American Civil Liberties Union

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[[Image:Aclu.jpg|thumb|right|165px|A fancified logo.]]
{{Law}}
The '''American Civil Liberties Union''', or '''ACLU''', is a [[United States]]-based organization dedicated to protecting [[human rights]]. This often leads them into conflict with [[conservative]] groups, but their dedication to [[free speech]] many times also leads them to defend the free speech rights of [[Metapedia|racists]], [[Fred Phelps|bigots]], and other [[Ku Klux Klan|hatemongers]].

According to their website, the main goal of the ACLU is to protect [[First Amendment]] rights, the right to equal treatment under the [[law]], the right to [[due process]], and the [[right to privacy]]. Since it was founded in 1920, it has grown to over half a million supporters. The ACLU is split into two separate entities: a legislative lobbying group that pressures the American [[government]] to stay true to its values of freedom, and a litigation group which handles around 6,000 court cases each year.

The ACLU maintains 53 local chapters and affiliates, including one in each of the fifty {{cat|United States states|states}}.

==Official positions==
{{cquote|I don't need 51% of the American voting public to agree with me. We just need to be right, and we need to have a basis in law and be able to have a theory of change to accomplish that. And I think part of what's lost when you kind of meld the [[political]] world or the [[pundit]] world or the folks who are kind of [[think tank]]s who are looking at public opinion polling as a way to determine what their priorities are, hell no. Our job is to kind of stand up for the little guy, literally, and to kind of find ways of making a difference. And I think in this case, people underestimated our ability to accomplish this. We will win on the Alien Enemies Act case. I'm almost certain of it, even with this Supreme Court.|||Anthony Romero, Executive Director of the ACLU since 2001<ref>[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hlxa16_pmp4 Does MAGA Think They’ve Gone Too Far? | ACLU Executive Director Anthony Romero], interview by Marc Elias of Democracy Docket (Jul 23, 2025) ''YouTube''.</ref>}}
*Total [[freedom of speech]], a stance that gets them into trouble with [[Horseshoe theory|both ends]] of the [[political spectrum]].
*The ACLU defends a formal [[separation of church and state]]; this includes opposition to mandatory or school-led [[classroom prayer]] (although they agree that students should be allowed to pray on their own time), the teaching of [[creationism]] and [[intelligent design]] in [[public school]] science classes, and [[religious]] symbology in public and government-owned buildings, which makes them villains in the eyes of [[fundies]].
*[[Freedom of religion]]; the ACLU defends the right of individuals to express their religious beliefs in any manner that is not otherwise illegal.
*Support for [[affirmative action]].
*Support for [[reproductive rights]].
*Promote voting (and removing barriers to voting).
*Promote the rights of the accused and prisoners' rights ([[due process]] stuff).
*Promote non-[[discrimination]] and [[equal rights]] (with respect to [[sex]], [[race]], [[nation|nationality]], [[religion]], [[sexual orientation]], [[gender]] identity, physical and mental [[disability]], and to a great degree also with respect to age, [[immigration]] status, [[HIV]] infection status, and probably a lot of other stuff too).
*Against the [[death penalty]] and [[corporal punishment]].
*Against excessive [[PATRIOT Act|government surveillance of individuals and widespread collection of personal data]].
*Against excessively punitive [[Drug war|drug laws]].

===On Christianity===
Although the ACLU is known for defending [[Westboro Baptist Church|pretty much anyone]] [[Neo-Nazi|who might need]] [[NAMBLA|their services]], it has come under fire for being an "[[atheist]]" or "anti-[[Christian]]" organization. This is generally based on its advocacy of the separation of church and state, reproductive rights, and [[LGBT]] equality, all of which pits it constantly against the [[Religious Right]]. Such a criticism is often part of the [[fundamentalist]] [[persecution complex]], as neutrality towards religion is somehow considered to be hostility towards Christianity, and simple disagreement is mistaken for a desire to persecute. Less commonly, the ACLU is criticized because some founders of the ACLU were irreligious and had [[socialist]] ties.<ref>[http://www.stoptheaclu.com/2005/07/12/american-communist-lawyers-union/ The ACLU is full of commies!]</ref> [[Moral panic|So scary]].

These misconceptions are fueled by a certain [[ignorance]] of the law regarding religion in the US. An attack on public ''government'' religious expression generally has no bearing at all on the freedoms of ''private'' individuals and organizations, but the two are frequently confused in the [[Fun:Jesusland|public]]'s mind.

In truth, the ACLU has no stance on any particular religion (or atheism), and frequently represents Christians.<ref>http://www.aclufightsforchristians.com/</ref> However, it is likely that it will remain controversial indefinitely, partly because essentially all of its positions irritate [[social conservative]]s, and partly because the ACLU tends to represent people whom everybody hates (since ''popular'' opinions rarely need protection). The ACLU takes the position that strict separation of church and state means public school buildings (for example) should not be used as space for [[Bible]] study groups, and [[tax]] dollars should not fund religious or parochial schools under the guise of charter schools, in both cases on the grounds that this would constitute the government violating the [[Establishment Clause|establishment of religion]]. This is the source of much of the Religious Right's dislike of the ACLU, but they often misrepresent it as the ACLU being against any public display of religion, such as manger scenes at [[Christmas]] on private property and the rights of individual students to pray in class. This is untrue, as the ACLU supports free speech, including the free expression of religion; what they oppose is government funding or lending official (or the perception of official) support to religious activities in violation of the Establishment Clause. Furthermore, the ACLU has [http://www.acluct.org/updates/wolcott-public-schools-recognize-students-free-speech-rights/ defended] the rights of religious bigots to express themselves, although it does not condone the contents of their speech.

==Notable cases and activities==
The ACLU has been a key player in several famous [[Civil liberties|civil liberties]] cases since 1920. Some of these have been controversial because of the organization's history of fighting for freedom of speech regardless of what the speech is and for people's rights regardless of who those people are:

*The organization was instrumental in the [[Scopes trial]] only a few years after its founding, defending the teaching of [[evolution]] in the classroom.
*Opposing the internment of Japanese-Americans during [[World War II]].<ref name=acluhistory/>
*Instigated ''[[Brown v. Board of Education]]'', which eventually led to the end of (legal) [[racial]] [[segregation]] in US [[public schools]].
*Represented the Lovings in ''[[Loving v. Virginia]]'', which legalized interracial marriage throughout the US.
*In 1973, the ACLU was involved in ''[[Roe v. Wade]]'' to defend reproductive rights.
*Fought against a 1977 ruling forbidding a Neo-Nazi demonstration. This move would cost the ACLU dearly, as a quarter of the affiliate membership resigned in protest.
*Filed suit in ''[[McLean v. Arkansas]]'' (1981), banning the teaching of [[creationism]] in public schools.
*When the Westboro Baptist Church was banned from protesting, the ACLU was successful in defending their freedom of speech.
*Instigated ''[[Kitzmiller v. Dover Area School District]]'' (2005), the trial that led to the banning of [[intelligent design]] in public schools.
*Involved in suing the state of [[California]] in ''In re Marriage Cases'', a case which led to [[same-sex marriage]] being briefly legalized in 2008, before the passage of [[Proposition Hate]]. The ACLU has been less prominent in ''[[Perry v. Schwarzenegger]]'', the federal challenge to Prop. 8, in part because at first they were concerned about being set back by a [[SCOTUS#Republican/conservative majority|conservative federal court]].

The ACLU has been involved in some way (usually through ''[[amicus curiae]]'' briefs) in essentially every major national civil rights case since ''Brown''. Among their more controversial cases are cases regarding religious practice in schools, an anti-discrimination case involving the [[Boy Scouts]] in 2000, and several cases involving [[pornography]], including child pornography.<ref>http://openjurist.org/32/f3d/733</ref>

ACLU co-founder Felix Frankfurter and former ACLU lawyer [[Ruth Ginsburg]] both became Justices of the [[Supreme Court of the United States]]. Oddly enough, early in her career, Ginsburg was turned down for a clerkship by Justice Frankfurter; he only hired male clerks.<ref>http://jwa.org/encyclopedia/article/ginsburg-ruth-bader</ref><ref>http://www.nytimes.com/2006/08/30/washington/30scotus.html</ref>

==History==
The ACLU was formed in the aftermath of the Palmer Raids, in November 1919 and January 1920, when as part of the first [[Red Scare]], the US Department of Justice under attorney general Alexander Mitchell Palmer rounded up large numbers of leftists, anarchists, and communists, many of whom were immigrants; 10,000 were arrested and 556 eventually deported.<ref>{{wpa|Palmer Raids}}</ref><ref name=acluhistory>[https://www.aclu.org/about/aclu-history ACLU History], ACLU website</ref> While before its foundation, other organisations like the [[NAACP]] had campaigned for the civil rights of individual groups (African-Americans in the case of the NAACP), the ACLU was noteworthy as the first group that set out to defend the rights of all. At least so it ''claimed.'' They hesitated to oppose [[Japanese American internment]].<ref>Eric Foner, ''The Story of American Freedom,'' p. 241.</ref>

Its immediate precursor was the {{wpl|National Civil Liberties Bureau}} (NCLB), which was founded in 1917 to assist [[conscientious objector]]s. The NCLB's prominent members included civil liberties campaigner {{wpl|Roger Nash Baldwin}} and the [[women's suffrage|women's suffragist]] {{wpl|Crystal Eastman||,}} both of whom were involved in the founding of the ACLU. The NCLB had formed from a faction of the {{wpl|American Union Against Militarism||,}} a broad anti-war organisation which split in 1917 over disputes between radical communists and moderate members. Eastman's actions were limited by ill-health after 1918, and Baldwin (a radical socialist who was initially influenced by Emma Goldman but later became disillusioned by [[Stalin]]) went on to lead the NCLB and serve as executive director of the ACLU until 1950.

===Shilling for the KKK===
When the Second [[Ku Klux Klan]] of the 1920s walked into [[Massachusetts]], opposition was directed by both Republicans and Democratic Irish Catholics.<ref name=kkk>''Hooded Americanism: The History of the Ku Klux Klan,'' pp. 270-71.</ref> [[Boston]] mayor {{wpl|James Michael Curley}} hated the Klan. He ordered city police to vacate any area occupied by the Klan, occasionally resulting in other organizations forced out as well. Practically every property owner subsequently refused to rent any space to the KKK. The ACLU opposed Curley's anti-Klan tactics and were denounced as "[[champagne socialist|parlor bolshevists and soda-water revolutionists]]."<ref name=kkk/>

==Criticism==
Sixties radical Abbie Hoffman, in a section of ''Steal This Book'' on legal help, advised readers to beware of the ACLU's reputation for losing the case while making a legal point. His implication was the ACLU's interest in a case may or may not always coincide with the best interest of the defendant. The ACLU does tend to be selective in what cases they involve themselves in, based on what will effectively establish future legal precedents. More recently, Wendy Kaminer, a former ACLU board member, wrote a book-length criticism of the ACLU (''Worst Instincts: Cowardice, Conformity, and the ACLU''), accusing the organization of being more interested in fundraising and riding on their past reputation than in seriously challenging [[Bush]]- and [[Obama]]-era attacks on civil liberties and privacy in the wake of [[9/11]]. It's also been criticized by Ira Glasser, former chairman of the group, for defending free speech only when it would not harm minority groups in their judgment, and becoming a more general-purpose advocacy group on progressive issues rather than civil liberties specifically.

===Defending Oregon KKK law===
The ACLU in 2009 publicly defended an [[Oregon]] state law prohibiting the wearing of religious clothing by teachers within public schools.<ref>https://www.nbcnews.com/id/wbna32661080</ref> The nearly-century old rule passed in 1923 under the direction of progressive Republican House Speaker {{wpl|Kaspar K. Kubli||,}} a flaming racist and ally of the Ku Klux Klan, which despised religious tolerance.<ref>https://religionnews.com/2009/12/02/oregon-teachers-are-likely-to-win-the-right-to-wear-religious-clothing-such/</ref> The position of the ACLU was opposed by various religious groups, including Catholics, Jews, Muslims, and Sikhs.<ref>https://www.oregonlive.com/opinion/2010/02/aclus_position_on_religious_ga.html</ref><ref>https://www.sikhnet.com/news/aclu-kkk-and-culture-fear</ref>

===Defending Citizens United===
The ACLU defended the [[Citizens United]] US Supreme Court ruling, arguing that corporate money in politics predates the controversial court decision and that corporations buying politicians is a form of free speech. In light of public criticism surrounding their support for the decision, the ACLU amended their position to support "reasonable" campaign finance reform.<ref>https://www.aclu.org/other/aclu-and-citizens-united</ref>

==See also==
*[[Lane v. Sabine Parish School Board]]

==External links==
*[http://www.aclu.org/ ACLU website]
*[http://www.sptimes.com/2002/01/25/TampaBay/ACLU_action_lands_Sat.shtml ACLU defends Satan himself]
*[http://www.gainesville.com/article/20091124/ARTICLES/911241001/1118?Title=ACLU-files-suit-over-Devil-shirts&tc=autorefresh An example of ACLU fighting for unpopular speech]
*[https://www.aclu.org/free-speech/aclu-louisiana-files-lawsuit-protect-free-speech-rights-christian-protestor Another example]

==References==
{{reflist|2|80%}}

[[Category:Political action groups]]
[[Category:United States law]]

Categories: Political action groups, United States law