American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), nonpartisan organization devoted to the preservation and extension of the basic rights set forth in the U.S. Constitution. Founded (1920) by such prominent figures as Jane Addams, Helen Keller, Judah Magnus, and Norman Thomas, the ACLU grew out of earlier groups that had defended the rights of conscientious objectors during World War I. Its program is directed toward three major areas of civil liberties: inquiry and expression, including freedom of speech, press, assembly, and religion; equality before the law for everyone, regardless of race, nationality, sex, political opinion, or religious belief; and due process of law for all. Its most significant and successful activities have involved court tests of important civil liberties issues. Since its founding, the ACLU has participated directly or indirectly in almost every major civil liberties case contested in American courts. Among these are the so-called Scopes monkey trial in Tennessee (1925), the Sacco-Vanzetti case (1920s), the federal court test (1933) that ended the censorship of James Joyce's Ulysses, and the landmark Brown v. Board of Education (1954) school desegregation case. In the late 1970s the ACLU defended the right of a neo-Nazi group to march in Skokie, Ill. The ACLU has about 275,000 members in its state organizations. The national office, located in New York City, also supports lobbying and educational activity on behalf of civil liberties issues.

Bibliography

See J. L. Gibson and R. D. Bingham, Civil Liberties and Nazis (1985).

American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU)

Organization founded by Roger Baldwin and others in New York City in 1920 to champion constitutional liberties in the U.S. It works for three basic concepts: freedom of expression, conscience, and association; due process of law; and equal protection under the law. From its founding it has initiated test cases and intervened in cases already in the courts. It may provide legal counsel, or it may file an amicus curiae brief. The Scopes trial was one of its test cases; it provided counsel for the Sacco-Vanzetti case. In the 1950s and '60s it opposed the blacklisting of supposed left-wing subversives and worked to guarantee freedom of worship and the rights of the accused. Its work is performed by volunteers and full-time staff, including lawyers who provide free legal counsel. See also civil liberty.

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No references found	The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) on Thursday voiced concern over the Pentagon and CIA's refusal to provide information on detainees at Bagram airbase, sometimes called the Afghan Guantanamo. ACLU seeks information on Bagram airbase by AFP / AFP American Edition IN JANUARY, THE AMERICAN Civil Liberties Union filed a case contesting the government's allocation of funds from the Trafficking Victim Protection Act to the USCCB on the basis that taxpayer dollars should not be used to impose religious beliefs on victims of trafficking. US bishops misuse federal dollars; ACLU speaks out by Conscience Byline: THE NEW MEXICAN The American Civil Liberties Union of New Mexico has filed a freedomof- information request with the city of Santa Fe for information regarding Neil Bernstein's assemblage, Golden Gates Bridge Over Troubled Borders, at El Museo Cultural. ACLU ASKS ABOUT ARTWORK by The Santa Fe New Mexican (Santa Fe, NM)	American Airlines American Anti-Slavery Society American architecture American art American Association for Leisure & Recreation American Association for State & Local History American Association for the Advancement of Science American Association of Retired Persons American Association of University Professors American Automobile Association American Ballet Theatre American Bandstand American Bar Association American basement American Bell American Bird Conservancy American Birkebeiner American bond American boreal faunal region American boring system American Bracketed style American Broadcasting Company American caisson American Canoe Association American Cave Conservation Association American Civil Liberties Union American Civil War American Colonial architecture American Colonial Revival American Colonization Society American concentration camps American Conservation Association American Ephemeris and Nautical Almanac American explosive American Express Co. American Farmland Trust American Federation of Labor American Federation of Labor and Congress of Industrial Organizations American Federation of Labor-Congress of Industrial Organizations American Federation of State, County, and Municipal Employees American Federation of Teachers American Film Institute American filter American football American Forests American Foulbrood American four-square house American foxhound American Fur Co. American Fur Company American Geographical Society	American Christian Fiction Writers American Christian Music Journal American Christian Music Review American Christian Romance Writers American Chronic Pain Association American Chu Shogi Association American Chuckwagon Association American Chungdokwan Taekwondo Association American Church in Berlin American Church Union American cichlid American cichlid American Cichlid Association American Cinema Editors American Cinema Foundation American Citizen American Citizen American Citizen Services American Citizens American Citizens American Citizens Abroad American Citizens Services American citizenship American City Business Journals, Inc. American City Quality Month American City Racing League American Civic Association American Civil Liberties Union American Civil Liberties Union of Arizona American Civil Liberties Union of Massachusetts American Civil Liberties Union of Nevada American Civil Liberties Union of North Carolina Foundation American Civil Liberties Union of Pennsylvania American Civil Liberties Union of South Carolina American Civil Liberties Union of Texas American Civil Liberties Union of Washington American Civil Liberties Union of Wisconsin, Inc. American Civil Responsibilities Union American Civil Rights Coalition American Civil Rights Education Services American Civil Rights Institute American Civil Rights Review American Civil Rights Union American Civil War American Civil War American Civil War American Civil War American Civil War Association American Civil War Center American Civil War Game Club American Civil War Research Database American Civil War Round Table American Civil War Society American Civil War: Gettysburg American Civilian Internee Information Bureau

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The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) on Thursday voiced concern over the Pentagon and CIA's refusal to provide information on detainees at Bagram airbase, sometimes called the Afghan Guantanamo.

ACLU seeks information on Bagram airbase by AFP / AFP American Edition

IN JANUARY, THE AMERICAN Civil Liberties Union filed a case contesting the government's allocation of funds from the Trafficking Victim Protection Act to the USCCB on the basis that taxpayer dollars should not be used to impose religious beliefs on victims of trafficking.

US bishops misuse federal dollars; ACLU speaks out by Conscience

Byline: THE NEW MEXICAN The American Civil Liberties Union of New Mexico has filed a freedomof- information request with the city of Santa Fe for information regarding Neil Bernstein's assemblage, Golden Gates Bridge Over Troubled Borders, at El Museo Cultural.

ACLU ASKS ABOUT ARTWORK by The Santa Fe New Mexican (Santa Fe, NM)

American Airlines

American Anti-Slavery Society

American architecture

American art

American Association for Leisure & Recreation

American Association for State & Local History

American Association for the Advancement of Science

American Association of Retired Persons

American Association of University Professors

American Automobile Association

American Ballet Theatre