Help, DU! I want to write about the Demonization of the ACLU.

[johnaries]

The ACLU is obviously the most non-partisan agency in the US. Yet, eerytime I talk to a "Conservative" eventually the ACLU comes up as a "Liberal" and totally discredited agency.

This reveals the true agenda of the Republican Party. They want to discredit the agency that fights the hardest to protect Individual Civil Liberties and is total non-partisan. Obviously, they want to destroy Civil Liberties.

I want to write a piece or letter documenting the smear campaign against the ACLU and emphasizing the important role that the ACLU plays. I would appreciate any ideas, points, or references that DU'ers can provide.

HELP!

[nealmhughes]

1. Well I research and teach research professionally, so to start, I would

recommend that you have good primary sources. Primary sources are those that someone actually puts into writing with a name and date to it. ACLU position papers, news releases, etc. as well as briefs filed are all useful. If you aren't familiar on how to use advanced data bases, and not just google or yahoo, then go visit your local academic or public librarian's reference librarian on duty.

Since your topic of interest is the demonization of the ACLU, then a good place to start would be conservative sites like freerepublic.whatever and Heritage Foundation, AEI, the Republican Party, and also the Congressional Register for citations of the use of the term.

Good data bases are Thomas.gov, LexisNexis, Academic Premier, and other bases beyond mere search engines available free on the internet. You will need a password or else a private account unless you go to your local library and see what they have or at the local community college, even, they will have most of these for public use, just realize that students and faculty have first dibs on them. But during the early evening, around dinner time, the libraries empty out as they do in the very early morning. Be sure to take some CDs and floppy disks to same your work on!

Remember, librarians know everything, except how to dress well....

[johnaries]

2. Thanks! One of the things I was planning to include

was various quotes from Rush Limbaugh demonizing the ACLU, and then pointing out how they actually helped defend Limbaugh when the DA tried to override Doctor/Client privilege.

Of course, I also plan to use the ACLU website itself.

However, I was hoping some DU'ers could think of some cases they felt were good examples to epediate the process of going through every different court case that the ACLU has been involved with. Especially cases that Freepers may have held up as examples against the ACLU.

[beltanefauve]

3. Remember in 1992

when David Duke, KKK wizard was running for Prez? The ACLU actually defended his right to be on the ballot! That's exactly the problem (or one of them) with Conservatives; they seem to be bent on limiting our rights instead of broadening them. But here's an example of where the ACLU worked on behalf of an individual who is the farthest thing from a Liberal.

[upi402]

4. They protect the Bill of Rights. How unAmerican...

:sarcasm:

[Oeditpus Rex]

5. Here's a really good pop-culture reference

From "The American President" (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0112346/):



President Andrew Shepherd (Michael Douglas): For the last couple of months, Senator Rumson has suggested that being president of this country was, to a certain extent, about character, and although I have not been willing to engage in his attacks on me, I've been here three years and three days, and I can tell you without hesitation: Being President of this country is entirely about character.

For the record: yes, I am a card-carrying member of the ACLU. But the more important question is why aren't you, Bob? Now, this is an organization whose sole purpose is to defend the Bill of Rights, so it naturally begs the question: Why would a senator, his party's most powerful spokesman and a candidate for President, choose to reject upholding the Constitution? If you can answer that question, folks, then you're smarter than I am, because I didn't understand it until a couple of minutes ago.

America isn't easy; America is advanced citizenship. You gotta want it bad, 'cause it's gonna put up a fight. It's gonna say, "You want free speech? Let's see you acknowledge a man whose words make your blood boil, who's standing center stage and advocating at the top of his lungs that which you would spend a lifetime opposing at the top of yours." You want to claim this land as the land of the free? Then the symbol of your country can't just be a flag; the symbol also has to be one of its citizens exercising his right to burn that flag in protest. Show me that, defend that, celebrate that in your classrooms. Then you can stand up and sing about the "land of the free."



He used "begs the question" improperly, but other than that, it's a great speech. :patriot:

[bobbieinok]

6. the religious right constantly demonizes the ACLU

Robertson on the 700 Club, Jay Sekulow on his radio program.

The ACLU defended the right of the American Nazi Party to hold a parade in Skokie IL, where many Jews live. There was quite an uproar about it. (I think this happened in the 50s, ie not long after WWII.)

Sekulow has been constantly reporting that the ACLU hates the military b/c it supports the picketing of vets' funerals. Apparently they have supported Phelps' right to picket. Sekulow NEVER mentions that Phelps is a gay-bashing fundamentalist preacher.

I think the ACLU supported a group that protested Boy Scout troops at military bases; I believe LIngraham went on and on about this. I thing there was quite a bit of outrage by republican members of congress. ACLU was targeted as being un-American, ie 'out of touch with American values.'

Ever since I can remember being politically aware (ca sometime in the 50s), the ACLU has been demonized as being un-American. The rise of the religious right has added the charge of its being anti-christian.

[Robbien]

7. Go to the source of the hate StoptheACLU.com

a cut and paste link
stoptheaclu.com/

and see the kind of campaigns they wage against the middle class worker. The owners of the site frequently post at the far rightwingnut freeperville site.

[no_hypocrisy]

8. Start at the beginning.

I met and knew one of the original founders, Corliss Lamont (yeah, that's Ned's father's uncle). He and the other founders created the ACLU in the 1920s due to the suppression of fundamental constitutional rights during and following World War I, especially against "aliens" and citizens who wanted protection against fundamentalist christianity, the Ku Klux Klan, Attorney General Palmer, etc. Do a paragraph why it was needed then and why it is needed now.

Next: research some Supreme Court cases that the ACLU won and why their participation and/or sponsorship of the litigant(s) protected the fundamental constitutional rights for the rest of us, e.g., in Scopes, teachers no longer were arrested and penalized for teaching evolution in public schools.

[Solo_in_MD]

9. Its a NGO, not an agency (which infers it is part of the Gov)

And while overall to me its record is a plus, its far from perfect, including its unwillingness to support the individual gun onwership rights 2nd amedment.

[Bluerthanblue]

10. I'm sure you've already got this

but just in case, by their very nature, a "conservative" is :

adjective


1. Strongly favoring retention of the existing order: orthodox, right, rightist, right-wing, Tory, traditionalist, traditionalistic. See keep/release.
2. Kept within sensible limits: discreet, moderate, reasonable, restrained, temperate. See plain/fancy, restraint/unrestraint.
3. Clinging to obsolete ideas: backward, reactionary, unprogressive. See politics.
4. Able to preserve: preservative, protective. See help/harm/harmless.
(From Houghton Mifflin)

(note we fought the "Torries" in the war to liberate ourselves from England's domination)

How strangely will the Tools of a Tyrant pervert the plain Meaning of Words!
Samuel Adams (1722-1803),
letter to John Pitts, January 21, 1776


When people refer to the ACLU as "liberal"- it is meant as a smear, and to discredit the value and service this agency brings to our nation. LIBERTY is essential to America- and in tune with the ideals this country was founded upon.
Didn't *& Cheney try to claim, we supposedly were going into Iraq as "Liberators"? What is that if not an end to the 'existing order' of Saddam Hussein? We need to 'reclaim' the honor of being who we are- "LIBERALS"- A Liberal is:

adjective

1. Not narrow or conservative in thought, expression, or conduct: broad, broad-minded, open-minded, progressive, tolerant. See attitude/good attitude/bad attitude/neutral attitude, wide/narrow.
2. Favoring civil liberties and social progress: liberalistic, progressive. See politics.
3. Characterized by bounteous giving: free, freehanded, generous, handsome, lavish, munificent, openhanded, unsparing, unstinting. See give/take/reciprocity.

(from Houghton Mifflin)

Mentioned many times by America's best-
" and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity" (preamble of Constitution)
"Conceived in LIBERTY" (A. Lincoln)
"Sons of LIBERTY" (JQ Adams)
"Give me LIBERTY or give me death!"(P.Henry)


Some quotes that demonstrate this nations defense of "Liberty" is of long-standing, and a cornerstone of who we truly are-

Where liberty is, there is my country.
Benjamin Franklin

I would rather belong to a poor nation that was free than to a rich nation that had ceased to be in love with liberty.
Woodrow Wilson

It behooves every man who values liberty of conscience for himself, to resist invasions of it in the case of others: or their case may, by change of circumstances, become his own.
Thomas Jefferson

Liberty means responsibility. That is why most men dread it.
George Bernard Shaw

Those who would give up essential Liberty, to purchase a little temporary Safety, deserve neither Liberty nor Safety.
Benjamin Franklin

If the freedom of speech is taken away then dumb and silent we may be led, like sheep to the slaughter. (George Washington, 1732 - 1799)

If ye love wealth better than liberty, the tranquility of servitude better than the animating contest of freedom, go home from us in peace. We ask not your counsels or arms. Crouch down and lick the hands which feed you. May your chains set lightly upon you, and may posterity forget that ye were our countrymen.
Samuel Adams, speech at the Philadelphia State House, August 1, 1776.


I disapprove of what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it.

Voltaire (1694–1778)


I realize you were looking for examples of how the ACLU has defended the CIVIL RIGHTS of all citizens, even those with whom we may vehemently disagree, or find disagreeable, but if the defense of the Civil Liberties this nation was founded upon is seen as "lunatic" then this nation is dead.

peace,
blu

[Quixote1818]

11. The right wing NEVER brings up these kinds of cases!!!

I would bring up: "Why does the Right always ignore these kinds of cases the ACLU takes on". If they were fair they would praise the ACLU for taking on these cases:


ACLU of New Jersey Defends Second-Grader's Right to Sing Religious Song (06/05/2006)
NEWARK, NJ -- The American Civil Liberties Union of New Jersey today filed a friend-of-the-court brief in a case seeking to uphold an elementary school student's right to religious expression.


ACLU of Virginia Defends Federal Law Guaranteeing Religious Rights of Prisoners (06/12/2006)
RICHMOND, VA -- The American Civil Liberties Union of Virginia today filed a friend-of-the-court brief in the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals defending the constitutionality of the Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Persons Act (RLUIPA).



ACLU of Rhode Island Files Appeal on Behalf of Christian Prisoner Barred from Preaching at Religious Services (01/12/2006)

PROVIDENCE, RI -- The American Civil Liberties Union of Rhode Island announced today that it has filed an appeal in federal court on behalf of a Christian prisoner who was barred from preaching during religious services at the state prison.
Religious Liberty : Religious Freedom : Legal Documents



ACLU Files Lawsuit to Protect Religious Liberty of Imprisoned Asylum Seeker (05/18/2005)
SAN FRANCISCO -- The American Civil Liberties Union today filed a lawsuit in federal court challenging restrictions on an asylum seeker's right to wear a religious head covering. The plaintiff, Harpal Singh Cheema, is a devout Sikh, imprisoned since 1997 while awaiting a decision on his asylum application.

ACLU of Nebraska Defends Church Facing Eviction by the City of Lincoln (08/11/2004)
LINCOLN --The American Civil Liberties Union of Nebraska today announced that it would defend a Presbyterian church from a forced eviction by the city.

Following Threat of ACLU of Virginia Lawsuit, Officials to Agree Not to Ban Baptisms in Public Parks (06/03/2004)
RICHMOND, VA -- Under pressure from the American Civil Liberties Union of Virginia, Falmouth Waterside Park Manager Brian Robinson has agreed not to prohibit baptisms in Stafford County, the ACLU announced today.

ACLU of Virginia Warns Park Officials Not to Discriminate Against Religious Groups (05/27/2004)
RICHMOND, VA -- Based on news accounts that a riverfront park in Stafford County has banned baptisms and may be limiting other religious activities, the American Civil Liberties Union of Virginia said today that is has sent a letter to park officials seeking written assurances that religious expression will not be curtailed in the future.

http://www.aclu.org/religion/frb/relatedinformation_press_releases.html

[madmusic]

12. The ACLU itself debunks it.

http://www.aclu.org/religion/

They have other pages.