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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. | | 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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| − | ===Property Rights===
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| − | On April 19, 2006, the ACLU of Georgia filed a lawsuit in support of the Tabernacle Community Baptist Church alleging the city of East Point violated the United States and Georgia Constitutions and the ''Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Persons Act of 2000'' when the city prohibited the church from acquiring a building permit because they wanted to build a church on a site that previously contained commercial property. <ref>http://www.aclu.org/religion/discrim/25518prs20060419.html </ref>
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| | ===Evolution=== | | ===Evolution=== |
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| | ==Free Speech== | | ==Free Speech== |
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| − | The ACLU believes the Bill of Rights applies equally to everyone, for this reason they will represent or support the free speech rights of extremists organizations even if they do not agree with the philosophy of these groups. <ref>http://www.aclum.org/about/FAQ.html </ref> Below are several examples of free speech cases that the ACLU supported directly or indirectly. | + | 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."<ref>Wendy Kaminer, "The American Liberal Liberties Union," Wall Street Journal (May 23, 2007).</ref> |
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| | In 1978, the ACLU defended the right of the American Nazi Party to march through Skokie, Illinois, a suburb of Chicago that is a community of a large number of Jewish people and Holocaust survivors. <ref>http://openweb.tvnews.vanderbilt.edu/1978-2/1978-02-23-NBC-6.html</ref> | | In 1978, the ACLU defended the right of the American Nazi Party to march through Skokie, Illinois, a suburb of Chicago that is a community of a large number of Jewish people and Holocaust survivors. <ref>http://openweb.tvnews.vanderbilt.edu/1978-2/1978-02-23-NBC-6.html</ref> |
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| − | Tyler Chase, a Poway High School student, was suspended for wearing a T-shirt inscribed with the words "Homosexuality Is Shameful". Chase filed suit in federal court and was represented by Attorney Robert Tyler of the Alliance Defense Fund. Tyler contended the school district violated Chase’s rights to free speech when it suspended him for wearing a shirt expressing his religious views. The ACLU agreed that Chase's rights were violated and Jordan Budd, legal director of the San Diego chapter of the ACLU, believed Chase’s case had merit by stating, 'Chase has the right to express his political and religious view unless the school district can demonstrate his speech is disruptive of the educational process.' <ref>http://www.nsba.org/site/doc_cosa.asp?TRACKID=&DID=34019&CID=488 </ref>
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| − | On October 26, 2006, the ACLU filed a lawsuit on behalf of a devout Christian who was denied his free expression rights to protest Wal-Mart's alleged support of gay marriage and lifestyles. The ACLU of Louisiana executive director stated a local ordinance "violates the principles in the First Amendment when it puts an overbroad permit scheme in place to restrain free speech in a public place." <ref>http://www.laaclu.org/News/2006/Crayton_102706.htm</ref>
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| − | 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>http://abcnews.go.com/WNT/story?id=548951&page=1</ref> <ref>http://www.reviewjournal.com/lvrj_home/2006/Mar-05-Sun-2006/news/6197557.html</ref>
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| | ==Prisoner and student rights== | | ==Prisoner and student rights== |
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| | ==Views of the ACLU Founder== | | ==Views of the ACLU Founder== |
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| − | Roger Nash 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.”
| + | Robert 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.” |
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| | In the 1920 and 1930s he was sympathetic to the social goals and aspirations of the emerging communist nations. In 1934, Balwin published his goals in Soviet Russia Today:<ref>The Volokh Conspiracy (blog entry), Eugene Volokh, September 7, 2005 [http://volokh.com/posts/1126138099.shtml]</ref> | | In the 1920 and 1930s he was sympathetic to the social goals and aspirations of the emerging communist nations. In 1934, Balwin published his goals in Soviet Russia Today:<ref>The Volokh Conspiracy (blog entry), Eugene Volokh, September 7, 2005 [http://volokh.com/posts/1126138099.shtml]</ref> |