However, Steve Shapiro, legislative director of the ACLU, disagrees and insists that the ACLU's current actions are consistent with its 77-year history. When people tried to kick out Jehovah's Witnesses in the 1930s, or when they banned certain kinds of books, they thought they were protecting community values. The principles at stake today are no different from the principles back then. There are certain shortcuts that the government ought not be allowed to take. That's no different from what the government did in going after people in the Communist Party in the '50s.
Panhandlers have a right to talk to someone else about their condition.
It's like talking about a political party. He said they should be arrested only if they engage in assault or physical harassment. Charitable solicitations are also protected. . . . And to say that charitable solicitations can be for others, but not for yourself, is a pretty tough line to draw. Walker sees a theme underlying the ACLU-critics' desire for these kinds of laws.