Special Interest Group: American Civil Liberties Union And The ACLU Foundation

Special Interest Group: American Civil Liberties Union
Champ Johnson
AJS 552
May 5, 2014 Special Interest Group: American Civil Liberties Union The United States is blanketed with legal protection by the ACLU. It is difficult to cover everything because it is so involved in the many different aspects in the fight for civil liberties. I will attempt illustrate what the ACLU (American Civil Liberties Union) is, and how they have affected our society in public safety and our civil rights. The ACLU actually consists of two different organizations; The American Civil Liberties Union and the ACLU Foundation. Each branch conducts different tasks defending the civil liberties of citizens and is collectively come under the name ACLU. Political
Operating autonomously each chapter to include the smaller ones receive funding from the national chapter. Then national chapter gets directly involved in certain major cases. Members donate funds within their chapter also volunteer at events and provide information via action committees and e-mail. The most important volunteers are the cooperating attorneys for the ACLU. These lawyers work cases and receive no money for their services. With the help of the cooperating attorneys analyze new legislation affecting civil rights, file complaints or comments with regulatory agencies, and participate in public information programs. The attorneys who do get paid by the ACLU work full-time for the organization. Public order and civil liberties contain a considerable amount of law: freedom of speech and press, separation of church and state, free exercise of religion, due process of law, equal protection, and privacy. (Walker, 1990). Even though in its noble efforts, the ACLU has a poor public image. Contributing factors for such hate or support can be attributed to the morality and personal nature of the issues. From all corners of society such issues as these incite feelings. The
To ensure expressive, associational, and privacy rights are strengthened instead of being compromised by new technology is the goal of the Protecting Civil Liberties and protect the core democratic rights when corporate and government practices that rely on new technology that invades these rights. The government regularly tracks all calls of nearly every common American and spy on a large number of Americans’ international calls, text messages, and emails. Whistle blower Eric Snowden, a contractor with NSA, willfully and knowingly exposed the government’s most sensitive surveillance techniques without authorization and the most fundamental rights as individuals. The ACLU has been fighting for over 12 years to end government surveillance’s lack of oversight that allows it to invade the rights and lives of millions of Americans. When the case against mass surveillance reached the Supreme Court several years ago, was dismissed due to lack of sufficient evidence of the secret programs. Leading the way, the ACLU’s struggle to rein in the surveillance superstructure which strikes at the core of our privacy rights, freedom of speech and association will continue. ("ACLU: National