[188] One reason for the Supreme Court's support of Cold War legislation was the 1949 deaths of Supreme Court justices Frank Murphy and Wiley Rutledge, leaving Hugo Black and William O. Douglas as the only remaining civil libertarians on the Court. [317][318][319][320] The financial strain from the controversy led to layoffs at local chapters. [257] During 1960–61, the ACLU defended black students arrested for demonstrating in North Carolina, Florida, and Louisiana. The ACLU directors rejected that proposal. [294][295][296] The Reproductive Freedom Project, however, goes deeper than the ACLU. "[86][87], The ACLU developed from the National Civil Liberties Bureau (CLB), co-founded in 1917 during World War I by Crystal Eastman, an attorney activist, and Roger Nash Baldwin.

http://www.aclumontana.org/PubEd/CD/50Cases/Barnette.htm.

Ernest Besig had in 1944 visited the Tule Lake Segregation Center, where the majority of these "renunciants" were concentrated, and subsequently enlisted Wayne Collins' help to file a lawsuit on their behalf, arguing the renunciations had been given under duress. [309], In the early 1970s, conservatives and libertarians began to criticize the ACLU for being too political and too liberal. [124] By the early 1930s, censorship in the United States was diminishing. ACLU Montana. [172], The national office of the ACLU was even more reluctant to defend anti-war protesters.

Gitlow v. New York, 268 U.S. 652 (1925). [19] ACLU leader Arthur Garfield Hays proposed a compromise (supporting the auto workers union, yet also endorsing Ford's right to express personal opinions), but the schism highlighted a deeper divide that would become more prominent in the years to come. When a roomful of civil liberties activists — led by Roger Baldwin, Crystal Eastman, and Albert DeSilver — formed the ACLU in 1920, the Supreme Court had yet to uphold a single free speech claim. [219] The Catholic church was a leading proponent of such laws; and the primary opponents (the "separationists") were the ACLU, Americans United for Separation of Church and State, and the American Jewish Congress. The organization was sued because a man who raped and murdered a child had visited the NAMBLA website. [94], In the 1920s, government censorship was commonplace. [325], During the 1988 presidential election, Vice President George H. W. Bush noted that his opponent Massachusetts Governor Michael Dukakis had described himself as a "card-carrying member of the ACLU" and used that as evidence that Dukakis was "a strong, passionate liberal" and "out of the mainstream". Despite what you may have heard, there's nothing bad about the Federalist Society." [32][33] The local affiliates solicit their own funding; however, some also receive funds from the national ACLU, with the distribution and amount of such assistance varying from state to state.

The ACLU’s job is to provide voters with the information they need to know about what is at stake.

[216][217] During the ACLU's bi-annual conference in Colorado in 1964, the Supreme Court issued rulings on eight cases in which the ACLU was involved; the ACLU prevailed on seven of the eight. One faction, including Baldwin, Arthur Garfield Hays and Norman Thomas, believed that direct, militant action was the best path. Meredith, in fact, was not assassinated. The ACLU was involved in the Miranda case, which addressed conduct by police during interrogations, and in the New York Times case, which established new protections for newspapers reporting on government activities. [241] During the 1950s and 1960s, the ACLU was responsible for substantially advancing the legal protections against police misconduct. [20] During the early 1950s and Cold War McCarthyism, the board was divided on whether to defend communists. [14] During the 1920s, the ACLU expanded its scope to include protecting the free speech rights of artists and striking workers, and working with the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) to decrease racism and discrimination. California has three affiliates. "[219][220][221] It was not clear that the Bill of Rights forbid state governments from supporting religious education, and strong legal arguments were made by religious proponents, arguing that the Supreme Court should not act as a "national school board", and that the Constitution did not govern social issues. State-sanctioned violence against African-Americans was routine. Their founder even wrote a book of his love for communism. [127] The 1939 Supreme Court decision in Hague v. Committee for Industrial Organization affirmed the right of communists to promote their cause. 78–79.

[291], Rights of the poor was another area that was expanded by the ACLU. Behind the debate was the longstanding ACLU tradition that it was politically impartial, and provided legal advice without regard to the political views of the defendants.

[193], The ACLU, even though it scaled back its defense of Communists during the Cold War, still came under heavy criticism as a "front" for Communism. [306] The ACLU led the defense in United States v. Vuitch which expanded the right of physicians to determine when abortions were necessary.

[151] Several states passed laws outlawing the hate speech directed at ethnic groups. We appear before the Supreme Court more than any other organization except the Department of Justice. [250], The 1960s was a tumultuous era in the United States, and public interest in civil liberties underwent an explosive growth. [304] The Project says they are hoping to achieve these goals through legal action and litigation.

Legally, the ACLU consists of two separate but closely affiliated nonprofit organizations, namely the American Civil Liberties Union, a 501(c)(4) social welfare group; and the ACLU Foundation, a 501(c)(3) public charity. See Kaminer, pp. The District Attorney dismissed the charges against the plaintiffs of the suit. [315], In 1977, a small group of American Nazis, led by Frank Collin, applied to the town of Skokie, Illinois, for permission to hold a demonstration in the town park. The ACLU's efforts led to landmark cases such as Ruiz v. Estelle (requiring reform of the Texas prison system) and in 1996 US Congress enacted the Prison Litigation Reform Act (PLRA) which codified prisoners' rights. [144], Some factions in the ACLU proposed new directions for the organization.

[153], In the late 1930s, the ACLU allied itself with the Popular Front, a coalition of liberal organizations coordinated by the United States Communist Party.

http://www.aclu.org/acluf.html, "Anthony D. Romero, Executive Director." In 1919, the Court upheld the conviction of Socialist Party leader Charles Schenck for publishing anti-war literature.