and to have an [[abortion]];
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*Full civil rights for [[Lesbian]], [[Gay]], [[Bisexual]] and [[Transgender]] people, including government benefits for homosexual couples equal to those provided for heterosexual ones;
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*[[Affirmative action]] as a means of redressing past discrimination and achieving a racially diverse student body;<ref>http://www.aclu.org/RacialEquality/RacialEqualityMain.cfm</ref>
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*The rights of [[defendant]]s and suspects against [[Constitutionality|unconstitutional]] [[police]] practices;
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*The [[decriminalization]] of [[recreational drug use|drugs]] such as [[heroin]], [[cocaine]] and [[cannabis (drug)|marijuana]];<ref>http://www.aclu.org/DrugPolicy/DrugPolicy.cfm?ID=12401&c=19</ref>
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*[[Privacy]] as it "works to preserve the American tradition that the government not track individuals or violate privacy unless it has evidence of wrongdoing."<ref>http://aclu.org/privacy/index.html</ref>
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*[[Immigration|Immigrants']] rights by "challenging unconstitutional laws and practices, countering the myths upon which many of these laws are based."<ref>http://aclu.org/immigrants/index.html</ref>
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The ACLU has opposed some campaign finance laws such as the [[Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act]], which it considers an inappropriate restriction upon freedom of expression. It does not have a policy of blanket opposition to all laws on campaign finance.<ref>http://rules.senate.gov/hearings/2000/042600murphy.htm</ref>
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The ACLU enlisted the Courts to have banned the private distribution of Bibles in public school. The federal Court of Appeals for the [[Eighth Circuit]] issued this ruling for the ACLU. Doe v. S. Iron R-1 Sch. Dist., 2007 U.S. App. LEXIS 19818 (8th Cir. Aug. 21, 2007).  
  
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While the ACLU does oppose the use of crosses in public monuments,<ref>{{cite web | url=http://www.signonsandiego.com/uniontrib/20040331/news_7m31soledad.html | title=Mt. Soledad cross case seems settled}}</ref><ref>http://www.worldnetdaily.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=43799</ref> there have been false allegations that the ACLU has urged the removal of cross-shaped [[headstone]]s from federal [[cemetery|cemeteries]] and has opposed prayer by [[soldier]]s; such charges have been deemed to be [[urban legend]]s.<ref>http://www.snopes.com/politics/religion/cemetery.asp</ref>
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The [[Seventh Circuit]] ruled against the ACLU by overturning "a lower court's decision that sectarian prayers on the floor of the (Indiana) House violated the constitutional separation of church and state."
  
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==Notable historical cases==
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The ACLU offers "talking points" in case someone asks why the ACLU hates Christmas so much: Their official response, "We work year-round to ensure that everyone in America has the freedom to practice their own religion (or no religion) and to keep the government out of religion." <ref>[http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,1686800,00.html No Ho Ho.] Time, November 21, 2007</ref>
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Since its founding, the ACLU has been involved in many cases (see the [[List of ACLU Cases]] for a more complete list). A few of the most significant are discussed here.
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===1920–1960===
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A rural school district's long-standing practice of allowing the distribution of Bibles to grade school students is unconstitutional, a federal judge has ruled. For more than three decades, the South Iron School District in Annapolis, 120 miles southwest of St. Louis. The ACLU filed suit two years ago on behalf of four sets of parents.<ref>[http://www.wwrn.org/article.php?idd=27416&sec=36&cont=all Court Ends Bible Distribution in School] AP, January 9, 2008</ref>
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In 1925, the ACLU persuaded [[John T. Scopes]] to defy [[Tennessee]]'s anti-[[evolution]] law in a [[Scopes Trial|court test]]. [[Clarence Darrow]], a member of the ACLU National Committee, headed Scopes' legal team. The ACLU lost the case and Scopes was fined $100. The Tennessee Supreme Court later upheld the law but overturned the conviction on a technicality.<ref>http://www.law.umkc.edu/faculty/projects/ftrials/scopes/scopes.htm</ref><ref>{{cite web | url=http://www.law.umkc.edu/faculty/projects/ftrials/scopes/scopeschrono.html | title=The Evolution-Creationism Controversy: A Chronology}}</ref>
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<!--missing blurb on the 1947 case which brought the idea of the separation of church and state into American legal practice-->
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In February 2013 ACLU wanted to remove an old portrait of [[Jesus Christ|Jesus]] in a school.<ref>https://www.foxnews.com/us/2013/02/08/aclu-wants-ohio-school-jesus-portrait-removed-school-says-picture-historically/</ref>
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In 1954, the ACLU filed an amicus brief in the case of ''[[Brown v. Board of Education]]'', which led to the ban on racial segregation in U.S. [[public school]]s.<ref>http://www.aclu.org/racialjustice/gen/15901lgl19521011.html</ref>
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===1960–1990===
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==Censoring Intelligent Design==
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In 1968, the ACLU successfully argued against state bans on [[interracial marriage]], in the case of ''[[Loving vs. Virginia]]''.<ref>http://www.law.umkc.edu/faculty/projects/ftrials/conlaw/loving.html</ref>
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{{main|intelligent design}}
  
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In 1973, the ACLU was the first major national organization to call for the [[impeachment]] of President [[Richard M. Nixon]], giving as reasons the violation by the Nixon administration of civil liberties.<ref name="history" /> That same year, the ACLU was involved in the cases of ''[[Roe v. Wade]]'' and ''[[Doe v. Bolton]]'', in which the Supreme Court held that the constitutional right of privacy extended to women seeking [[abortion]]s.
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In 2004, the ACLU filed [[Selman v. Cobb County School District]].<ref>[https://www.aclu.org/religion/schools/16381prs20041112.html ACLU:  Parents Challenge Evolution Disclaimer In Georgia Textbooks]</ref>  If the plaintiffs, five parents in the Georgia district, won the case, the school district would have to pay their lawyers.  The ACLU argued <ref>[https://www.aclu.org/FilesPDFs/ACFB940.pdf ACLU Pretrial Brief in Selman et al v. Cobb County, 11/12/2004]</ref> that the district had violated the [[Establishment clause]] of the [[U.S. Constitution]] by putting stickers in biology textbooks that said, "This textbook contains material on [[evolution]]. Evolution is a [[theory]], not a fact, regarding the origin of living things. This material should be approached with an open mind, studied carefully and critically considered."<ref>[http://news.findlaw.com/cnn/docs/religion/selmancobb11305ord.pdf Judge's Decision, Selman v. Cobb County School District]</ref>  The trial judge ruled in favor of the ACLU,<ref>[http://news.findlaw.com/cnn/docs/religion/selmancobb11305ord.pdf Judge's Decision, Selman v. Cobb County School District]</ref> but his ruling was vacated on appeal.<ref>[http://www.ca11.uscourts.gov/opinions/ops/200510341.pdf Appeal Decision, Selman v. Cobb County School District]</ref>  The case was eventually settled.  The school district agreed to remove the stickers, to avoid altering science textbooks or making "any disclaimers regarding evolution," and to teach the state Board of Education's [[core curriculum]], which includes evolution, although that wasn't under dispute in the original suit.  In addition, they paid $166,669.12 to Atlanta law firm Bondurant, Mixon & Elmore.<ref>"Agreement Ends Textbook Sticker Case," press release from Cobb County School District including settlement agreement [http://www.cobb.k12.ga.us/news/2006/20061219_StickerAgreement.pdf]</ref><ref>[https://www.aclu.org/religion/intelligentdesign/27745prs20061219.html ACLU: Georgia School Board Drops Defense of Anti-Evolution Stickers]</ref>
  
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In 1977, the ACLU filed suit against the Village of [[Skokie, Illinois]], seeking an injunction against the enforcement of three town ordinances outlawing [[Nazism|Nazi]] parades and demonstrations. Skokie, Illinois at the time had a majority population of Jews, totaling 40,000 of 70,000 citizens. A federal district court struck down the ordinances in a decision eventually affirmed by the [[U.S. Supreme Court]]. The ACLU's action in this case led to a rift between the [[Jewish Defence League]] and the ACLU.  According to
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Another example of ACLU litigation was ''[[Kitzmiller v. Dover Area School District]].'',<ref>Kitzmiller v. Dover Area School District: 
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David Hamlin, executive director of the Illinois ACLU, "...the Chicago office which chose to provide legal counsel to neo-Nazis who have been planning to march in Skokie, has lost about 25% of its membership and nearly one-third of its budget."  30,000 ACLU members resigned in protest.<ref>http://www.kansaspress.ku.edu/strwhe.html</ref><ref>{{cite web | url=http://cdm.digitalpast.org/cgi-bin/showfile.exe?CISOROOT=/skokiepo001&CISOPTR=36 | title=Membership woes hurt ACLU while others gain}}</ref><ref>{{cite web | url=http://cdm.digitalpast.org/cgi-bin/showfile.exe?CISOROOT=/skokiepo001&CISOPTR=0 | title=2d suit to block Nazis from Skokie march fails}}</ref>
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Decision of the Court, 400 F.Supp.2d 707 (M.D. Pa. 2005) [http://www.talkorigins.org/faqs/dover/kitzmiller_v_dover_decision.html]</ref> also known as the [[intelligent design]] case. The ACLU prevailed in prohibiting administrators from reading a short statement that mentions [[intelligent design]] to students, and forbade the school board from issuing a warning that Darwin's theory has gaps.<ref>''Kitzmiller v. Dover Area School District,'' 400 F.Supp.2d 707.</ref> In his opinion, Judge [[John E. Jones III]] heavily relied on the later-vacated ruling in ''[[Selman v. Cobb County School District]]'', and on ACLU briefs.<ref>90% of the section on intelligent design was from the ACLU's briefs.  A Comparison of Judge Jones’ Opinion in Kitzmiller v. Dover with Plaintiffs’ Proposed “Findings of Fact and Conclusions of Law”, by David DeWolf & John West, [[Discovery Institute]], December 12, 2006
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[http://www.discovery.org/scripts/viewDB/index.php?command=view&id=3829&program=CSC - Views and News]</ref>   He also cited the [[Establishment test]], the [[Lemon test]], and the [[reasonable student standard]].<ref>''Kitzmiller,'' 400 F. Supp. 2d at 725 (coming to the conclusion reached in ''Selman'' by the Court's own reasoning), ''compare'' Selman v. Cobb County Sch. Dist, 2006 U.S. App. LEXIS 13005 (11th Cir. May 25, 2006) at *pincite needed*.</ref> The judge also ordered fees paid to the ACLU and its lawyers, totaling $2,067,000.<ref>''See'' 42 U.S.C. s 1988 (describing relief afforded victorious plaintiff of a 1983 action as including attorney fees).</ref>
  
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In his February 23, 1978 decision overturning the town ordinances, US District Court Judge Bernard M. Decker described the principle involved in the case as follows: "It is better to allow those who preach racial hatred to expend their venom in rhetoric rather than to be panicked into embarking on the dangerous course of permitting the government to decide what its citizens may say and hear ... The ability of American society to tolerate the advocacy of even hateful doctrines ... is perhaps the best protection we have against the establishment of any Nazi-type regime in this country."<ref>http://www.lib.niu.edu/ipo/1978/ii781111.html</ref>
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==Harming the Boy Scouts==
  
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In the 1980s, the ACLU filed suit to challenge the [[Arkansas]] 1981 [[creationism]] statute, which required the teaching in public schools of the biblical account of creation as a scientific alternative to evolution. The law was declared unconstitutional by a Federal District Court.<ref>http://www.talkorigins.org/faqs/mclean-v-arkansas.html</ref>
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The ACLU filed a lawsuit to prohibit the federal government from continuing to allow the [[Boy Scouts]], a charitable organization for teenagers, to use an Army base in Virginia for a quadrennial gathering known as the Boy Scout Jamboree; in 2005, more than 40,000 Boy Scouts attended this event.
  
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In 1982, the ACLU became involved in a case involving the distribution of [[child pornography]] (''[[New York v. Ferber]]'', 458 U.S. 747<ref>http://www.oyez.org/oyez/resource/case/279/</ref>) In an amicus brief, the ACLU argued that the [[New York state]] law in question "has criminalized the dissemination, sale or display of constitutionally protected non-obscene materials which portray juveniles in sexually related roles," while arguing that child pornography deemed [[obscene]] under the [[Miller test]] deserved no constitutional protection and could be banned.{{Fact|date=February 2007}}<!-- The previously included reference:<ref>http://campus.westlaw.com/Find/Default.wl?SerialNum=1982191934&FindType=Y&AP=0-2&ReturnTo=CLID_RT4918149&POP=False&IT=BRIEF&TF=15&TC=1&mt=CampusLegal&fn=_top&sv=Split&vr=2.0&sp=princeton-2000&rs=WLW5.09</ref> is not freely available to all.  Please update with one that is for complete verification. -->
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Although the Boy Scouts have been conducting this Jamboree on government property for 70 years, this lawsuit was not filed until 1999, after the Boy Scouts enforced its policy against having openly homosexual Scout leaders.  The theory of the lawsuit was that because Scouts swear an oath of "duty to God," it violates the Establishment Clause for the government to allow this joint project.
  
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In a 2002 letter, the ACLU stated that it "opposes child pornography that uses real children in its depictions," but that material "which is produced without using real children, and is not otherwise obscene, is protected under the First Amendment."<ref>http://www.aclu.org/Privacy/Privacy.cfm?ID=10364&c=252</ref>
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A federal district court ruled for the ACLU, but the Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit overturned the lower court ruling that the plaintiffs lacked standing to bring the suit which will allow the government to continue to sponsor this event for the Boy Scouts.<ref>See [[Essay:Boy Scouts Rout ACLU]]</ref>
  
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===1990 to present===
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== Pornography ==
  
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In January 2006, the ACLU filed a lawsuit, [[ACLU v. NSA]], in a federal district court in Michigan, challenging government spying in the [[NSA warrantless surveillance controversy]].<ref>http://www.aclu.org/safefree/nsaspying/23491lgl20060117.html#attach</ref> On August 17, 2006, that court ruled that the warrantless wiretapping program is unconstitutional and ordered it ended immediately.<ref>http://www.wired.com/news/politics/0,71610-0.html?tw=wn_index_3</ref><ref>[http://select.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=FA0B11FF3E5A0C7B8DDDA10894DE404482 "U.S. Judge Finds Wiretap Actions Violate The Law"]</ref>
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In [[Ashcroft v. ACLU]] (2004), the ACLU challenged and invalidated the [[Child Online Protection Act]], which would have required pornographers to take reasonable steps to restrict access by minors to pornography on the Internet. The Act, which the Supreme Court struck down at the request of the ACLU, did not censor a single word or picture.  It merely required the pornographers to screen their websites from minors, which can be done by credit card or other verification.
  
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The ACLU and other organizations also filed separate lawsuits around the country against telecommunications companies.  The ACLU filed a lawsuit in Illinois (Terkel v. AT&T) which was dismissed because of the [[state secrets privilege]]<ref>http://www.aclu.org/safefree/nsaspying/26235prs20060725.html</ref> and two others in California requesting injunctions against [[AT&T]] and [[Verizon]].<ref>http://www.aclu.org/safefree/nsaspying/25685prs20060526.html</ref> On August 10, 2006, the lawsuits against the telecommunications companies were transferred to a federal judge in San Francisco.<ref>{{cite web | url=http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/chronicle/archive/2006/08/11/BAGRGKGL4S1.DTL&type=politics | title= Surveillance lawsuits transferred to judge skeptical of Bush plan}}</ref>
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The ACLU often argues in favor of pornography before courts and administrative boards.  [[Charles Rust-Tierney]] was an executive for the ACLU of Virginia who argued against the use of Internet filters on the computers at the [[Loudoun County, Virginia|Loudoun County]] Library Board:<ref>http://www.worldnetdaily.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=55983</ref>
  
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After the town of [[Hazleton, Pennsylvania|Hazleton]] in [[Pennsylvania]] passed an ordinance to punish landlords who rented to illegal immigrants and businesses who hired illegal immigrants, the ACLU and Puerto Rican Legal Defense and Education Fund sued Hazleton, saying the ordinance was unconstitutional.<ref>http://www.aclupa.org/legal/legaldocket/challengetohazletonimmigra.htm</ref><ref>http://civilliberty.about.com/od/historyprofiles/ss/news082206_3.htm</ref>
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:"The ACLU of Virginia urges the board to carefully consider a new Internet Use Policy that allows for maximum Internet access ...."
  
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==Controversial stances==
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Rust-Tierney, who served as the Virginia ACLU president until 2005, was serving on its board of directors when he was arrested in February 2007 for possession of child pornography that a U.S. magistrate described as "the most perverted and nauseating and sickening type of child pornography" she ever had seen.  The former Virginia ACLU president later entered a guilty plea and was sentenced to eight years in jail.<ref>''Ibid.''</ref>
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===First Amendment rights===
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The organization's policy is that free speech rights must be available to all citizens and residents of the United States. This policy sometimes leads to cases where the Union defends unpopular people and organizations. The Union has taken on cases to defend the free speech rights of clients as diverse as [[Ku Klux Klan]] members, [[neo-Nazi]] groups, [[North American Man/Boy Love Association]] (a group which promotes lifting all age restrictions on [[pederasty]]).
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The ACLU defended [[Frank Snepp]], formerly of the [[Central Intelligence Agency]], from an attempt by the government agency to enforce a [[gag order]] against him.{{Fact|date=February 2007}} In these and other cases, the ACLU has defended the free speech rights of people and organizations even when the content of that speech is in conflict with the ACLU's own positions and goals.
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The ACLU also defended Lieutenant Colonel [[Oliver North]],<ref>http://www.aclu.org/freespeech/protest/11289prs20000831.html</ref> whose conviction was tainted by coerced testimony&mdash;a violation of his [[Fifth Amendment to the United States Constitution|fifth amendment rights]].{{Fact|date=February 2007}}
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The ACLU also recently forced a Nampa, Idaho public library to return two books to the shelves that many parents have found objectionable.  ''The Joy of Sex'' and ''The Joy of Gay Sex'' were the subjects of a two-year legal battle to get them removed after a teenager found one in his home within reach of young children.  "''The Joy of Gay Sex'' contains very graphic, leave[s] nothing to the imagination [with] depictions of every variety of homosexual sex imaginable," said [[Bryan Fischer]], one of the litigants to get the books removed. "It even has a chapter in it entitled 'Daddy/Son Fantasies.'" Other chapter titles include "Exhibitionism and Voyeurism," "Fisting," "Sex with Animals," and "Tearooms and Back Rooms."  Referring to the ACLU's bullying tactics against the library, Fischer said "It's an abysmal state of affairs when a single letter from cultural thugs can undo two years of patient and pain-staking work." [https://www.onenewsnow.com/Culture/Default.aspx?id=244332]
  
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The ACLU has come out against [[Megan's Law|Megan’s Law]], a law designed to protect children from sex offenders.<ref>http://www.registeredoffenderslist.org/megans-law.htm</ref><ref>http://www.aclu-nj.org/issues/privacy/meganslawstillunderattack.htm</ref> Though the ACLU has fought Megan’s Law(s) in many states, it has been unable to attain significant victories in these cases.{{Fact|date=February 2007}}
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==Same-sex Marriage==
  
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George Mason University law professor [[David Bernstein]], in his book "You Can't Say That! The Growing Threat to Civil Liberties from Antidiscrimination Laws" expressly criticizes the ACLU. David Bernstein argues that the ACLU would choose to undermine expressive rights when they are found to be in conflict with antidiscrimination laws, as in the 2000 Supreme Court case of [[Boy Scouts of America v. Dale]].
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The ACLU of New Jersey filed an amicus curiae brief in favor of same-sex marriage and therefore the [[homosexual agenda]] in ''Lewis v. Harris'', 188 N.J. 415 (1006).  The New Jersey Supreme Court ruled in favor of civil unions, but by a 4-3 margin did not require same-sex marriage.
  
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The ACLU also fought for the [[Westboro Baptist Church]] and [[Shirley Phelps-Roper]] after legislation prevented the group from picketing outside of funerals. [http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/07/22/AR2006072200643.html] The Westboro Baptist Church is infamous for their picket signs that contain messages such as, "Thank God for Dead Soldiers" and "Thank God for 9/11". This was a very controversial backing from the ACLU that received much criticism, notably in the blogging world. [http://jonrowe.blogspot.com/2006/07/aclu-defends-phelps-hey-if-nazis-have.html] [http://shoe-fly-pie.blogspot.com/2006/07/aclu-sues-for-anti-gay-group-that.html]
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The ACLU sues schools when a student alleges encountering "anti-gay peer harassment and bullying based on his perceived sexual orientation."  <ref>https://www.aclu.org/lgbt/youth/28618prs20070221.html</ref>  The ACLU holds the school (and hence the taxpayers) liable for actions based on conduct by some students towards others.
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[http://positiveliberty.com/2006/07/aclu-defends-phelps.html]
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The ACLU issued a statement calling the legislation  "law that infringes on Shirley Phelps-Roper's rights to religious liberty and free speech". [http://www.aclu.org/freespeech/protest/26265prs20060721.html]
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===Affirmative action===
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The ACLU of Minnesota sued to force the Osseo Area School District to grant equal access to the schools public address (PA) system, yearbook, fundraising and field trips by a pro-homosexual school club named the Straights and Gays for Equality (“SAGE”).<ref>''Straights & Gays for Equality v. Osseo Area Schs.'', 471 F.3d 908 (8th Cir. 2006).</ref>  The school district already had a club entitled "Gays, Lesbians, Bisexuals, Trans-gender, Questioning and Allies," and already had a SAGE club, but SAGE was designated as non-curricular and wanted the additional rights of communication.
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[[Civil libertarian]] and former ACLU member [[Nat Hentoff]] has criticized the ACLU for promoting [[affirmative action]] and for supporting speech codes on college campuses and in the workplace.<ref>{{cite news | last=Hentoff | first=Nat | title=ACLU better clean up its act | work=Michigan Daily | publisher=University of Michigan | date=2006-01-31 | url=http://www.jewishworldreview.com/cols/hentoff092099.asp | accessdate=2006-08-16}}</ref>  Also, the organization's support for [[affirmative action]] has been criticized as disregarding the civil rights of those who are discriminated against whether in employment or school admissions.{{Fact|date=February 2007}}
+
  
 +
The ACLU invoked the Equal Access Act to argue that as long as the school district granted these rights to other clubs, such as cheerleading and synchronized swimming, it must grant these rights to SAGE also.  No, the school district argued in defending its action, cheerleading is related to physical education while SAGE is not, and thus SAGE should not have the same rights.  However, there were other non phys-ed sports that got funding.
  
 +
The district court ruled in favor of the ACLU, and the Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit unanimously affirmed.  The Court ordered the school district to give SAGE the same rights as the cheerleading club.  The ACLU will be able to demand substantial attorneys' fees at taxpayer expense.
  
−
===Gun control===
+
Similarly, the ACLU of Florida sued the Okeechobee School Board to force it to allow a Gay-Straight Alliance club at Okeechobee High School.  Though the school objected to this club as a "sex-based" club, the ACLU persuaded a federal judge to rule in its favor, and it will likely recover substantial attorneys fees at taxpayer expense.  See ''Gay-Straight Alliance of Okeechobee High Sch. v. School Board of Okeechobee County'', 2007 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 25729 (S.D. Fla. Apr. 6, 2007).
−
Although the ACLU categorically embraces a [[Second Amendment to the United States Constitution#Two models|States' Right Model]] interpretation of the [[Second Amendment to the United States Constitution|Second Amendment]], which only recognizes a state's right to possess firearms, the organization officially declares itself "neutral" on the issue of gun control, pointing to previous Supreme Court decisions such as ''[[United States v. Miller]]'' to argue that the Second Amendment applies to the preservation or efficiency of a well-regulated militia, and that "except for lawful police and military purposes, the possession of firearms by individuals is not constitutionally protected."<ref name="policepractices">{{cite web | url=http://www.aclu.org/PolicePractices/PolicePractices.cfm?ID=9621&c=25 | title=American Civil Liberties Union: Gun Control}}</ref>
+
  
−
Regarding [[Gun politics|gun control]] laws, the official policy of the national ACLU argues that the Second Amendment is "intended mainly to protect the right of the states to maintain militias to assure their own freedom and security against the central government" and is not intended to "confer an unlimited right upon individuals to own guns or other weapons." Furthermore, the ACLU states "The national ACLU is neutral on the issue of gun control. We believe that the Constitution contains no barriers to reasonable regulations of gun ownership."
+
==Conspicuously Absent==
  
−
The ACLU of Washington State and the [[Second Amendment Foundation]] jointly filed a lawsuit<ref>http://www.aclu-wa.org/detail.cfm?id=557</ref> in November [[2006]] against the North Central Regional Library District (NCRL) in Washington State for its policy of refusing to disable restrictions upon an adult patron's request. Library patrons attempting to access gun web sites such as [http://www.womenandguns.com/ Women &amp; Guns] were blocked, and the library refused to remove the blocks.
+
The ACLU is known for going after the [[U.S.]] government with absolutely no evidence to prove otherwise, ACLU v. [[AT&T]] 2007. Though when it comes to actual data breaches and data abuse against a U.S. citizen, '''the ACLU is missing.''' [[Samuel Joseph Wurzelbacher|Joe Wurzelbacher]], a.k.a. ''[[Samuel Joseph Wurzelbacher|Joe the Plumber]]'', had his personal and confidential records investigated without reason, by Democratic officials in Ohio, "[[Big Brother]]."<ref>[https://www.foxnews.com/wires/2008Nov21/0,4670,JoeThePlumberRecords,00.html 4 more punished over 'Joe the Plumber' searches] Fox News, November 21, 2008</ref> Honest speculation is that the ACLU consists of partisan Democrats and ''Joe the Plumber'' was a [[Republican]], during a presidential election season. Questions remain and we can only guess as to their reasoning, their silence is deafening.
  
−
===Spam===
+
Also, the ACLU is absent from hate speech attacks against [[Carrie Prejean]]. Her right and her freedom of speech was violated. The ACLU is hiding fearful of Conservatives.
−
The ACLU's stance on [[Spam (electronic)|spam]] is considered controversial by a broad cross-section of political points of view. In 2000 Marvin Johnson, a legislative counsel for the ACLU, stated that proposed anti-spam legislation infringed on free speech by denying anonymity and by forcing spam to be labeled as such: "Standardized labeling is compelled speech." He also stated, "It's relatively simple to click and delete."<ref>http://archives.cnn.com/2000/TECH/computing/06/09/amend.spam.idg/</ref> This analysis is rejected by many spam fighters as failing to address the effects of spam on network infrastructure and costs.<ref>http://www.oreilly.com/catalog/spam/chapter/ch01.html</ref> This debate found the ACLU joining with the [[Direct Marketing Association]] and the [[Center for Democracy and Technology]] in criticizing a bipartisan bill in the [[House of Representatives]] in 2000; already by 1997 the ACLU had taken a strong position that nearly all spam legislation was improper,<ref>http://www.anu.edu.au/mail-archives/link/link9709/0306.html</ref> although it has supported "[[opt-out]]" requirements in some cases. The ACLU opposed the 2003 [[CAN-SPAM Act of 2003|CAN-SPAM]] act<ref>http://www.aclu.org/freespeech/commercial/10953leg20030730.html</ref> suggesting that it could have a [[chilling effect]] on speech in cyberspace.
+
  
−
===Patriot Act I and II===
+
==Abortion==
  
−
The ACLU has been a vocal opponent of the [[USA PATRIOT Act |  Patriot act]] of 2001, the [[Domestic Security Enhancement Act of 2003|PATRIOT 2]] Act, and associated legislation made in response to the threat of domestic terrorism that it believes violates either the letter or the spirit of the [[United States Bill of Rights|U.S. Bill of Rights]]. In response to a requirement of the USA PATRIOT Act, the ACLU withdrew from the [[Combined Federal Campaign]].<ref name="cfc">http://www.aclu.org/safefree/general/18526prs20040731.html</ref> The requirement was that ACLU employees must be checked against a federal anti-terrorism watch list. The ACLU has stated that it would rather "reject $500,000 in contributions from private individuals rather than submit to a government 'blacklist' policy."<ref name="cfc" />
+
The ACLU is generally against laws that restrict access to [[abortion]], such as parental notification when a minor seeks an abortion and informed consent for the woman herself. ACLU attorneys have argued several cases in support of abortion.  For example, the woman called "Jane Doe" in the [[abortion]] case of ''[[Doe v. Bolton]]'' (1973) says "she was pressured by ACLU attorneys to opt for [[abortion]] and that the case was based on fraud."<ref>http://www.worldnetdaily.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=52210</ref>
  
−
''See also: [[American Civil Liberties Union v. Ashcroft (2004)]]''
+
==Polygamy==
−
<!--Need more here on PATRIOT Act challenges, and ACLU activities post-9/11 in general, including stats on increase in membership. If not here, then in Patriot Act articles.-->
+
  
−
== References ==
+
The ACLU has defended [[polygamy|polygamists]].<ref>During a question-and-answer session after a speech at Yale University, ACLU president Nadine Strossen stated that her organization has "defended the right of individuals to engage in polygamy," [http://www.worldnetdaily.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=44977 World Net Daily] June 25, 2005</ref><ref>
−
<div class="references-small" style="-moz-column-count:2; column-count:2;">
+
The ACLU views freedom of religion and the establishment clause as inseparable: In order for people to have religious freedom, their government must neither endorse nor prohibit any religious position.[https://www.aclu.org/religion/frb/16163prs19990716.html ACLU press release July 16 1999].</ref>
−
<references />
+
−
</div>
+
  
−
== Bibliography ==
+
==Free Speech==
−
*William A. Donohue, ''The Politics of the American Civil Liberties Union'' (New Brunswick, NJ: Transaction Books, 1985) ISBN 0-88738-021-2
+
 
−
*Peggy Lamson, ''Roger Baldwin: Founder of the American Civil Liberties Union'' (Boston: Houghton Mifflin Company, 1976) ISBN 0-395-24761-6
+
The ACLU is the single biggest legal advocate for pornography (see above), claiming that it is a form of [[free speech]].  Less significantly, the ACLU has also helped&mdash;or not helped&mdash;in the following cases:
−
*Samuel Walker, ''In Defense of American Liberties: A History of the ACLU'' (New York and Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1990) ISBN 0-19-504539-4
+
 
 +
*The ACLU rarely defends Christian speech, and virtually never defends speech that is critical of homosexuality. The ACLU was silent with respect to the widely publicized censorship of a T-shirt critical of homosexuality that was worn by student Tyler Chase Harper at his public school. "It's hard to explain the ACLU's apparent equanimity about the violation of Mr. Harper's First Amendment rights&mdash;unless you consider the content of his speech. This case does not appear to be anomalous. Despite its professed commitment to religious liberty, for example, the ACLU tends to absent itself from cases on college campuses involving the associational rights of Christian student groups to discriminate against gay students, in accordance with their religious beliefs."<ref>Wendy Kaminer, "The American Liberal Liberties Union," Wall Street Journal (May 23, 2007).</ref>  Months ''after'' that stinging criticism, the ACLU filed a carefully worded [[amicus curiae]] brief in subsequent litigation in this case that defended Harper because he "neither substantially disrupted the school nor invaded the rights of other students."<ref>http://www.aclusandiego.org/article_downloads/000293/HarperAmicusDistrictCourtFinal.pdf .  Buried in the brief near the end of an argument is the statement that "and because "to allow a [[Day of silence|Day of Silence]] one day while banning Mr. Harper's shirt the next day may give rise to an inference of viewpoint discrimination rather than justified regulation of student speech regardless of viewpoint"&mdash;but note that it does not argue that inference of viewpoint discrimination would be correct.</ref>
 +
 
 +
*In 1978, the ACLU defended the right of the National Socialist Party of America (neo-Nazi) to march through Skokie, Illinois, a suburb of Chicago that is a community of a large number of Jewish people and Holocaust survivors.  The U.S. Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals ordered the village to issue a permit for demonstration to the Nazi Party, which was never used, that was later upheld by the Supreme Court.  The ACLU experienced a severe backlash over this case when membership dropped by 25% and plunged the organization $500,000 in debt.<ref>http://openweb.tvnews.vanderbilt.edu/1978-2/1978-02-23-NBC-6.html</ref><ref>http://www.acluprocon.org/ACLUHistory/HistoryTable.html</ref>
 +
 
 +
*On January 16, 2008, the ACLU issued a statement supporting [[Larry Craig|Sen. Larry Craig]](R-ID) to have his guilty plea to misdemeanor charges of disorderly conduct in a Minnesota airport restroom withdrawn on the basis that a closed bathroom stall is a private location.  While not advocating sex in public bathrooms, the ACLU suggested the police have better means of enforcing laws instead of using entrapment.<ref>https://www.aclu.org/freespeech/gen/33697prs20080116.html</ref>
 +
 
 +
*In September 2000, the ACLU represented the [[North American Man/Boy Love Association]] when the parents of Jeffrey Curley, who was raped, tortured and murdered by two men, filed a $200 million federal lawsuit for wrongful death.  John Roberts, the executive director of the Massachusetts ACLU stated, ''It's not a real popular case, but the First Amendment issues are clear.''  The case was dismissed on a technicality.  A subsequent lawsuit filed against the murderers, who were not represented by the ACLU, was successful.   Jeffrey Curley's father, Robert Curley, was sympathetic to the ACLU's opposition to his lawsuit.  "I really do have a lot of respect for them, they are very consistent in who they defend.  It takes a lot of nerve to defend the groups they have over the years. They have a lot of courage."  <ref>http://sidesplitters.catastrophe.net/arch/2002/www.ageofconsent.com/comments/numberfortytwo.htm</ref><ref>http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9E0DE0D91530F932A3575AC0A9669C8B63</ref>
 +
 
 +
*The ACLU has been involved with lawsuits filed against Attorney Generals [[Janet Reno|Reno]], [[John Ashcroft|Ashcroft]] and [[Alberto R. Gonzales|Gonzales]] when fighting the enforcement of the Child Online Protection Act (COPA).  Federal courts have consistently ruled COPA violates the constitutional protection of free speech and have forbidden enforcement by the federal government.  The most current ruling on March 22, 2007, is being appealed.<ref>http://www.mediacoalition.org/legal/copa/index.htm</ref>
 +
 
 +
*In 1949, the ACLU defended Father Arthur Terminiello, an ex-Catholic priest, who gave a speech at a rally in Chicago that was laced with racist, anti-Semitic and anti-Communist comments.  Father Terminiello was fined $100 for violating Chicago's breach of peace ordinance.  This fine was later reversed by the Supreme Court.<ref>http://www.comm.unt.edu/faculty/terminiello_v.htm</ref><ref>https://www.aclu.org/studentsrights/expression/12808pub19941231.html</ref>
 +
 
 +
*The ACLU of Nevada successfully defended the right of a street preacher, Jim Webber, to proselytize his pro-Jesus, anti-sin, and occasional anti-homosexual messages on the Las Vegas strip.  The unsuccessful campaign conducted by the casinos failed and allowed Webber and others to stay.  Webber is quoted as saying, "the ACLU has been my guardian angel.  They have been the ones that have provided the ability for me to stand on the street and talk with people about Jesus Christ." <ref>https://abcnews.go.com/WNT/story?id=548951&page=1</ref><ref>https://www.reviewjournal.com/lvrj_home/2006/Mar-05-Sun-2006/news/6197557.html</ref>
 +
 
 +
*A pro-Israel student at [[Columbia University]] was intimidated by a professor who silenced her rebuttal in class of his claim that the Israelis committed a massacre in Jenin, the ACLU refused to help defend her free speech. Apparently, the ACLU fevorishly defends the free speech for Islam, but Jewish and Christian free speech is irrelevant.<ref>[http://www.conservativetruth.org/article.php?id=449 ACLU Is AWOL On Free Speech] Conservativetruth.org, April 7, 2008</ref>
 +
 
 +
* ACLU became in recent years defenders of  anti-Israel extremists.<ref>https://freebeacon.com/courts/aclu-becomes-top-legal-defender-of-anti-semitic-bds-campaign/</ref>
 +
==Free Exercise Clause==
 +
 
 +
The ACLU at times defends the religious rights of American citizens and residents.  See 'ACLU Defense of Freedom of Religious Practice and Expression' at the ACLU's website for 60 examples of Christians and 45 examples of non-Christians represented by the ACLU to protect their religious rights.<ref>https://www.aclu.org/religion/govtfunding/26526res20060824.html</ref>
 +
 
 +
On March 14, 2008, the ACLU sent a letter to the Tarek ibn Ziyad Academy of Inver Grove Heights Minnesota expressing their disapproval of alleged school sponsored prayer during school hours.  Concerns were raised about alleged violations of the establishment clause and the 'Lemon Test' because '… the school is improperly involved in promoting and facilitating after-school religious studies conducted under the auspices of the Mosque that is housed in the same building as the school.'  Further inquiries are on-going.<ref>http://www.aclu-mn.org/downloads/LettertoTarekAcademy.pdf</ref><ref>http://www.aclu-mn.org/home/news/aclumnopensinvestigationof.htm</ref>
 +
 
 +
==Prisoner and student rights==
 +
 
 +
In the 2007 case ''Spratt v. Rhode Island Department of Corrections'', the ACLU brought suit against the Rhode Island Adult Correctional Institute following the prison's decision to bar Christian prisoner and lay minister Wesley Spratt from preaching to other inmates during weekly services.  The ACLU won the case on appeal, securing the right for Spratt to hold religious services for other inmates so long as these do not conflict with prison security.<ref>ACLU:  Appeals Court Overturns Ban on Christian Preacher in Rhode Island Prison (4/9/2007)[https://www.aclu.org/religion/frb/29578prs20070409.html]</ref>
 +
 
 +
In 2004, student [[Abbey Moler]] selected a bible verse to accompany her picture in a school yearbook. The school subsequently removed this text before publication. The ACLU filed suit against the Utica Community School District, on the grounds that this censorship violated Moler's first-amendment rights to free expression and freedom of religion. The case was settled out of court, with the school district agreeing to replace the verse in following prints of the yearbook and correct it by means of a sticker in copies still in its possession.<ref>ACLU: After ACLU Intervention on Behalf of Christian Valedictorian, Michigan High School Agrees to Stop Censoring Religious Yearbook Entries (5/11/2004)
 +
[https://www.aclu.org/studentsrights/expression/12845prs20040511.html]</ref><ref>The settlement between the ALCU and the school district stated:
 +
* The district will place a sticker with Moler's original entry in the copies of the yearbook on file with the school.
 +
* The district has instructed the Stevenson High School yearbook staff not to censor students' yearbook entries solely because they contain religious or political speech that others might find offensive.
 +
* The district recently provided and will continue to provide in-service training and advice to school staff on free speech and religious freedom issues that arise in school.
 +
* The district will write a letter of regret to Moler apologizing for the failure to include her entry in the yearbook.</ref>
 +
 
 +
==Medical Records==
 +
 
 +
The ACLU filed a friend-of-the-court brief in favor of the privacy of [[Rush Limbaugh]] in his medical records when he was under investigation for 'doctor shopping.' The ACLU argued that the privacy rights of a patient were being violated.<ref>https://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,108140,00.html</ref>
 +
 
 +
==Terrorism==
 +
 
 +
The ACLU has challenged the authority of the President to authorize wireless wiretaps of overseas communications without submitting to judicial oversight.  In ''[[ACLU v. NSA]]'', the Court of Appeals for the [[Sixth Circuit]] rejected the ACLU's challenge.<ref>[https://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,288381,00.html U.S. Appeals Court in Ohio Dismisses Challenge of Bush Administration's Domestic Surveillance Program] AP, July 06, 2007</ref> Then the ACLU appealed to the U.S. Supreme Court, which was also rejected.<ref>[http://michellemalkin.com/2008/02/19/america-1-aclu-0/ America, 1. ACLU, 0.] Michelle Malkin, February 19, 2008</ref><ref>[https://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,331203,00.html Supreme Court Rejects ACLU Challenge to Warrantless Surveillance Program] AP, February 19, 2008</ref> In addition, the following describes the measures the ACLU has taken to weaken America in its fight with terrorists.
 +
 
 +
As of December 2010, the ACLU is reimbursed by the U.S. government for defending Muslim terrorists. The ACLU will be paid with blood money, assets confiscated from bank holdings of terrorist organizations.<ref>[http://creepingsharia.wordpress.com/2010/12/28/obama-gives-terror-suspects-access-to-frozen-assets/ Obama gives terror suspects access to frozen assets, CreepingSharia, December 28. 2010]</ref>
 +
 
 +
* Urging city councils across the United States to be non-compliant with the provisions of the [[Patriot Act]], which is an important tool to keep America safe from terrorism.<ref>[http://www.discoverthenetworks.org/groupProfile.asp?grpid=6145 ACLU] DiscoverTheNetworks.org</ref>
 +
 
 +
* Endorsed the Civil Liberties Restoration Act of 2004. Introduced by liberal Democrats in Congress, it is to roll back vital national-security policies that had been adopted after 9/11.
 +
 
 +
* Consistently opposed to all efforts of the US government to obtain information from terrorists it has captured, and to try [[terrorist]]s as "illegal enemy combatants." <ref>[http://www.theacru.org/acru/aclu_wants_the_us_to_lose_the_war_on_terrorism/ ACLU Wants the US to Lose the War on Terrorism] The American Civil Rights Union, March 15, 2008</ref>
 +
 
 +
* Lobbied against any policy that would authorize security personnel at airports and border checkpoints to scrutinize travelers from terrorism-sponsoring nations
 +
 
 +
* Opposes the Computer-Assisted Passenger Profiling System (CAPPS) used by airlines to check for various passenger characteristics that have historically been correlated with terrorist activities
 +
 
 +
* Condemning the detention of immigrants apprehended in connection with post-9/11 terrorism investigations
 +
 
 +
* Held rallies on behalf of an Intel software engineer named Maher Mofeid Hawash, who U.S. officials were keeping in custody on suspicion that he had given material support to [[Taliban]] and [[Al Qaeda]] forces fighting American troops in Afghanistan
 +
 
 +
* Passionately defended Sami Al-Arian, the former North American head of [[Palestinian Islamic Jihad]] (PIJ). In an effort to thwart the U.S. government's investigation of Al-Arian's role in funding PIJ suicide bombings in Israel
 +
 
 +
* Came to the defense of radical attorney Lynne Stewart, who in February 2005 was convicted on charges that she had illegally "facilitated and concealed communications" between her client, the incarcerated "[[Blind Sheikh]]" Omar Abdel Rahman, and members of his Egyptian terrorist organization, the Islamic Group, which has ties to [[Al Qaeda]].
 +
 
 +
* The ACLU has launched a $8.5 million effort to provide what are supposed to be "top notch" private counsel for the illegal enemy combatants facing military tribunals at [[Guantanamo Bay Detention Camp|Guantanamo Bay]]. Among those to be provided this assistance is the man who has, apparently, confessed to being the mastermind behind the attacks that took place on 9/11.<ref>[http://www.theacru.org/acru/aclu_aiding_americas_enemies_again/ ACLU Aiding America's Enemies, Again] The American Civil Rights Union</ref><ref>[http://michellemalkin.com/2008/04/04/the-aclu-assembles-a-terrorist-legal-defense-force-of-extraordinary-magnitude/ The ACLU assembles a terrorist legal defense force of extraordinary magnitude] Michelle Malkin, April 4, 2008</ref>
 +
 
 +
* ACLU lawyers had been present during interrogations of captured [[Al Qaeda]] and [[Taliban]] enemy combatants who were being detained in Guantanamo Bay. These attorneys advised the inmates that they were under no obligation to answer military interrogators' questions
 +
 
 +
* ACLU attorney Noel Saleh "openly stated at a town hall meeting with federal officials that he has financially contributed to [[Hezbollah]]."
 +
 
 +
* The INS and the Justice Department instituted a program requiring males visiting the U.S. from Arab and Muslim nations to register with the Bureau of Citizenship and Immigration Services. The ACLU cried "discriminatory."
 +
 
 +
* Extremist calls for violent [[jihad]] were not uncommon in America's mosques. An FBI anti-terrorism initiative to count and document all mosques was again met with protests from the ACLU.
 +
 
 +
The ACLU's affiliations with terrorists are not restricted solely to foreigners. For instance, the organization named unrepentant [[Domestic terrorism|domestic terrorist]] [[Bill Ayers]] to its advisory board along with his wife [[Bernardine Dohrn]].
 +
 
 +
==Death Penalty==
 +
The ACLU is opposed to the killing of murderers.<ref>http://frontpagemag.com/2013/dgreenfield/to-kill-a-murderer/</ref>
 +
 
 +
==Views of the ACLU Founder==
 +
 
 +
Roger Baldwin, a co-founder of the ACLU and its first leader, was born and raised in Massachusetts. He said that his "social work began in my mind in the Unitarian Church when I was ten or twelve years old, and I started to do things that I thought would help other people."<ref>{{cite book|title=Roger Baldwin, founder of the American Civil Liberties Union: a portrait|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=iC6FAAAAMAAJ&q=%22social+work+began+in+my+mind+in+the+Unitarian+Church+when+I+was+ten+or+twelve+years+old%22&dq=%22social+work+began+in+my+mind+in+the+Unitarian+Church+when+I+was+ten+or+twelve+years+old%22&hl=en&sa=X&ei=y6o7VZPAA87FgwTA4YFY&ved=0CCgQ6AEwAg|pages=6}}</ref>
 +
 
 +
In the 1920 and 1930s Baldwin was sympathetic to the social goals and aspirations of the emerging communist nations. In 1934, he wrote that his position was "anti-capitalist and pro-revolutionary," adding:
 +
{{cquote|I believe in non-violent methods of struggle as most effective in the long run for building up successful working class power. Where they cannot be followed or where they are not even permitted by the ruling class, obviously only violent tactics remain. I champion civil liberty as the best of the non-violent means of building the power on which workers rule must be based. If I aid the reactionaries to get free speech now and then, if I go outside the [[class struggle]] to fight against censorship, it is only because those liberties help to create a more hospitable atmosphere for working class liberties. ''The class struggle is the central conflict of the world; all others are incidental.''
 +
 
 +
'''Proletarian Liberty in Practice'''
 +
 
 +
''When that power of the working class is once achieved, as it has been only in the Soviet Union, I am for maintaining it by any means whatever''. Dictatorship is the obvious means in a world of enemies at home and abroad. I dislike it in principle as dangerous to its own objects. ''But the Soviet Union has already created liberties far greater than exist elsewhere in the world.'' They are liberties that most closely affect the lives of the people&mdash;power in the trade unions, in peasant organizations, in the cultural life of nationalities, freedom of women in public and private life, and a tremendous development of education for adults and children...<ref>Roger Baldwin, "[http://www.law.ucla.edu/volokh/blog/baldwin.pdf Freedom in the U.S.A. and the U.S.S.R.]," ''Soviet Russia Today'' 3 (September 1934), p. 11 (Italics in original)</ref>}}
 +
 
 +
The following year, in the 1935 ''Harvard Class Book'', in a feature entitled "Thirty Years Later," spotlighting Baldwin's class of 1905 on its thirtieth anniversary, he wrote:
 +
{{cquote|I am for socialism, disarmament and ultimately for abolishing the state itself as an instrument of violence and compulsion. I seek the social ownership of property, the abolition of the propertied class and sole control by those who produce wealth. Communism is, of course, the goal.<ref>William H. McIlhany, ''[https://books.google.com/books?id=99QUAAAAIAAJ The ACLU on Trial]'' (New Rochelle, N.Y.: Arlington House, 1976) ISBN 0870003372, p. 134</ref>}}
 +
 
 +
Under threat of being listed by the [[HUAC|Dies committee]] as a [[Communist front]] in the wake of the [[Nazi-Soviet pact]], the ACLU purged open members of the [[Communist Party]] from its board of directors in 1940,<ref>Samuel Walker, ''[https://books.google.com/books?id=hdkrBVJ37I4C In Defense of American Liberties: A History of the ACLU]'' (Oxford University Press, 1990) ISBN 0809322706, pp. 129-130</ref> although its continued front activity caused a joint fact-finding committee of the California Legislature to report in 1943:
 +
{{cquote|“The American Civil Liberties Union may be definitely classed as a Communist front or ‘transmission belt’ organization.”<ref>[http://ia331324.us.archive.org/3/items/reportofsenatefa00calirich/reportofsenatefa00calirich.pdf Communist Front Organizations], Fourth Report of the Senate Fact-Finding Committee On Un-American Activities, California Legislature, 1948, p.107 (PDF p. 117)</ref>}}
 +
 
 +
One member purged from the board was former [[Industrial Workers of the World|Wobbly]] [[Elizabeth Gurley Flynn]], a [[CPUSA]] member. Flynn went on to become national chairman of the [[Communist Party]].<ref>Barbara Sicherman and Carol Hurd Green, ''[https://books.google.com/books?id=CfGHM9KU7aEC Notable American Women: The Modern Period: A Biographical Dictionary]'' (Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press, 1980) ISBN 0674627334, p. 245</ref> Upon her death in [[Moscow]] in 1964, the [[Soviet Union]] gave her a full-scale state funeral in [[Red Square]].<ref>Rosalyn Fraad Baxandall, ''[https://books.google.com/books?id=mqbaAAAAMAAJ Words on Fire: The Life and Writing of Elizabeth Gurley Flynn]'' (New Brunswick, N.J.: Rutgers University Press, 1987) ISBN 0813512409, p. 71</ref> In 1976, the ACLU posthumously "reinstated" her on its board of directors.<ref>Paul Finkelman, ''[https://books.google.com/books?id=YoI14vYA8r0C The Encyclopedia of American Civil Liberties]'' (New York: Routledge, 2006) ISBN 0415943426, p. 49</ref>
 +
 
 +
In 1947 General [[Douglas MacArthur]] arranged for Baldwin to serve as a civil liberties consultant in Japan.
  
 
==See also==
 
==See also==
−
* [[Freedom (political)]]
+
*[[Anti-Defamation League]]
−
* [[Foundation for Individual Rights in Education]]
+
*[[Anthropological Revolution]]
−
* [[Institute for Justice]]
+
*[[NAMBLA]]
−
* [[List of progressive organizations]]
+
*[[Fred Phelps]]
−
* [[National Rifle Association]]
+
*[[Nadine Strossen]]
−
* [[Southern Poverty Law Center]]
+
*[[Previous Breaking News/ACLU|Articles about the '''ACLU''' from previous "Breaking News"]]
−
* [[United States Constitution]]
+
*[[ACLU v. Bredesen]]
 +
*[[ACLU v. Mercer County]]
 +
 
 +
==References==
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{{Reflist|colwidth=30em}}
  
 
==External links==
 
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*ACLU sites:
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*[https://books.google.com/books?id=HUu_FwxzPb8C ACLU: Original FBI Files] FBI FOIA SUBJECT: American Civil Liberties Union
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**[http://www.aclu.org Official ACLU site]
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*[http://www.law.ucla.edu/volokh/blog/baldwin.pdf Baldwin speaks in defense of communism from 1934]
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**[http://www.aclu.org/2004memberconf/live/history.html Video history of the ACLU]
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*https://www.aclu.org
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**[http://www.aclu.org/SafeandFree/SafeandFree.cfm?ID=12666&c=206 Freedom Under Fire: Dissent in a Post-9/11 America]
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*Anti-ACLU sites:
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**[http://www.aclu.tv/ The ACLU Freedom Files TV series]
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**http://www.stoptheaclu.com/
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**[http://www.aclu.org/religion/govtfunding/26527res20060824.html Facts about the ACLU and the Public Square]
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**http://www.aclj.org
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*Discussion of the ACLU:
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**[http://www.topix.net/news/aclu ACLU News from Topix.net]
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[[Category:Misnomers]]
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**[http://www.acluprocon.org/ Is the ACLU good for America?]
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*Criticism of the ACLU:
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**[http://www.acluvsamerica.com/ The ACLU vs America; Exposing the Agenda to Redefine Moral Values], by [[Alliance Defense Fund]], [[Alan Sears]], and Craig Osten, 2005.  ISBN 0-8054-4045-3; 978-0-8054-4045-4
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[[Category:Socialist Organizations]]
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**[http://www.stoptheaclu.org/ Stop the ACLU] a website critical of ACLU positions and tactics.
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[[Category:Bigotry]]
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**“[http://www.wallbuilders.com/resources/search/detail.php?ResourceID=142 Meet The ACLU]” by Wallbuilders
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[[Category:Featured articles]]
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[[Category:Anti Second Amendment]]
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[[Category:Eugenics]]
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Latest revision as of 02:42, April 2, 2024

Current logo of the ACLU.

The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) is a leftist, secular-progressive, and pro-eugenics[1][2] organization. It was run for its first 30 years by an American named Roger Baldwin, who helped found it in 1920. Baldwin supported communism, but later denounced it in his book, A New Slavery, which condemned "the inhuman communist police state tyranny."[3] This organization pursues a leftist agenda that includes censoring prayer and recognition of God in public institutions, such as public schools. Currently, Anthony Romero is the first openly gay CEO to run the organization. Declassified documents and letters link early ACLU leaders with Communist Party.[4] Helen Chaffee Biehle also indicated in her article "Focus: The Seduction of the American Public Library" that the ACLU was also nihilistic and individualistic in its philosophy since its founding.[5] Even left-leaning figures such as civil libertarian Alan Dershowitz have criticized the ACLU for being a partisan left-wing advocacy group rather than actually defending civil liberties.[6]

A leaked memo in 2018 showed that the ACLU does not care about defending First Amendment rights and placed SJW causes along with the concern if free speech will hurt "marginalized communities" over actually defending the Constitution.[7] It broke its own rules in 2018 to publicly oppose the confirmation of originalist Judge Brett Kavanaugh.[8]

The Oregon ACLU supported a long-held ban on religious clothing in schools, which was repealed in 2010.[9][10] The anti-religious freedom law was instituted nearly a century ago by political allies of the Ku Klux Klan who supported progressive policies, namely Democrat Walter M. Pierce and RINO Kaspar K. Kubli.

History

National Civil Liberties Bureau

The ACLU began as the National Civil Liberties Bureau (NCLB), a committee of the American Union Against Militarism (AUAM), a Socialist front group established to exploit antiwar sentiment during World War I.[11] AUAM was co-founded by Morris Hillquit, a Latvian immigrant lawyer who served as liaison between the Socialist International and the Socialist Party of the U.S.[12] In 1919, the American Socialist Party expressed official support for the Kremlin's fledgling Communist International,[13] and the following year applied for membership in the Comintern.[14] That year, the NCLB changed its name to ACLU.

ACLU Formation

After renaming itself from National Civil Liberties Bureau to American Civil Liberties Union, the ACLU selected its first organizational president, Harry F. Ward.

In 1924, William J. Burns, former director of the Department of Justice's Bureau of Investigations (precursor of the FBI), testified before Congress:

“ I dare say that unless the country becomes thoroughly aroused concerning the danger of this radical element in this country, we will have a very serious situation. These parlor Bolsheviks have sprung up everywhere, as evidenced by this American Civil Liberties Union of New York. They have organized a civil liberties union on the coast. Wherever we seek to suppress these radicals, a civil liberties union promptly gets busy.[15] ”

Four years later, in 1928, a committee of the New York State Legislature agreed:

“ The ACLU, in the last analysis, is a supporter of all subversive movements; its propaganda is detrimental to the interests of the state. Its main work is to uphold the Communists in spreading revolutionary propaganda and inciting revolutionary activities to undermine our American institutions and overthrow our Federal government.[16] ”

Three years after that, in 1931, a special committee of the U.S. House of Representatives concurred:

“ The American Civil Liberties Union has received large sums from the Garland Fund, of which Roger N. Baldwin is one of its directors. During the trial of the Communists in Gastonia, not for freedom of speech, of the press or assembly, but for a conspiracy to kill the chief of police, of which seven defendants were convicted, the ACLU provided bail for five of the defendants, amounting to $28,500, which it secured from the Garland Fund. All of the defendants convicted jumped their bail and are reported to be in Russia.[17] ”

The ACLU's founding members were Roger Baldwin, Crystal Eastman, Walter Nelles, Morris Ernst, Albert DeSilver, Arthur Garfield Hays, Helen Keller, Jane Addams, Felix Frankfurter, and Elizabeth Gurley Flynn. Baldwin, the driving force behind the ACLU in its early years, testified in 1938 that he had expressed his views in the Harvard Classbook three years previously as follows:

“ I am for socialism, disarmament, and ultimately for abolishing the State itself as an instrument of violence and compulsion. I seek social ownership of property, the abolition of the propertied class, and sole control by those who produce wealth. Communism is the goal.[18] ”

In 1940, during the Nazi-Soviet pact, under threat of being listed by HUAC as a Communist front, the ACLU purged from its executive committee any "member of any political organization which supports totalitarian dictatorship in any country, or who by his public declaration and connections indicates his support of such a principle."[19] Among those purged was Elizabeth Gurley Flynn, who would go on to serve as National Chairwoman of the Communist Party USA.[20]

Nevertheless, its continued front activity caused the ACLU to be listed as a Communist front by a joint committee of the California Legislature in 1943:

“ The American Civil Liberties Union may be definitely classed as a Communist front or ‘transmission belt’ organization.[21] ”

Among the NCLB's early high-profile cases include its defense of the Rand School of Social Science.[22]

Illegal Immigration

The ACLU demanded $2.3 million in fees for challenging a law against illegal immigration. This demand "illustrates the circus the ACLU brought to this case," the Mayor of Hazelton, Pennsylvania said. "They had 20 attorneys sitting in the courtroom at a time, 16 of them doing nothing but running up the bill."[23]

In the Hazleton case the ACLU persuaded a federal court to declare a municipal ordinance to be unconstitutional, even though other federal courts have upheld similar laws since then. The Hazleton case is on appeal.

The ordinance defines "illegal aliens," fines property owners for renting to them, fines business owners for hiring them, and bars businesses from selling them merchandise. It also requires government documents to be in English only, and requires documents from residents to city officials to be in English.[24]

Censoring God

The ACLU often insists that the Establishment Clause of the Constitution requires censorship of religious expression. In 2007, for example, the ACLU of Tennessee sought to stop prayer and prayer-related activities by the volunteer Praying Parents. Doe v. Wilson County Sch. Sys., 524 F. Supp. 2d 964 (M.D. Tenn. Nov. 9, 2007).

It All Depends On Whose Church Is Being Separated

ACLU chapters frequently sue to compel removal displays of the Ten Commandments from public property. For example, in McCreary County v. ACLU, 545 U.S. 844 (2005), the ACLU of Kentucky forced two counties to remove displays of the Ten Commandments from their courthouses. In another case Glassroth v. Moore, 229 F. Supp. 2d 1290 (2002) the Alabama chapter sued Alabama Supreme Court Chief Justice Roy Moore to remove a Ten Commandments Monument, with Moore remarking "fearing that I would not obey his order, decided to threaten other state officials and force them to remove the monument if I did not do so." A threat of heavy fines was his way of coercing obedience to that order." In Utah, the ACLU even announced a scavenger hunt for anyone who could find a display of the Ten Commandments monument that the ACLU could demand be removed. The ACLU typically receives substantial legal fees from the government in each of these cases.

In 1994, the ACLU of New Jersey sued Jersey City, New Jersey to challenge a menorah and a Christmas tree at city hall. A federal district judge declared the display to be unconstitutional, but the appellate court, in a 2-1 opinion written by now-Justice Samuel Alito, found a modified display to be constitutional. ACLU of New Jersey v. Schundler (1999). Then-Judge Alito wrote, "government may celebrate Christmas in some manner and form, but not in a way that endorses Christian doctrine."

In 2007, the ACLU Foundation of Texas filed an amicus brief for removal of a longstanding monument to William Mosher outside Harris County Civil Courthouse because the statute contained a depiction of an open Bible. Staley v. Harris County, 2007 U.S. App. LEXIS 9296 (5th Cir. 2007). The court ruled that Harris County must pay attorneys fees to the Americans United for Separation of Church and State, which often appears along with the ACLU in demanding removal of religious symbols from government property and censoring criticism of evolution in public school.

The ACLU demanded that Los Angeles County remove a tiny cross from the Los Angeles County seal, even though the seal contained nearly a dozen symbols including the Greek goddess Pomona standing on the shore of the Pacific Ocean—about which the ACLU did not complain. The seal also displayed other California motifs, including the Spanish galleon San Salvador, a tuna fish, a cow, stars representing the movie and television industries, the Hollywood Bowl, oil derricks, and a pair of engineering instruments to represent Los Angeles' contributions to industrial construction and space exploration. The cross was a tiny part of the seal. But Los Angeles County gave into the ACLU's demands and spent $700,000 to censor the cross and replace it on all official government documents, publications and signage.

The ACLU of Louisiana demanded that a school board stop allowing an invocation to be said at the beginning of its meetings. In Doe v. Tangipahoa Parish School Bd. (2007), an en banc Fifth Circuit dismissed the claim for lack of proof that anyone had been injured or even offended by hearing these invocations.

In the ACLU's quest to attack the Christian religion any chance it gets, they are suing in Alaska courts to remove the property tax exemption from church owned properties.[25]

An Indiana judge has upheld the issuance of license plates bearing the message "In God We Trust," dismissing a constitutional challenge by the ACLU.[26]

The ACLU persuaded the Ninth Circuit to forbid Congress from transferring a cross to private owners who would preserve it in the Mojave Desert, in Buono v. Kempthorne [27]

The ACLU enlisted the Courts to have banned the private distribution of Bibles in public school. The federal Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit issued this ruling for the ACLU. Doe v. S. Iron R-1 Sch. Dist., 2007 U.S. App. LEXIS 19818 (8th Cir. Aug. 21, 2007).

The Seventh Circuit ruled against the ACLU by overturning "a lower court's decision that sectarian prayers on the floor of the (Indiana) House violated the constitutional separation of church and state."

The ACLU offers "talking points" in case someone asks why the ACLU hates Christmas so much: Their official response, "We work year-round to ensure that everyone in America has the freedom to practice their own religion (or no religion) and to keep the government out of religion." [28]

A rural school district's long-standing practice of allowing the distribution of Bibles to grade school students is unconstitutional, a federal judge has ruled. For more than three decades, the South Iron School District in Annapolis, 120 miles southwest of St. Louis. The ACLU filed suit two years ago on behalf of four sets of parents.[29]

In February 2013 ACLU wanted to remove an old portrait of Jesus in a school.[30]

Censoring Intelligent Design

For a more detailed treatment, see intelligent design.

In 2004, the ACLU filed Selman v. Cobb County School District.[31] If the plaintiffs, five parents in the Georgia district, won the case, the school district would have to pay their lawyers. The ACLU argued [32] that the district had violated the Establishment clause of the U.S. Constitution by putting stickers in biology textbooks that said, "This textbook contains material on evolution. Evolution is a theory, not a fact, regarding the origin of living things. This material should be approached with an open mind, studied carefully and critically considered."[33] The trial judge ruled in favor of the ACLU,[34] but his ruling was vacated on appeal.[35] The case was eventually settled. The school district agreed to remove the stickers, to avoid altering science textbooks or making "any disclaimers regarding evolution," and to teach the state Board of Education's core curriculum, which includes evolution, although that wasn't under dispute in the original suit. In addition, they paid $166,669.12 to Atlanta law firm Bondurant, Mixon & Elmore.[36][37]

Another example of ACLU litigation was Kitzmiller v. Dover Area School District.,[38] also known as the intelligent design case. The ACLU prevailed in prohibiting administrators from reading a short statement that mentions intelligent design to students, and forbade the school board from issuing a warning that Darwin's theory has gaps.[39] In his opinion, Judge John E. Jones III heavily relied on the later-vacated ruling in Selman v. Cobb County School District, and on ACLU briefs.[40] He also cited the Establishment test, the Lemon test, and the reasonable student standard.[41] The judge also ordered fees paid to the ACLU and its lawyers, totaling $2,067,000.[42]

Harming the Boy Scouts

The ACLU filed a lawsuit to prohibit the federal government from continuing to allow the Boy Scouts, a charitable organization for teenagers, to use an Army base in Virginia for a quadrennial gathering known as the Boy Scout Jamboree; in 2005, more than 40,000 Boy Scouts attended this event.

Although the Boy Scouts have been conducting this Jamboree on government property for 70 years, this lawsuit was not filed until 1999, after the Boy Scouts enforced its policy against having openly homosexual Scout leaders. The theory of the lawsuit was that because Scouts swear an oath of "duty to God," it violates the Establishment Clause for the government to allow this joint project.

A federal district court ruled for the ACLU, but the Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit overturned the lower court ruling that the plaintiffs lacked standing to bring the suit which will allow the government to continue to sponsor this event for the Boy Scouts.[43]

Pornography

In Ashcroft v. ACLU (2004), the ACLU challenged and invalidated the Child Online Protection Act, which would have required pornographers to take reasonable steps to restrict access by minors to pornography on the Internet. The Act, which the Supreme Court struck down at the request of the ACLU, did not censor a single word or picture. It merely required the pornographers to screen their websites from minors, which can be done by credit card or other verification.

The ACLU often argues in favor of pornography before courts and administrative boards. Charles Rust-Tierney was an executive for the ACLU of Virginia who argued against the use of Internet filters on the computers at the Loudoun County Library Board:[44]

"The ACLU of Virginia urges the board to carefully consider a new Internet Use Policy that allows for maximum Internet access ...."

Rust-Tierney, who served as the Virginia ACLU president until 2005, was serving on its board of directors when he was arrested in February 2007 for possession of child pornography that a U.S. magistrate described as "the most perverted and nauseating and sickening type of child pornography" she ever had seen. The former Virginia ACLU president later entered a guilty plea and was sentenced to eight years in jail.[45]

The ACLU also recently forced a Nampa, Idaho public library to return two books to the shelves that many parents have found objectionable. The Joy of Sex and The Joy of Gay Sex were the subjects of a two-year legal battle to get them removed after a teenager found one in his home within reach of young children. "The Joy of Gay Sex contains very graphic, leave[s] nothing to the imagination [with] depictions of every variety of homosexual sex imaginable," said Bryan Fischer, one of the litigants to get the books removed. "It even has a chapter in it entitled 'Daddy/Son Fantasies.'" Other chapter titles include "Exhibitionism and Voyeurism," "Fisting," "Sex with Animals," and "Tearooms and Back Rooms." Referring to the ACLU's bullying tactics against the library, Fischer said "It's an abysmal state of affairs when a single letter from cultural thugs can undo two years of patient and pain-staking work." [8]

Same-sex Marriage

The ACLU of New Jersey filed an amicus curiae brief in favor of same-sex marriage and therefore the homosexual agenda in Lewis v. Harris, 188 N.J. 415 (1006). The New Jersey Supreme Court ruled in favor of civil unions, but by a 4-3 margin did not require same-sex marriage.

The ACLU sues schools when a student alleges encountering "anti-gay peer harassment and bullying based on his perceived sexual orientation." [46] The ACLU holds the school (and hence the taxpayers) liable for actions based on conduct by some students towards others.

The ACLU of Minnesota sued to force the Osseo Area School District to grant equal access to the schools public address (PA) system, yearbook, fundraising and field trips by a pro-homosexual school club named the Straights and Gays for Equality (“SAGE”).[47] The school district already had a club entitled "Gays, Lesbians, Bisexuals, Trans-gender, Questioning and Allies," and already had a SAGE club, but SAGE was designated as non-curricular and wanted the additional rights of communication.

The ACLU invoked the Equal Access Act to argue that as long as the school district granted these rights to other clubs, such as cheerleading and synchronized swimming, it must grant these rights to SAGE also. No, the school district argued in defending its action, cheerleading is related to physical education while SAGE is not, and thus SAGE should not have the same rights. However, there were other non phys-ed sports that got funding.

The district court ruled in favor of the ACLU, and the Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit unanimously affirmed. The Court ordered the school district to give SAGE the same rights as the cheerleading club. The ACLU will be able to demand substantial attorneys' fees at taxpayer expense.

Similarly, the ACLU of Florida sued the Okeechobee School Board to force it to allow a Gay-Straight Alliance club at Okeechobee High School. Though the school objected to this club as a "sex-based" club, the ACLU persuaded a federal judge to rule in its favor, and it will likely recover substantial attorneys fees at taxpayer expense. See Gay-Straight Alliance of Okeechobee High Sch. v. School Board of Okeechobee County, 2007 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 25729 (S.D. Fla. Apr. 6, 2007).

Conspicuously Absent

The ACLU is known for going after the U.S. government with absolutely no evidence to prove otherwise, ACLU v. AT&T 2007. Though when it comes to actual data breaches and data abuse against a U.S. citizen, the ACLU is missing. Joe Wurzelbacher, a.k.a. Joe the Plumber, had his personal and confidential records investigated without reason, by Democratic officials in Ohio, "Big Brother."[48] Honest speculation is that the ACLU consists of partisan Democrats and Joe the Plumber was a Republican, during a presidential election season. Questions remain and we can only guess as to their reasoning, their silence is deafening.

Also, the ACLU is absent from hate speech attacks against Carrie Prejean. Her right and her freedom of speech was violated. The ACLU is hiding fearful of Conservatives.

Abortion

The ACLU is generally against laws that restrict access to abortion, such as parental notification when a minor seeks an abortion and informed consent for the woman herself. ACLU attorneys have argued several cases in support of abortion. For example, the woman called "Jane Doe" in the abortion case of Doe v. Bolton (1973) says "she was pressured by ACLU attorneys to opt for abortion and that the case was based on fraud."[49]

Polygamy

The ACLU has defended polygamists.[50][51]

Free Speech

The ACLU is the single biggest legal advocate for pornography (see above), claiming that it is a form of free speech. Less significantly, the ACLU has also helped—or not helped—in the following cases:

  • The ACLU rarely defends Christian speech, and virtually never defends speech that is critical of homosexuality. The ACLU was silent with respect to the widely publicized censorship of a T-shirt critical of homosexuality that was worn by student Tyler Chase Harper at his public school. "It's hard to explain the ACLU's apparent equanimity about the violation of Mr. Harper's First Amendment rights—unless you consider the content of his speech. This case does not appear to be anomalous. Despite its professed commitment to religious liberty, for example, the ACLU tends to absent itself from cases on college campuses involving the associational rights of Christian student groups to discriminate against gay students, in accordance with their religious beliefs."[52] Months after that stinging criticism, the ACLU filed a carefully worded amicus curiae brief in subsequent litigation in this case that defended Harper because he "neither substantially disrupted the school nor invaded the rights of other students."[53]
  • In 1978, the ACLU defended the right of the National Socialist Party of America (neo-Nazi) to march through Skokie, Illinois, a suburb of Chicago that is a community of a large number of Jewish people and Holocaust survivors. The U.S. Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals ordered the village to issue a permit for demonstration to the Nazi Party, which was never used, that was later upheld by the Supreme Court. The ACLU experienced a severe backlash over this case when membership dropped by 25% and plunged the organization $500,000 in debt.[54][55]
  • On January 16, 2008, the ACLU issued a statement supporting Sen. Larry Craig(R-ID) to have his guilty plea to misdemeanor charges of disorderly conduct in a Minnesota airport restroom withdrawn on the basis that a closed bathroom stall is a private location. While not advocating sex in public bathrooms, the ACLU suggested the police have better means of enforcing laws instead of using entrapment.[56]
  • In September 2000, the ACLU represented the North American Man/Boy Love Association when the parents of Jeffrey Curley, who was raped, tortured and murdered by two men, filed a $200 million federal lawsuit for wrongful death. John Roberts, the executive director of the Massachusetts ACLU stated, It's not a real popular case, but the First Amendment issues are clear. The case was dismissed on a technicality. A subsequent lawsuit filed against the murderers, who were not represented by the ACLU, was successful. Jeffrey Curley's father, Robert Curley, was sympathetic to the ACLU's opposition to his lawsuit. "I really do have a lot of respect for them, they are very consistent in who they defend. It takes a lot of nerve to defend the groups they have over the years. They have a lot of courage." [57][58]
  • The ACLU has been involved with lawsuits filed against Attorney Generals Reno, Ashcroft and Gonzales when fighting the enforcement of the Child Online Protection Act (COPA). Federal courts have consistently ruled COPA violates the constitutional protection of free speech and have forbidden enforcement by the federal government. The most current ruling on March 22, 2007, is being appealed.[59]
  • In 1949, the ACLU defended Father Arthur Terminiello, an ex-Catholic priest, who gave a speech at a rally in Chicago that was laced with racist, anti-Semitic and anti-Communist comments. Father Terminiello was fined $100 for violating Chicago's breach of peace ordinance. This fine was later reversed by the Supreme Court.[60][61]
  • The ACLU of Nevada successfully defended the right of a street preacher, Jim Webber, to proselytize his pro-Jesus, anti-sin, and occasional anti-homosexual messages on the Las Vegas strip. The unsuccessful campaign conducted by the casinos failed and allowed Webber and others to stay. Webber is quoted as saying, "the ACLU has been my guardian angel. They have been the ones that have provided the ability for me to stand on the street and talk with people about Jesus Christ." [62][63]
  • A pro-Israel student at Columbia University was intimidated by a professor who silenced her rebuttal in class of his claim that the Israelis committed a massacre in Jenin, the ACLU refused to help defend her free speech. Apparently, the ACLU fevorishly defends the free speech for Islam, but Jewish and Christian free speech is irrelevant.[64]
  • ACLU became in recent years defenders of anti-Israel extremists.[65]

Free Exercise Clause

The ACLU at times defends the religious rights of American citizens and residents. See 'ACLU Defense of Freedom of Religious Practice and Expression' at the ACLU's website for 60 examples of Christians and 45 examples of non-Christians represented by the ACLU to protect their religious rights.[66]

On March 14, 2008, the ACLU sent a letter to the Tarek ibn Ziyad Academy of Inver Grove Heights Minnesota expressing their disapproval of alleged school sponsored prayer during school hours. Concerns were raised about alleged violations of the establishment clause and the 'Lemon Test' because '… the school is improperly involved in promoting and facilitating after-school religious studies conducted under the auspices of the Mosque that is housed in the same building as the school.' Further inquiries are on-going.[67][68]

Prisoner and student rights

In the 2007 case Spratt v. Rhode Island Department of Corrections, the ACLU brought suit against the Rhode Island Adult Correctional Institute following the prison's decision to bar Christian prisoner and lay minister Wesley Spratt from preaching to other inmates during weekly services. The ACLU won the case on appeal, securing the right for Spratt to hold religious services for other inmates so long as these do not conflict with prison security.[69]

In 2004, student Abbey Moler selected a bible verse to accompany her picture in a school yearbook. The school subsequently removed this text before publication. The ACLU filed suit against the Utica Community School District, on the grounds that this censorship violated Moler's first-amendment rights to free expression and freedom of religion. The case was settled out of court, with the school district agreeing to replace the verse in following prints of the yearbook and correct it by means of a sticker in copies still in its possession.[70][71]

Medical Records

The ACLU filed a friend-of-the-court brief in favor of the privacy of Rush Limbaugh in his medical records when he was under investigation for 'doctor shopping.' The ACLU argued that the privacy rights of a patient were being violated.[72]

Terrorism

The ACLU has challenged the authority of the President to authorize wireless wiretaps of overseas communications without submitting to judicial oversight. In ACLU v. NSA, the Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit rejected the ACLU's challenge.[73] Then the ACLU appealed to the U.S. Supreme Court, which was also rejected.[74][75] In addition, the following describes the measures the ACLU has taken to weaken America in its fight with terrorists.

As of December 2010, the ACLU is reimbursed by the U.S. government for defending Muslim terrorists. The ACLU will be paid with blood money, assets confiscated from bank holdings of terrorist organizations.[76]

  • Urging city councils across the United States to be non-compliant with the provisions of the Patriot Act, which is an important tool to keep America safe from terrorism.[77]
  • Endorsed the Civil Liberties Restoration Act of 2004. Introduced by liberal Democrats in Congress, it is to roll back vital national-security policies that had been adopted after 9/11.
  • Consistently opposed to all efforts of the US government to obtain information from terrorists it has captured, and to try terrorists as "illegal enemy combatants." [78]
  • Lobbied against any policy that would authorize security personnel at airports and border checkpoints to scrutinize travelers from terrorism-sponsoring nations
  • Opposes the Computer-Assisted Passenger Profiling System (CAPPS) used by airlines to check for various passenger characteristics that have historically been correlated with terrorist activities
  • Condemning the detention of immigrants apprehended in connection with post-9/11 terrorism investigations
  • Held rallies on behalf of an Intel software engineer named Maher Mofeid Hawash, who U.S. officials were keeping in custody on suspicion that he had given material support to Taliban and Al Qaeda forces fighting American troops in Afghanistan
  • Passionately defended Sami Al-Arian, the former North American head of Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ). In an effort to thwart the U.S. government's investigation of Al-Arian's role in funding PIJ suicide bombings in Israel
  • Came to the defense of radical attorney Lynne Stewart, who in February 2005 was convicted on charges that she had illegally "facilitated and concealed communications" between her client, the incarcerated "Blind Sheikh" Omar Abdel Rahman, and members of his Egyptian terrorist organization, the Islamic Group, which has ties to Al Qaeda.
  • The ACLU has launched a $8.5 million effort to provide what are supposed to be "top notch" private counsel for the illegal enemy combatants facing military tribunals at Guantanamo Bay. Among those to be provided this assistance is the man who has, apparently, confessed to being the mastermind behind the attacks that took place on 9/11.[79][80]
  • ACLU lawyers had been present during interrogations of captured Al Qaeda and Taliban enemy combatants who were being detained in Guantanamo Bay. These attorneys advised the inmates that they were under no obligation to answer military interrogators' questions
  • ACLU attorney Noel Saleh "openly stated at a town hall meeting with federal officials that he has financially contributed to Hezbollah."
  • The INS and the Justice Department instituted a program requiring males visiting the U.S. from Arab and Muslim nations to register with the Bureau of Citizenship and Immigration Services. The ACLU cried "discriminatory."
  • Extremist calls for violent jihad were not uncommon in America's mosques. An FBI anti-terrorism initiative to count and document all mosques was again met with protests from the ACLU.

The ACLU's affiliations with terrorists are not restricted solely to foreigners. For instance, the organization named unrepentant domestic terrorist Bill Ayers to its advisory board along with his wife Bernardine Dohrn.

Death Penalty

The ACLU is opposed to the killing of murderers.[81]

Views of the ACLU Founder

Roger Baldwin, a co-founder of the ACLU and its first leader, was born and raised in Massachusetts. He said that his "social work began in my mind in the Unitarian Church when I was ten or twelve years old, and I started to do things that I thought would help other people."[82]

In the 1920 and 1930s Baldwin was sympathetic to the social goals and aspirations of the emerging communist nations. In 1934, he wrote that his position was "anti-capitalist and pro-revolutionary," adding:

“ I believe in non-violent methods of struggle as most effective in the long run for building up successful working class power. Where they cannot be followed or where they are not even permitted by the ruling class, obviously only violent tactics remain. I champion civil liberty as the best of the non-violent means of building the power on which workers rule must be based. If I aid the reactionaries to get free speech now and then, if I go outside the class struggle to fight against censorship, it is only because those liberties help to create a more hospitable atmosphere for working class liberties. The class struggle is the central conflict of the world; all others are incidental.

Proletarian Liberty in Practice

When that power of the working class is once achieved, as it has been only in the Soviet Union, I am for maintaining it by any means whatever. Dictatorship is the obvious means in a world of enemies at home and abroad. I dislike it in principle as dangerous to its own objects. But the Soviet Union has already created liberties far greater than exist elsewhere in the world. They are liberties that most closely affect the lives of the people—power in the trade unions, in peasant organizations, in the cultural life of nationalities, freedom of women in public and private life, and a tremendous development of education for adults and children...[83]

”

The following year, in the 1935 Harvard Class Book, in a feature entitled "Thirty Years Later," spotlighting Baldwin's class of 1905 on its thirtieth anniversary, he wrote:

“ I am for socialism, disarmament and ultimately for abolishing the state itself as an instrument of violence and compulsion. I seek the social ownership of property, the abolition of the propertied class and sole control by those who produce wealth. Communism is, of course, the goal.[84] ”

Under threat of being listed by the Dies committee as a Communist front in the wake of the Nazi-Soviet pact, the ACLU purged open members of the Communist Party from its board of directors in 1940,[85] although its continued front activity caused a joint fact-finding committee of the California Legislature to report in 1943:

“ “The American Civil Liberties Union may be definitely classed as a Communist front or ‘transmission belt’ organization.”[86] ”

One member purged from the board was former Wobbly Elizabeth Gurley Flynn, a CPUSA member. Flynn went on to become national chairman of the Communist Party.[87] Upon her death in Moscow in 1964, the Soviet Union gave her a full-scale state funeral in Red Square.[88] In 1976, the ACLU posthumously "reinstated" her on its board of directors.[89]

In 1947 General Douglas MacArthur arranged for Baldwin to serve as a civil liberties consultant in Japan.

See also

References

  1. ↑ Hellmann, Jesse (February 15, 2018). ACLU sues to block Ohio law banning Down syndrome abortions. The Hill. Retrieved February 20, 2021.
  2. ↑ Hawkins, Kristin (January 17, 2019). ACLU: It Would be “Perverse” Not to Kill Babies With Down Syndrome in Abortions. LifeNews.com. Retrieved February 20, 2021.
  3. ↑ [1]
  4. ↑ The ACLU’s untold Stalinist heritage, Daily Caller, January 4, 2011
  5. ↑ https://web.archive.org/web/19980119060706/http://www.eagleforum.org/educate/1996/feb96/focus.html
    "When did these ideas begin to infiltrate the ALA? And who brought them in? During the social turmoil of the late sixties, the Office of Intellectual Freedom in the ALA headquarters in Chicago became very important in the making of policy. Around this time, Judith Krug began her tenure as director of that office, and in 1970 forged strong links between the ALA and the American Civil Liberties Union. The ACLU functioned under a philosophy of nihilism/individualism since its founding by Roger Baldwin after the turn of the century. For a time in the 1970s, Ms. Krug served simultaneously as ALA Intellectual Freedom Director and as a board member of the ACLU, which has given her several awards. The ACLU, according to George Grant's 1989 study, believes that children should have the same rights as adults, that pornography should be protected by the Constitution, that the First Amendment's free speech clause implies a right to receive information, and that the smallest limitation of any speech or expression will automatically lead to totalitarian repression."
  6. ↑ Dershowitz, Alan (June 13, 2018). Alan Dershowitz: The final nail in the ACLU's coffin. Washington Examiner. Retrieved June 13, 2018.
  7. ↑ Multiple references:
  8. ↑ Gstalter, Morgan (September 29, 2018). ACLU breaks its own policy, comes out against Kavanaugh nomination. The Hill. Retrieved September 29, 2018.
  9. ↑ February 7, 2010. Coalition seeks repeal of Klan-era ban on religious garb in Oregon schools. Catholic News Agency. Retrieved August 19, 2021.
  10. ↑ Brell, Alexandria (March 8, 2010). Oregon repeals religious clothing ban, amen to that.. Daily Sundial. Retrieved August 19, 2021.
  11. ↑ The Birth of the Civil Liberties Bureau and The National Civil Liberties Bureau,1917-1919 (September 5, 2012).
  12. ↑ Michael Kazin, quoted in Juliet Kleber, "How Opposition to World War I Galvanized the Left," The New Republic, March 28, 2017
  13. ↑ "The Socialist Party of the United States, therefore, declares itself in support of the Third (Moscow) International..." Document No. 7: "Minority Report Adopted by Overwhelming Party Vote on Referendum on Submission to the Emergency National Convention Held at Chicago, September, 1919," reprinted in Joint Legislative Committee of the State of New York Investigating Seditious Activities, Revolutionary Radicalism: Its History, Purpose and Tactics, Part I, Vol. I (Albany: J.B. Lyon Company, 1920), p. 626
  14. ↑ Application of the Socialist Party of America for Membership in the Communist International, March 12, 1920
  15. ↑ Testimony of William J. Burns before a subcommittee of the Committee on Appropriations, U.S. House of Representatives, April 1, 1924, as quoted in The Record of the Fight for Free Speech in 1923: The Work of the American Civil Liberties Union, January to December 1923, in ACLU 1923 Annual Report
  16. ↑ As cited in Investigation of Communist propaganda: report, pursuant to H. Res. 220. United States. Congress. House. Special Committee on Communist Activities in the United States. U.S. Govt. Print. Off., 1931, p. 57
  17. ↑ House of Representatives. Special Committee to Investigate Communist Activities in the United States. United States. Congress (71st), Investigation of Communist Propaganda. (Washington, D.C.: U.S. Govt. print. off., 1931). Cf. Allan H. Ryskind, "George Clooney’s Clueless Movie, Human Evants, October 2005
  18. ↑ Affidavit of Roger N. Baldwin, December 31, 1938, Investigation of un-American propaganda activities in the United States. Hearings before a Special Committee on Un-American Activities, House of Representatives, 75th-78th Congress, pp. 3081-3082.
  19. ↑ Lucille Milner and Martin F. Luthke, Education of an American Liberal (eBookIt.com, 2013), ISBN 1456602063
  20. ↑ History of the American Civil Liberties Union, Eleventh Report of the Senate Fact-Finding Subcommittee on Un-American Activities, California Legislature, 1961
  21. ↑ Communist Front Organizations, Fourth Report of the Senate Fact-Finding Committee On Un-American Activities, California Legislature, 1948, p. 107 (PDF p. 117)
  22. ↑ (1919) The National Civic Federation Review, Volumes 4-5. 
  23. ↑ [2]
  24. ↑ ACLU Press Release: Hazleton Residents Sue to Halt Harsh Anti-Immigrant Law, August 15, 2006, retrieved 10/14/08 [3]
  25. ↑ ACLU Doesn't Want to Pay Taxes; Expects Churches to Pay Them The American Civil Rights Union
  26. ↑ Indiana Judge Dismisses ACLU Challenge, Upholds 'God' License Plate AP, April 18, 2008
  27. ↑ UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS FOR THE NINTH CIRCUIT USCOURTS.GOV
  28. ↑ No Ho Ho. Time, November 21, 2007
  29. ↑ Court Ends Bible Distribution in School AP, January 9, 2008
  30. ↑ https://www.foxnews.com/us/2013/02/08/aclu-wants-ohio-school-jesus-portrait-removed-school-says-picture-historically/
  31. ↑ ACLU: Parents Challenge Evolution Disclaimer In Georgia Textbooks
  32. ↑ ACLU Pretrial Brief in Selman et al v. Cobb County, 11/12/2004
  33. ↑ Judge's Decision, Selman v. Cobb County School District
  34. ↑ Judge's Decision, Selman v. Cobb County School District
  35. ↑ Appeal Decision, Selman v. Cobb County School District
  36. ↑ "Agreement Ends Textbook Sticker Case," press release from Cobb County School District including settlement agreement [4]
  37. ↑ ACLU: Georgia School Board Drops Defense of Anti-Evolution Stickers
  38. ↑ Kitzmiller v. Dover Area School District: Decision of the Court, 400 F.Supp.2d 707 (M.D. Pa. 2005) [5]
  39. ↑ Kitzmiller v. Dover Area School District, 400 F.Supp.2d 707.
  40. ↑ 90% of the section on intelligent design was from the ACLU's briefs. A Comparison of Judge Jones’ Opinion in Kitzmiller v. Dover with Plaintiffs’ Proposed “Findings of Fact and Conclusions of Law”, by David DeWolf & John West, Discovery Institute, December 12, 2006 - Views and News
  41. ↑ Kitzmiller, 400 F. Supp. 2d at 725 (coming to the conclusion reached in Selman by the Court's own reasoning), compare Selman v. Cobb County Sch. Dist, 2006 U.S. App. LEXIS 13005 (11th Cir. May 25, 2006) at *pincite needed*.
  42. ↑ See 42 U.S.C. s 1988 (describing relief afforded victorious plaintiff of a 1983 action as including attorney fees).
  43. ↑ See Essay:Boy Scouts Rout ACLU
  44. ↑ http://www.worldnetdaily.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=55983
  45. ↑ Ibid.
  46. ↑ https://www.aclu.org/lgbt/youth/28618prs20070221.html
  47. ↑ Straights & Gays for Equality v. Osseo Area Schs., 471 F.3d 908 (8th Cir. 2006).
  48. ↑ 4 more punished over 'Joe the Plumber' searches Fox News, November 21, 2008
  49. ↑ http://www.worldnetdaily.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=52210
  50. ↑ During a question-and-answer session after a speech at Yale University, ACLU president Nadine Strossen stated that her organization has "defended the right of individuals to engage in polygamy," World Net Daily June 25, 2005
  51. ↑ The ACLU views freedom of religion and the establishment clause as inseparable: In order for people to have religious freedom, their government must neither endorse nor prohibit any religious position.ACLU press release July 16 1999.
  52. ↑ Wendy Kaminer, "The American Liberal Liberties Union," Wall Street Journal (May 23, 2007).
  53. ↑ http://www.aclusandiego.org/article_downloads/000293/HarperAmicusDistrictCourtFinal.pdf . Buried in the brief near the end of an argument is the statement that "and because "to allow a Day of Silence one day while banning Mr. Harper's shirt the next day may give rise to an inference of viewpoint discrimination rather than justified regulation of student speech regardless of viewpoint"—but note that it does not argue that inference of viewpoint discrimination would be correct.
  54. ↑ http://openweb.tvnews.vanderbilt.edu/1978-2/1978-02-23-NBC-6.html
  55. ↑ http://www.acluprocon.org/ACLUHistory/HistoryTable.html
  56. ↑ https://www.aclu.org/freespeech/gen/33697prs20080116.html
  57. ↑ http://sidesplitters.catastrophe.net/arch/2002/www.ageofconsent.com/comments/numberfortytwo.htm
  58. ↑ http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9E0DE0D91530F932A3575AC0A9669C8B63
  59. ↑ http://www.mediacoalition.org/legal/copa/index.htm
  60. ↑ http://www.comm.unt.edu/faculty/terminiello_v.htm
  61. ↑ https://www.aclu.org/studentsrights/expression/12808pub19941231.html
  62. ↑ https://abcnews.go.com/WNT/story?id=548951&page=1
  63. ↑ https://www.reviewjournal.com/lvrj_home/2006/Mar-05-Sun-2006/news/6197557.html
  64. ↑ ACLU Is AWOL On Free Speech Conservativetruth.org, April 7, 2008
  65. ↑ https://freebeacon.com/courts/aclu-becomes-top-legal-defender-of-anti-semitic-bds-campaign/
  66. ↑ https://www.aclu.org/religion/govtfunding/26526res20060824.html
  67. ↑ http://www.aclu-mn.org/downloads/LettertoTarekAcademy.pdf
  68. ↑ http://www.aclu-mn.org/home/news/aclumnopensinvestigationof.htm
  69. ↑ ACLU: Appeals Court Overturns Ban on Christian Preacher in Rhode Island Prison (4/9/2007)[6]
  70. ↑ ACLU: After ACLU Intervention on Behalf of Christian Valedictorian, Michigan High School Agrees to Stop Censoring Religious Yearbook Entries (5/11/2004) [7]
  71. ↑ The settlement between the ALCU and the school district stated:
    • The district will place a sticker with Moler's original entry in the copies of the yearbook on file with the school.
    • The district has instructed the Stevenson High School yearbook staff not to censor students' yearbook entries solely because they contain religious or political speech that others might find offensive.
    • The district recently provided and will continue to provide in-service training and advice to school staff on free speech and religious freedom issues that arise in school.
    • The district will write a letter of regret to Moler apologizing for the failure to include her entry in the yearbook.
  72. ↑ https://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,108140,00.html
  73. ↑ U.S. Appeals Court in Ohio Dismisses Challenge of Bush Administration's Domestic Surveillance Program AP, July 06, 2007
  74. ↑ America, 1. ACLU, 0. Michelle Malkin, February 19, 2008
  75. ↑ Supreme Court Rejects ACLU Challenge to Warrantless Surveillance Program AP, February 19, 2008
  76. ↑ Obama gives terror suspects access to frozen assets, CreepingSharia, December 28. 2010
  77. ↑ ACLU DiscoverTheNetworks.org
  78. ↑ ACLU Wants the US to Lose the War on Terrorism The American Civil Rights Union, March 15, 2008
  79. ↑ ACLU Aiding America's Enemies, Again The American Civil Rights Union
  80. ↑ The ACLU assembles a terrorist legal defense force of extraordinary magnitude Michelle Malkin, April 4, 2008
  81. ↑ http://frontpagemag.com/2013/dgreenfield/to-kill-a-murderer/
  82. ↑ Roger Baldwin, founder of the American Civil Liberties Union: a portrait, 6. 
  83. ↑ Roger Baldwin, "Freedom in the U.S.A. and the U.S.S.R.," Soviet Russia Today 3 (September 1934), p. 11 (Italics in original)
  84. ↑ William H. McIlhany, The ACLU on Trial (New Rochelle, N.Y.: Arlington House, 1976) ISBN 0870003372, p. 134
  85. ↑ Samuel Walker, In Defense of American Liberties: A History of the ACLU (Oxford University Press, 1990) ISBN 0809322706, pp. 129-130
  86. ↑ Communist Front Organizations, Fourth Report of the Senate Fact-Finding Committee On Un-American Activities, California Legislature, 1948, p.107 (PDF p. 117)
  87. ↑ Barbara Sicherman and Carol Hurd Green, Notable American Women: The Modern Period: A Biographical Dictionary (Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press, 1980) ISBN 0674627334, p. 245
  88. ↑ Rosalyn Fraad Baxandall, Words on Fire: The Life and Writing of Elizabeth Gurley Flynn (New Brunswick, N.J.: Rutgers University Press, 1987) ISBN 0813512409, p. 71
  89. ↑ Paul Finkelman, The Encyclopedia of American Civil Liberties (New York: Routledge, 2006) ISBN 0415943426, p. 49

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