Where'e the ACLU when you need it?

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by Sandia
Where'e the ACLU when you need it?

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Uh, ACLU?

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by Alan
(quotes)Uh, ACLU?

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Sorry. That's the American Civil Liberties Union. They're a large and influential national organization with the mission to defend individual rights, primarily against government intrusion. They generally get involved in cases where those rights are threatened, filing lawsuits and generally bringing attention to civil liberties issues. They're generally involved in defending any right quaranteed by the Bill or Rights--free speech, religious freedom, press freedom, inidivual freedom. They're very involved in issues surrounding abortion, the death penalty, lesbian and gay rights,student rights, immigrant rights, racial equality, privacy. You get the idea.

I mentioned them because the cases you linked to seemed to cry out for ACLU attention. Since someone recently included a link to an ACLU page in one of their posts (I think it was Byron), I thought the ACLU was known to you and would be fair game to mention.

The wonderful thing about the ACLU is that, although they're progressive by nature, they're more concerned with defending rights than ideology. So, for example, they might sue a government authority that tries to stop citizens from holding a march or rally--whether that organization is the progressive National Organization for Women or the hate-mongering Ku Klux Klan. For example, the Klan wanted to hold a march a few years ago through a Jewish neighborhood in a town in Illinois. The idea of the Klan holding a march anywhere is nauseating, and marching through a Jewish neighborhood was clearly meant to be provocative. The town denied the Klan a permit to march. But the ACLU defended their right to march--and as repugnant as they and all they stand for are, the Klan did have the constitutional right to march. The ACLU defends the principle, not the organization or person. And I'm always really grateful they're around.

Ta, Sandia!