Where do you go if someone is threatening your personal rights? Do you
go to the police, or maybe to the government? What if the police and
government are the parties threatening your rights? All you have to do is just
call the ACLU (American Civil Liberties Union). Sounds like a commercial
doesn't it. The ACLU blankets the United States with its legal protection. It is
involved in so many aspects of the fight for civil liberties that it is difficult to
cover it all. To fully understand what the ACLU has done for the United States
would take much longer than I have. Therefore, I have picked a couple of
incidents that, to me, exemplify what the ACLU is, and how they have affected
our society.
The ACLU, American Civil Liberties Union, is an organization that began
the struggle to protect the civil liberties of the American people.
English: Mike German, former FBI agent, now Nation...
English: A page from American Civil Liberties Unio...
Howard Simon, ACLU of Florida Executive Director, ...The ACLU is
defined as being a US non-partisan organization offering legal aid and other
assistance in cases of violation of civil liberties.(Websters) Civil liberties contain
a substantial body of law including: freedom of speech and press, separation of
church and state, free exercise of religion, due process of law, equal protection,
and privacy.(Walker 3) The Encyclopedia of the Constitution defines civil
liberties as 'those rights that an individual citizens may assert against the
government.' In a formal sense, the ACLU is a private voluntary organization
dedicated to defending the Bill of Rights. Officially established in 1920, the
ACLU now claims over 270,000 members. With offices in most of the states and
the District of Columbia the ACLU justifiably calls itself ' the nation's largest law
firm.'(Walker 4)
The ACLU, despite its noble goal, has a terrible public image. The reason
for such hatred or support is the...