Reply #8: Here a just a few very important accomplishments of the ACLU: [View All]

Protecting Individual Rights for Over 90 Years

2009: Protecting the Right to Privacy: In Safford Unified School District v. Redding, the court ruled that school officials violated the constitutional rights of a 13-year-old Arizona girl when they strip-searched her based on a classmate’s uncorroborated accusation.

2005: Keeping Religion Out of the Science Classroom: In Kitzmiller v. Dover Area School District, the ACLU represented a group of parents who challenged a public school district requirement for teachers to present so-called “intelligent design” as an alternative to evolution in high school biology classes. In a decision that garnered nationwide attention, a district judge ruled that “intelligent design” is not science and teaching it violated the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment.

2003 to 2009: Exposing Torture: After a five-year legal battle, the ACLU’s Freedom of Information Act lawsuit compelled the release of critical documents detailing the extent of the Bush torture program, including long-secret legal memos justifying waterboarding and other abuses and an Inspector General’s report highlighting CIA abuses. The ACLU is leading the demand for full accountability for those who authorized or condoned torture.

2003: Equal Treatment for Lesbians and Gay Men: In Lawrence v. Texas, the U.S. Supreme Court accepted the ACLU’s argument that the court had been wrong when it ruled in Bowers v. Hardwick that the right to privacy did not cover lesbian and gay relationships. It struck down a Texas law that made same-sex intimacy a crime, expanding the privacy rights of all Americans and promoting the right of lesbians and gay men to equality.

2001 to Present: Keeping Americans Safe and Free: Since the 9/11 terrorist attacks, the ACLU has been working vigorously to oppose policies that sacrifice our fundamental freedoms in the name of national security. From working to fix the Patriot Act to challenging NSA warrantless spying, our advocates are working to restore fundamental freedoms lost as a result of Bush administration policies that expanded the government’s power to invade privacy, imprison people without due process and punish dissent.

1997: Internet Free Speech: In ACLU v. Reno, the Supreme Court struck down the 1996 Communications Decency Act, which censored the Internet by broadly banning “indecent” speech. Since then, Congress has passed numerous versions of the Child Online Protection Act (COPA), a federal law that would criminalize constitutionally-protected speech on the Internet. Each time the law has been challenged by the ACLU and declared unconstitutional.

http://action.aclu.org/site/PageServer?pagename=FP_about_accomplishments

And, there are hundreds more that don't get the headlines. The ACLU is tireless, and they are liberal. I know that drives you absolutely batshit crazy.