American Civil Liberties Union: A Case Study
The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) was started by Roger Baldwin, Crystal Eastman, Walter Nelles, Morris Ernst, Albert DeSilver, Arthur Garfield Hays, Jane Addams, Felix Frankfurter, and Elizabeth Gurley Flynn in 1920. ACLU began as an advocacy group to protect the freedom of speech of anti-war protestors. Today, ACLU has expanded to a staff of 200 lawyers, close to 500,000 members, another 2,000 volunteer attorneys and upwards of 1.2 million in online activists. It has affiliates in all 50 states including Washington D.C. and Puerto Rico. ACLU provides legal assistance for cases where civil liberties are believed threatened. ACLU also engages in political lobbying and community empowerment initiatives. ACLU Union along with ACLU Foundation are led by President Susan Herman and over 50 board members. ACLU does not receive any government funding. Their work is funded by member dues, contributions from private foundations and individuals. Revenues for fiscal year ending 2015 were $137, 493,060.
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Objectives and Purpose: ACLU 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.” ACLU highlights three facts crucial to its identity on its website: they aim to protect civic values (Constitution and the Bill of Rights) for all Americans; they solely oppose any restrictions to civil liberties; they seek to aid all people within the United States (all races, religions, genders, sexual orientations, countries of origin).
The organization also has a strong stance on many controversial issues. For example, ACLU supports affirmative action, a woman’s rights to abortion, civil liberties for immigrants and equal rights for those of the LGBT
experience.
Practices or Actions: As per the organization’s annual report, ACLU’s litigation, lobbying and advocacy were critical to reaching key milestones in 2015. Strong advocacy before and after the murder of Michael Brown in Ferguson, Missouri resulted in more to racial profiling in policing and influenced President Obama to restrict the abuse of military equipment by law enforcement. In comparison, ACLU Supreme Court victory in Obergefell v. Hodges made marriage equality the law of the land through many years of strategic advocacy. Years of ACLU litigation and lobbying also prompted the release of the Senate Intelligence Committee Report on the CIA’s torture program which subsequently enabled the ACLU’s lawsuit against CIA-paid torture profiteers. The organization’s Second Circuit win in ACLU vs. Clapper forced Congressed to devise reforms to prohibit government spying.
Specific Interventions: According to the American Civil Liberties Union website, the organization participated in more Supreme Court cases than any other private organization in the U.S. and is the nation’s largest public interest law firm. Notable works throughout this existence include the American Civil Liberties Union involvement in the 1925 Scopes Case where the ACLU secured the services of celebrated attorney Clarence Darrow for the defense. Scopes was arrested for teaching evolution but his conviction was overturned on appeal. In the landmark 1954 Brown vs. Board of Education, the ACLU joined the legal battle that would deem segregation in schools a violation of the fourteenth amendment.
Ethics: As the organization’s website, ACLU was founded close to 100 years ago to serve as “our nation’s guardian of liberty.” The ACLU works in the courts, legislatures and communities to defend and preserve the individual rights and liberties guaranteed to all people in this country by the Constitution and laws of the United States.
Objectives and Purpose: ACLU 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.” ACLU highlights three facts crucial to its identity on its website: they aim to protect civic values (Constitution and the Bill of Rights) for all Americans; they solely oppose any restrictions to civil liberties; they seek to aid all people within the United States (all races, religions, genders, sexual orientations, countries of origin).
The organization also has a strong stance on many controversial issues. For example, ACLU supports affirmative action, a woman’s rights to abortion, civil liberties for immigrants and equal rights for those of the LGBT
experience.
Practices or Actions: As per the organization’s annual report, ACLU’s litigation, lobbying and advocacy were critical to reaching key milestones in 2015. Strong advocacy before and after the murder of Michael Brown in Ferguson, Missouri resulted in more to racial profiling in policing and influenced President Obama to restrict the abuse of military equipment by law enforcement. In comparison, ACLU Supreme Court victory in Obergefell v. Hodges made marriage equality the law of the land through many years of strategic advocacy. Years of ACLU litigation and lobbying also prompted the release of the Senate Intelligence Committee Report on the CIA’s torture program which subsequently enabled the ACLU’s lawsuit against CIA-paid torture profiteers. The organization’s Second Circuit win in ACLU vs. Clapper forced Congressed to devise reforms to prohibit government spying.
Specific Interventions: According to the American Civil Liberties Union website, the organization participated in more Supreme Court cases than any other private organization in the U.S. and is the nation’s largest public interest law firm. Notable works throughout this existence include the American Civil Liberties Union involvement in the 1925 Scopes Case where the ACLU secured the services of celebrated attorney Clarence Darrow for the defense. Scopes was arrested for teaching evolution but his conviction was overturned on appeal. In the landmark 1954 Brown vs. Board of Education, the ACLU joined the legal battle that would deem segregation in schools a violation of the fourteenth amendment.
Ethics: As the organization’s website, ACLU was founded close to 100 years ago to serve as “our nation’s guardian of liberty.” The ACLU works in the courts, legislatures and communities to defend and preserve the individual rights and liberties guaranteed to all people in this country by the Constitution and laws of the United States.