American Civil Liberties Union

Mission and history

The ACLU summarizes its work as follows:^[2]

“

For nearly 100 years, the ACLU has been our nation’s guardian of liberty, working in courts, legislatures, and communities to defend and preserve the individual rights and liberties that the Constitution and the laws of the United States guarantee everyone in this country.[3]

”

The American Civil Liberties Union was founded in 1920 by Roger Baldwin, Crystal Eastman and Albert DeSilver, in response to politically motivated raids and arrests carried out by Attorney General A. Mitchell Palmer.^[2] The new organization defended trade union organizers and secured the release of antiwar activists.

A few years later, the ACLU defended Tennessee biology teacher John Scopes in a sensational public trial when he was charged with violating the state's prohibition on teaching evolution. Since then, some of the ACLU's most notable cases have included Brown v. Board of Education (1954), Tinker v. Des Moines (1969), Roe v. Wade (1973), National Socialist Party of America v. Village of Skokie (1977) and ACLU v. Reno (1997).^[1]

Work

The name "American Civil Liberties Union" refers to a group of separate but affiliated entities that work towards the same goal. There are two national groups: a 501(c)(4) organization named the "American Civil Liberties Union" that engages in limited lobbying activities, and the "ACLU Foundation," a 501(c)(3) educational nonprofit organization. Both organizations share the same office space in New York and provide funding for litigation and public awareness programs.^[4]

As the largest public interest law firm in the United States, the ACLU employs about 200 staff attorneys plus thousands of volunteer attorneys who handle nearly 6000 cases annually. Since 1920 the ACLU has appeared before the U.S. Supreme Court more times than any other private entity, and in addition to its extensive state and federal litigation, the ACLU lobbies Congress and educates the public on civil liberties issues.^[1]

Issues

Amicus brief activity

The ACLU files amicus curiae briefs in courts throughout the country. According to the ACLU's website, the organization filed amicus briefs in the following U.S. Supreme Court cases from 2010 to 2016:^[5]

Amicus briefs filed by the ACLU in the U.S. Supreme Court, 2010-2016
2010[6]
Snyder v. Phelps Brown v. Entertainment Merchants Association J.D.B. v. North Carolina NASA v. Nelson Brown v. Plata Sossamon v. Texas Connick v. Thompson FCC v. AT&T Milner v. Department of the Navy Cullen v. Pinholster Wal-Mart v. Dukes Fox v. Vice
2011[7]
National Federation of Independent Business v. Sebelius Reichle v. Howards FCC v. Fox Television Stations, Inc. United States v. Alvarez Hosanna-Tabor Evangelical Lutheran Church and School v. EEOC U.S. v. Jones Florence v. Board of Chosen Freeholders Missouri v. Frye Lafler v. Cooper Minneci v. Pollard Messerschmidt v. Millender Arizona v. U.S. Coleman v. Court of Appeals of Maryland Golan v. Holder Maples v. Thomas Dorsey v. U.S. Mayo Collaborative Services v. Prometheus Laboratories, Inc. Douglas v. Independent Living Center
2012[8]
Hollingsworth v. Perry Agency for International Development v. Alliance for Open Society International Inc. Bailey v. United States Florida v. Harris Maryland v. King Salinas v. Texas Alleyne v. United States Fisher v. University of Texas Kiobel v. Royal Dutch Petroleum McBurney v. Young Adoptive Couple v. Baby Girl Ryan v. Gonzales
2013[9]
Lane v. Franks McCullen v. Coakley Town of Greece v. Galloway Burwell v. Hobby Lobby Stores Inc. Riley v. California Kansas v. Cheever Alice Corporation Pty. Ltd. v. CLS Bank International Susan B. Anthony List v. Driehaus
2014[10]
Williams-Yulee v. Florida Bar Walker v. Sons of Confederate Veterans Kerry v. Din Kingsley v. Hendrickson Arizona State Legislature v. Arizona Independent Redistricting Commission City and County of San Francisco v. Sheehan Armstrong v. Exceptional Child Center Inc. Texas Department of Housing and Community Affairs v. Inclusive Communities Project Alabama Legislative Black Caucus v. Alabama EEOC v. Abercrombie & Fitch Stores Inc. Young v. United Parcel Service Inc. Holt v. Hobbs Jesinoski v. Countrywide Home Loans Inc. Elonis v. United States
2015[11]
Utah v. Strieff Birchfield v. North Dakota Montgomery v. Louisiana Hurst v. Florida Whole Women’s Health v. Hellerstedt Williams v. Pennsylvania Fisher v. University of Texas at Austin Zubik v. Burwell, Evenwel v. Abbott Dollar General Corp. v. Mississippi Band of Choctaw Indians Simmons v. Himmelreich United States v. Texas
2016
Moore v. Texas[12] Trinity Lutheran Church v. Pauley[13] Peña-Rodriguez v. State of Colorado[14]

Board members

ACLU

National Board of Directors	National Advisory Council
80 members Overall governing and policy-making body Meets 4 times per year Contains committees that study issues and make recommendations to the Board	90 members, including prominent Americans of different fields Advises the Board of Directors on issues No decision-making power Members participate in Board's committees

The ACLU is led by two large governing bodies, the National Board of Directors and the National Advisory Council. The board is responsible for making decisions about the activities and overall direction of the organization, while the advisory council offers opinions and advice to help the board make its decisions.^[4]

The national board is composed of one representative from each state-level affiliate of the ACLU, plus a number of "at-large" members from across the country.^[4] A complete and current list of ACLU board members can be found here. As a separate legal entity, the ACLU Foundation is managed by its own Board of Directors made up of selected members from the national board.^[15]

ACLU Foundation

The Board of Directors of the ACLU Foundation includes the following individuals:^[15]

Finances

The following is a breakdown of the ACLU's revenue and expenses for the 2010-2013 tax years:

Annual revenue and expenses for American Civil Liberties Union, 2010-2013
Tax Year	Total Revenue	Total Expenses
2013[16]	$36,933,127	$37,030,460
2012[16]	$34,724,259	$36,898,765
2011[17]	$33,858,928	$31,899,743
2010[17]	$30,896,398	$28,867,481

The following is a breakdown of the ACLU Foundation's revenue and expenses for the 2010-2013 tax years:

Annual revenue and expenses for American Civil Liberties Union Foundation, 2010-2013
Tax Year	Total Revenue	Total Expenses
2013[18]	$70,273,661	$89,345,364
2012[18]	$68,163,629	$74,213,958
2011[19]	$80,607,745	$71,535,506
2010[19]	$74,790,489	$70,165,716

Notable cases

The following tables display a selection of notable cases that the ACLU has been involved in, whether through representation or serving as an amicus curiae.

Notable events

Wikimedia Foundation v. NSA

On March 10, 2015, the ACLU filed a lawsuit against the United States National Security Agency (NSA) on behalf of a broad group of nonprofit organizations. The plaintiffs in Wikimedia Foundation, et al. v. NSA, et al. contend that the NSA's practice of "upstream" internet surveillance violates their Fourth Amendment right to privacy and infringes on their First Amendment rights while exceeding the Congressional authority granted by the FISA Amendments Act.

The central issue in this case is a practice that the NSA uses to tap into online communications involving Americans and foreigners. It is known as "upstream" surveillance because the Internet traffic that the NSA intercepts and analyzes is obtained close to the source, with the help of major telecommunications companies. The NSA claims spying authority under the FISA Amendments Act of 2008, while the ACLU contends that the organization's warrantless review process illegally probes the email and Internet communications of millions of ordinary Americans.

The lawsuit was filed in federal district court in Maryland where the NSA is headquartered. The 9 plaintiffs that the ACLU represents in this case are Wikimedia Foundation, the Rutherford Institute, The Nation magazine, Amnesty International USA, PEN American Center, Human Rights Watch, the National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers, Global Fund for Women, and the Washington Office on Latin America. Defendants include the NSA, the U.S. Department of Justice, Director of National Intelligence James R. Clapper and former Attorney General Eric Holder.^[21]

Recent news

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See also

• 501(c)(3)
• 501(c)(4)
• Nonprofit organization

External links

• American Civil Liberties Union
• RSS feed
• GuideStar:
  • ACLU
  • ACLU Foundation
• Social media:
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Footnotes