Difference between revisions of "ACLU"

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The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) is a major 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".^[1] It works through litigation, legislation, and community education.^[1] The ACLU reported over 500,000 members at the end of 2005.

Lawsuits brought by the ACLU have been influential in the evolution of U.S. constitutional law.^[2] 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 briefs.

Outside of its legal work, the organization has also engaged in lobbying of elected officials and political activism.^[3] 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 Democrats and Republicans. However, Republicans consistently rank lower than Democrats in regard to supporting ACLU goals as seen in ACLU voting guides. [1]

Organizational history

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 objectors 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.^[1]

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^[4] (see Palmer Raids). It also opposed attacks on the rights of the Industrial Workers of the World (IWW) and other labor unions to meet and organize.

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."^[5] 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.^[6]

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.^[7] The phrase now serves as part of a jocular recruitment slogan for the ACLU.

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.^[8] The growth continued, and in August 2004, ACLU membership was at 400,000.^[9]

Leadership, funding and organizational structure

Leadership

Currently, the leadership of the ACLU includes Executive Director Anthony D. Romero^[10] and President Nadine Strossen.^[11] 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.

Notably, Ruth Bader Ginsburg, a current Justice of the U.S. Supreme Court, was the first director of the ACLU's Women's Rights Project.^[12] And Judith Krug, Director of the American Library Association's^[13] since 1967,^[14] 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."^[15]

Funding

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 ACLU-NJ, Annual Report, ACLU-NJ, 2005. Smaller affiliates with fewer resources, such as that in Nebraska, receive subsidies from the national ACLU.^[16]

Foundations

The ACLU and its affiliated tax-exempt foundation receive annual support from the Ford, Rockefeller, Carnegie, Field, Tides, Gill, Arcus, Horizons, and other foundations.^[17]

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.^[18]

Court awarded attorney's fees

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.^[19] 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.^[20] Also, groups such as the American Legion have taken stances opposing the ACLU's right to collect fees under such legislation.^[21]

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.^[22][23]

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.^[24][25]

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.^[26] Under laws such as this, the ACLU and its state chapters sometimes share in monetary judgements against government agencies.^[27]

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;^[28] a second Ten Commandments case in the State, in a different county, led to a $74,462 judgment.^[29] 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.^[30][31]

Organizational structure

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.

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.

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.

Positions

While the bulk of the ACLU's cases involve the First Amendment, Equal Protection, Due Process, and the right to privacy^[32], the organization has taken positions on a wide range of issues. Broadly, the ACLU supports:

• 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.^[33][34]
• Separation of church and state; under this mandate, the ACLU:
  • Opposes the government-sponsored display of religious symbols on public property;
  • Opposes official prayers, religious ceremonies, and some kinds of "moments of silence"^[35] in public schools or schools funded with public money;
• Full freedom of speech and of the press, including school newspapers;
• Reproductive rights, including the right to use contraception and to have an abortion;
• Full civil rights for Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender people, including government benefits for homosexual couples equal to those provided for heterosexual ones;
• Affirmative action as a means of redressing past discrimination and achieving a racially diverse student body;^[36]
• The rights of defendants and suspects against unconstitutional police practices;
• The decriminalization of drugs such as heroin, cocaine and marijuana;^[37]
• Privacy as it "works to preserve the American tradition that the government not track individuals or violate privacy unless it has evidence of wrongdoing."^[38]
• Immigrants' rights by "challenging unconstitutional laws and practices, countering the myths upon which many of these laws are based."^[39]

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.^[40]

While the ACLU does oppose the use of crosses in public monuments,^[41][42] there have been false allegations that the ACLU has urged the removal of cross-shaped headstones from federal cemeteries and has opposed prayer by soldiers; such charges have been deemed to be urban legends.^[43]

Notable historical cases

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.

1920–1960

In 1925, the ACLU persuaded John T. Scopes to defy Tennessee's anti-evolution law in a 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.^[44][45]

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 schools.^[46]

1960–1990

In 1968, the ACLU successfully argued against state bans on interracial marriage, in the case of Loving vs. Virginia.^[47]

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.^[4] 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 abortions.

In 1977, the ACLU filed suit against the Village of Skokie, Illinois, seeking an injunction against the enforcement of three town ordinances outlawing 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 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.^[48][49][50]

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."^[51]

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.^[52]

In 1982, the ACLU became involved in a case involving the distribution of child pornography (New York v. Ferber, 458 U.S. 747^[53]) 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.^{[Citation Needed]}

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."^[54]

1990 to present

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.^[55] On August 17, 2006, that court ruled that the warrantless wiretapping program is unconstitutional and ordered it ended immediately.^[56][57]

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^[58] and two others in California requesting injunctions against AT&T and Verizon.^[59] On August 10, 2006, the lawsuits against the telecommunications companies were transferred to a federal judge in San Francisco.^[60]

After the town of 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.^[61][62]

Controversial stances

First Amendment rights

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). 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.^{[Citation Needed]} 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.

The ACLU also defended Lieutenant Colonel Oliver North,^[63] whose conviction was tainted by coerced testimony—a violation of his fifth amendment rights.^{[Citation Needed]}

The ACLU has come out against Megan’s Law, a law designed to protect children from sex offenders.^[64][65] Though the ACLU has fought Megan’s Law(s) in many states, it has been unable to attain significant victories in these cases.^{[Citation Needed]}

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.

The ACLU also fought for the Westboro Baptist Church and Shirley Phelps-Roper after legislation prevented the group from picketing outside of funerals. [2] 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. [3] [4] [5] The ACLU issued a statement calling the legislation "law that infringes on Shirley Phelps-Roper's rights to religious liberty and free speech". [6]

Affirmative action

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.^[66] 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.^{[Citation Needed]}

Gun control

Although the ACLU categorically embraces a States' Right Model interpretation of the 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."^[67]

Regarding 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."

The ACLU of Washington State and the Second Amendment Foundation jointly filed a lawsuit^[68] 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 Women & Guns were blocked, and the library refused to remove the blocks.

Spam

The ACLU's stance on 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."^[69] This analysis is rejected by many spam fighters as failing to address the effects of spam on network infrastructure and costs.^[70] 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,^[71] although it has supported "opt-out" requirements in some cases. The ACLU opposed the 2003 CAN-SPAM act^[72] suggesting that it could have a chilling effect on speech in cyberspace.

Patriot Act I and II

The ACLU has been a vocal opponent of the USA PATRIOT Act of 2001, the 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 U.S. Bill of Rights. In response to a requirement of the USA PATRIOT Act, the ACLU withdrew from the Combined Federal Campaign.^[73] 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."^[73]

See also: American Civil Liberties Union v. Ashcroft (2004)

References

Bibliography

• 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
• 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

See also

• Freedom (political)
• Foundation for Individual Rights in Education
• Institute for Justice
• List of progressive organizations
• National Rifle Association
• Southern Poverty Law Center
• United States Constitution

External links

• ACLU sites:
  • Official ACLU site
  • Video history of the ACLU
  • Freedom Under Fire: Dissent in a Post-9/11 America
  • The ACLU Freedom Files TV series
  • Facts about the ACLU and the Public Square
• Discussion of the ACLU:
  • ACLU News from Topix.net
  • Is the ACLU good for America?
• Criticism of the ACLU:
  • 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
  • Stop the ACLU a website critical of ACLU positions and tactics.
  • “Meet The ACLU” by Wallbuilders