American Civil Liberties Union

The American Civil Liberties Union, commonly known as the ACLU, is a nonprofit civil rights organization that has been fighting for individual freedoms since its founding in 1920. With affiliates in all 50 states, Washington, D.C., and Puerto Rico, the ACLU has grown into a formidable legal force. Its 2024 budget stood at $383 million, reflecting its expansive reach and the scale of its operations.

The organization provides legal assistance in cases where civil liberties are at risk, often taking a secularist stance to challenge excessive religious entanglement with the U.S. government. The ACLU's work spans a wide range of issues, from free speech and privacy to reproductive rights and racial justice. Its approach combines direct legal representation, legislative advocacy, and public education, making it one of the most influential civil rights organizations in the country.

Over the past century, the ACLU has been at the center of nearly every major civil liberties battle in America. It has defended free speech in the Scopes Trial, fought for desegregation, and taken on government surveillance programs. The organization's legal victories have shaped constitutional law, and its ongoing campaigns continue to address contemporary threats to civil rights, from immigration enforcement overreach to mass surveillance technologies. [edit]

The ACLU's mission is to defend and preserve the individual rights and liberties guaranteed by the U.S. Constitution and the laws of the United States. It works through litigation, legislative advocacy, and public education to protect civil liberties including free speech, privacy, reproductive rights, racial justice, immigrants' rights, and religious freedom. The organization is explicitly nonpartisan, committed to defending the rights of all Americans regardless of political affiliation. [edit]

The ACLU's roots go back to the National Civil Liberties Bureau, formed during World War I to defend conscientious objectors and anti-war activists. In 1920, Roger Nash Baldwin and a coalition of lawyers, social reformers, and activists transformed that bureau into the ACLU. The founders included Crystal Eastman, Walter Nelles, Morris Ernst, Albert DeSilver, Arthur Garfield Hays, Jane Addams, Felix Frankfurter, and Elizabeth Gurley Flynn. They shared a commitment to defending constitutional rights, and the organization was deliberately nonpartisan.

From its earliest days, the ACLU took on landmark cases. In 1925, it defended John Scopes in the famous "Scopes Monkey Trial," challenging a Tennessee law that banned the teaching of evolution. During the civil rights era, the ACLU was involved in desegregation efforts and voting rights litigation. The organization also played a key role in expanding free speech protections, arguing cases like New York Times Co. v. Sullivan and Brandenburg v. Ohio.

As the decades passed, the ACLU expanded its focus to include privacy, reproductive rights, and immigrants' rights. It established specialized projects, such as the Women's Rights Project and the LGBTQ & HIV Project, to address emerging civil liberties issues. The organization's willingness to defend unpopular speakers, including hate groups, has made it a frequent target of criticism, but its commitment to principle has remained steady. [edit]