ACLU CASES, GAGGING OWN MEMBERS
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http://www.worldnetdaily.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=41751
ACLU fulfilling communist agenda
Posted: December 03, 2004
1:00 am Eastern

By Devvy Kidd
© 2009 WorldNetDaily.com

Every day, the headlines scream with some new threat from the American

Civil Liberties Union. I believe it's important to look behind the curtain and

discover the origins of groups and organizations to better understand their

activities.

The ACLU was founded in the 1920s by Roger Baldwin and Crystal Eastman,

described as a "progressive" and "the perfect feminist."

Earl Browder was general secretary of the Communist Party of the United

States from 1930 through its dissolution in 1944. When the party was

reconstituted as the Communist Political Association later that year,

Browder was chosen as its president. Browder proudly proclaimed that the

ACLU functioned as "a transmission belt" for the party. To deny the

ACLU's founding was attached at the hip to communist organizations is to

deny what can easily be proven as truth.

For the past few decades, the ACLU has been on a major crusade to

destroy Christianity in America, promote filth under "freedom of speech

and expression," and of course, vigorously defend the homosexual culture of

death. On Jan. 10, 1963, Congressman Albert S. Herlong Jr., D-Fla., read

a list of 45 communist goals into the Congressional Record. Below are the

communist goals being implemented by the ACLU in their quest to destroy

America's culture and traditions:

    * Use technical decisions of the courts to weaken basic American

institutions, by claiming their activities violate civil rights.

    * Get control of the schools. Use them as transmission belts for

socialism and current communist propaganda. Soften the curriculum. Get

control of teachers associations. Put the party line in textbooks.

    * Continue discrediting American culture by degrading all form of artistic

expression. An American communist cell was told to "eliminate all good

sculpture from parks and buildings," substituting shapeless, awkward and

meaningless forms.

    * Control art critics and directors of art museums. "Our plan is to

promote ugliness, repulsive, meaningless art."

    * Eliminate all laws governing obscenity by calling them "censorship" and

a violation of free speech and free press.

    * Break down cultural standards of morality by promoting pornography

and obscenity in books, magazines, motion pictures, radio and television.

    * Present homosexuality, degeneracy and promiscuity as "normal, natural

and healthy."

    * Infiltrate the churches and replace revealed religion with "social"

religion. Discredit the Bible and emphasize the need for intellectual

maturity, which does not need a "religious crutch."

    * Eliminate prayer or any phase of religious expression in the schools on

the grounds that it violates the principle of "separation of church and

state."

    * Belittle all forms of American culture and discourage the teaching of

American history on the ground that it was only a minor part of "the big

picture." Give more emphasis to Russian history since the communists took

over. Obliterating the American past, with its antecedents in principles of

freedom, liberty and private ownership is a major goal of the communists

then and now.

    * Support any socialist movement to give centralized control over any

part of the culture – education, social agencies, welfare programs, mental

health clinics, etc.

    * Discredit the family as an institution. Encourage promiscuity and easy

divorce.

Anyone who has been following the destructive path of the ACLU can easily

see how effective these communist goals have been implemented to "promote

democracy" and protect your "civil rights." Lenin stated: "Communism alone

is capable of providing really complete democracy." (See Tucker, "The Lenin

Anthology"). James Madison, known as the "Father of the Constitution" had

something different to say about a democracy:

    Democracy is the most vile form of government ... democracies have

ever been spectacles of turbulence and contention, have ever been found

incompatible with personal security or the rights of property, and have in

general been as short in their lives as they have been violent in their

deaths.

Perhaps it's time to recognize the ACLU as the American Communist

Lawyers Union instead of their disingenuous "civil rights" stage name.

No organization can exist without memberships and funding. It is

inconceivable to me how anyone who claims to be a Christian, lawyer or

layman, could belong to such an anti-American organization as the ACLU.

Burn your card and get out. Organizations like Working Assets, tobacco

companies and big corporations all donate to the ACLU, which in turn uses

that money to buy the favors of those who serve in Congress – who vote to

unconstitutionally fund the activities of the ACLU under the Civil Rights

Attorney's Fees Awards Act of 1976.

If Americans really want to put the ACLU out of business, remove yourself

as a member of their organization, boycott companies that donate to them

and demand these public servants in Congress repeal the unconstitutional

funding of this subversive organization.

There is no justification under Art. 1, Sec. 8, to steal from the people's

treasury to give money to the ACLU or any other organization for "civil

rights" lawsuits. Your Congress critter will be in your district during the

month of December – make the most of it.
DEVVY'S IN TEXAS NOW, GO GIRL, BUT MARRIED, SIGH
Devvy Kidd authored the booklet, "Why A Bankrupt America and Blind

Loyalty," which has over 2 million copies in distribution. She has been a

guest more than 1,600 times on radio shows, run for Congress twice and is

a highly sought after public speaker. To learn more about Devvy, please

visit her website.
---------
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_Civil_Liberties_Union
Founded in 1920 by Crystal Eastman, Roger Baldwin and Walter Nelles,[4]

the ACLU was the successor organization to the earlier National Civil

Liberties Bureau founded during World War I.[5] The ACLU reported over

500,000 members at the end of 2005.

Lawsuits brought by the ACLU have been influential in the evolution of

Constitutional law.[6] The ACLU provides legal assistance in cases in which it

considers civil liberties to be at risk. Even when the ACLU does not provide

direct legal representation, it often submits amicus curiae briefs.

Outside of its legal work, the organization has also engaged in lobbying of

elected officials and political activism.[7] The ACLU has been critical of

elected officials and policies of both Democrats and Republicans.
History

Roger Nash Baldwin became head of the National Civil Liberties Bureau

(NCLB) in 1917, AKA AMERICAN COMMUNIST PARTY. An independent

outgrowth of the American Union Against Militarism, the Bureau opposed

American intervention in World War I. The NCLB provided legal advice and

aid for conscientious objectors and those being prosecuted under the

Espionage Act of 1917 or the Sedition Act of 1918. In 1920, the NCLB

changed its name to the American Civil Liberties Union, with Baldwin

continuing as its director and Walter Nelles as chief counsel. Jeannette

Rankin, Jane Addams, Crystal Eastman, Albert DeSilver, Helen Keller, along

with other former members of the NCLB, assisted Baldwin with the

founding of the ACLU.[1] Among the founding members was Felix

Frankfurter, who later became an Associate Justice of the Supreme Court

of the United States.[8] DeSilver and Nelles were Baldwin's closest

associates.[9][10]

The ACLU was formed to protect aliens threatened with deportation, along

with U.S. nationals threatened with criminal charges by U.S. Attorney

General Alexander Mitchell Palmer for their communist or socialist activities

and agendas[11] (see Palmer Raids). It also opposed attacks on the rights

of the Industrial Workers of the World (IWW) and other labor unions to

meet and organize.

In 1940, the ACLU formally barred communists from leadership or staff

positions, and would take the position that it did not want communists as

members either. The board declared that it was "inappropriate for any

person to serve on the governing committees of the Union or its staff, who

is a member of any political organization which supports totalitarianism in

any country, or who by his public declarations indicates his support of such

a principle."[12] The purge, which was led by Baldwin, himself a former

supporter of communism, began with the ouster of Elizabeth Gurley Flynn, a

member of both the Communist Party USA and the Industrial Workers of

the World.[13]

Conservatives and Republicans have frequently criticized the ACLU. One

well-known example occurred during the 1988 presidential election: then-

Vice President George H. W. Bush noted that his opponent Michael Dukakis

had described himself as a "card-carrying member of the ACLU" and used

that as evidence that Dukakis was "a strong, passionate liberal" and "out of

the mainstream."[14] The phrase subsequently was used by the organization

in an advertising campaign.[15]

After the September 11, 2001 attacks and the ensuing debate regarding

the proper balance of civil liberties and security, including the passage of

the USA PATRIOT Act, the membership of the ACLU increased by 20%,

bringing the group's total enrollment to 330,000.[16] The growth continued,

and by August 2008 ACLU membership was greater than 500,000.[17]

Leadership, funding and organizational structure

Leadership
Nadine Strossen, Former President (1991-2008)

Currently, the leadership of the ACLU includes Executive Director Anthony

Romero[18] and President Susan Herman.[19] The national board of

directors consists of representatives elected by each state affiliate as well

as at-large delegates elected by boards of each affiliate. Each state

affiliate has an Executive Director and Board of Directors.

Notably, Ruth Bader Ginsburg, a current Justice of the Supreme Court, was

the first director of the ACLU's Women's Rights Project.[20] And Judith

Krug, Director of the American Library Association Office for Intellectual

Freedom[21] since 1967,[22] was for three years concurrently on the Board

of Directors of the Illinois Division of the ACLU. "She has been very

successful in promulgating the ACLU's views within the country's libraries,

and the ACLU has honored her with awards."[23]

In 2005, in response to increasing internal strife, the ACLU national board

attempted to impose what many critics labeled a "gag rule" on its

employees. The proposal included the rule that "a board member may

publicly disagree with an ACLU policy position, but may not criticize the

ACLU Board or staff." The measures proved highly unpopular with free

speech advocates within the ACLU, and were eventually shelved.[24]

Funding

The ACLU receives funding from a large number of sources. For example, in

2004, the ACLU and its affiliate, the American Civil Liberties Union

Foundation reported revenues totaling $85,559,887. Of that total, 87% was

from donations and dues from the public, 1.8% from program services,

including awards of legal fees, royalty income, and literature sales, and the

remainder from investment income and income from sale of assets. The

distribution and amount of funding for state affiliates varies from state to

state. For example, the ACLU of New Jersey reported $1.2 million in

income to both the ACLU-NJ and its affiliated tax-exempt foundation in

the 2005 fiscal year. Of that income, 46% came from contributions, 19%

came from membership dues, 18% came from court awarded attorney fees,

12% came from grants, 4% came from investment income and the remainder

from other sources. Its expenses in the same period were $800,000, of

which 12% went to administration and management. Smaller affiliates with

fewer resources, such as that in Nebraska, receive subsidies from the

national ACLU.[25]

Foundations

In October 2004, the ACLU rejected $1.5 million from both the Ford and

Rockefeller Foundations. The Foundations had adopted language from the

USA PATRIOT Act into their donation agreements, including a clause

stipulating that none of the money would go to "underwriting terrorism or

other unacceptable activities." The ACLU views this clause, both in Federal

law and in the donors' agreements, as a threat to civil liberties, saying it is

overly broad and ambiguous.[26]

Court awarded damages and attorney's fees

In 2004, court-awarded damages and attorney fees composed a 3% (net) of

ACLU Foundation funding; state affiliates also receive money from such

fees, although the national headquarters does not.[27]

Recovery of attorney's' fees by non-profit legal advocacy organizations is

common practice. The pro-life Thomas More Law Center, for example,

generally seeks, and is successful in, recovery of attorney's fees in the

same manner as the ACLU.[28][29] In 2005, the Thomas More law center

derived 4.8% of its funding from court-awarded legal fees in this manner.

[30]

Due to the nature of its legal work, the ACLU is often involved in litigation

against governmental bodies, which are generally protected from adverse

monetary judgments: a town, state or federal agency may be required to

change its laws or behave differently, but not to pay monetary damages

except by an explicit statutory waiver.[31][32]

In some cases, the law permits plaintiffs who successfully sue government

agencies to collect money damages or other monetary relief. In particular,

the Civil Rights Attorney's Fees Award Act of 1976 leaves the government

liable in some civil rights cases. Fee awards under this civil rights statute

are considered "equitable relief" rather than damages, and government

entities are not immune from equitable relief.[33] Under laws such as this,

the ACLU and its state affiliates sometimes share in monetary judgments

against government agencies.[34]

The ACLU has received court awarded fees in numerous church-state cases.

The Georgia affiliate was awarded $150,000 in fees after suing a county

demanding the removal of a Ten Commandments display from its

courthouse;[35] a second Ten Commandments case in the State, in a

different county, led to a $74,462 judgment.[36] Meanwhile, the State of

Tennessee was required to pay $50,000, the State of Alabama $175,000,

and the State of Kentucky $121,500, in similar Ten Commandments cases.

[37][38] The Public Expression of Religion Act of 2005, introduced by

Representative John Hostettler, sought to alter the rules put in place by

the Civil Rights Attorney's Fees Award Act of 1976 to prevent monetary

judgments in the particular case of violations of church-state separation.

[39] Also, groups such as the American Legion have taken stances opposing

the ACLU's right to collect fees under such legislation.[40]

Organizational structure
Howard Simon, executive director of the Florida chapter, joins in a protest

of the Guantanamo Bay detentions with Amnesty International.

The national headquarters of the ACLU is located in New York City.

Positions

While the bulk of the ACLU's cases involve the First Amendment (FOR

COMMUNISTS ONLY), Equal Protection, due process, and the right to

privacy,[41] the organization has taken positions on a wide range of issues.

According to the ACLU, it supports:
Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa speaking at an ACLU event.

Villaraigosa is a former board member and president of the ACLU Southern

California affiliate.

    * Religious liberty: Defends the individual rights of Americans of all

religions to practice and/or display affirmations of their faith in public, but

not on public property with government sponsorship or endorsement.[42][43]
    * The decriminalization of drugs such as heroin, cocaine and marijuana.

[44]
    * Separation of church and state; under this mandate, the ACLU:
          o Opposes the government-sponsored display of religious symbols

on public property.
          o Opposes official prayers, religious ceremonies, and some kinds of

"moments of silence"[45] in public schools or schools funded with public

money.
    * Full freedom of speech and of the press, including school newspapers.
    * Abolition of capital punishment.[46]
    * Reproductive rights, including access to contraception and abortion.
    * Full civil rights for LGBT (lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender)

people, including government benefits for same-sex couples equal to those

provided for heterosexual ones.
    * Affirmative action as a means of redressing past discrimination and

achieving a racially diverse student body.[47]
    * The rights of defendants and suspects against unconstitutional police

practices.
    * Privacy as it "works to preserve the American tradition that the

government not track individuals or violate privacy unless it has evidence of

wrongdoing."[48]
    * Immigrants' rights by "challenging unconstitutional laws and practices,

countering the myths upon which many of these laws are based."[49]
    * Concerning the Second Amendment, specifically gun control, the ACLU

embraces the States' Right Model interpretation of the Second Amendment,

which only recognizes a state's right to possess firearms, the organization

officially declares itself "neutral" on the issue of gun control, pointing to

previous Supreme Court decisions such as United States v. Miller to argue

that the Second Amendment applies to the preservation or efficiency of a

well-regulated militia, and that "except for lawful police and military

purposes, the possession of firearms by individuals is not constitutionally

protected."[50]

The ACLU has opposed some campaign finance reform laws such as the

Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act, which it considers an inappropriate

restriction upon freedom of expression. It does not have a policy of blanket

opposition to all laws on campaign finance.[51]

While the ACLU does oppose the use of crosses in public monuments,[52]

[53] there have been false allegations that the ACLU has urged the removal

of cross-shaped headstones from federal cemeteries and has opposed

prayer by soldiers; such charges have been deemed to be urban legends.

[54]

Controversial stances
Sister project     Wikinews has related news: ACLU President Strossen on

religion, drugs, guns and impeaching George Bush

The ACLU has for years been a controversial organization by nature,[55]

with most of their support coming from the left and opposition from the

right. The reasons for opposition are varied, although conservatives often

view the ACLU stance of separation of church and state as anti-religious,

[56] and their defense of both accused and convicted criminals as

undermining law and order. Furthermore, the nature of the ACLU is that

they defend even the most unpopular forms of speech and expression,

notably those with which most other organizations would not wish to

associate themselves. Often, its clients are notoriously unpopular such as

Neo-Nazi organizations and the North American Man/Boy Love Association

(NAMBLA), a group which supports lifting all age restrictions on pederasty.

In the case of NAMBLA, the ACLU's Massachusetts affiliate represented

the organization, on first amendment grounds, in a wrongful death civil suit

that was based solely on the fact that a man who raped and murdered a

child had visited the NAMBLA website.[57] Although the ACLU does not

endorse NAMBLA's message, its defense of the group has been widely

criticized. Additionally, the ACLU has initiated several court cases involving

government funding of organizations that discriminate against homosexuals

and atheists, prominently including the Boy Scouts of America.[58]

Among the most notable controversial cases which involved the ACLU are

the following:

    * The ACLU currently opposes, under the ex post facto clause of the

Constitution, the retroactive application of Megan’s Law (which requires law

enforcement authorities to identify convicted sex offenders to the public at

large through various media outlets) to persons convicted before the law

was passed.[59][60] The ACLU initially opposed the bill in its entirety,

considering it "misguided political posturing that [would] do nothing to

reduce sex crimes,"[61] but has not advocated that position recently.

[citation needed]
    * The ACLU also defended Lieutenant Colonel Oliver North,[57] whose

conviction was tainted by coerced testimony — a violation of his fifth

amendment rights.[62]
    * The ACLU fought for the Westboro Baptist Church and Shirley

Phelps-Roper after legislation prevented the group from picketing outside of

veterans' funerals.[63] The Westboro Baptist Church is infamous for their

picket signs that contain messages such as, "God Hates Fags," "Thank God

for Dead Soldiers" and "Thank God for 9/11." The ACLU issued a

statement calling the legislation a "law that infringes on Shirley Phelps-

Roper's rights to religious liberty and free speech."[64] The suit was

successful.[65]
    * The ACLU has filed 6 lawsuits against the Tangipahoa Parish,

Louisiana school board over what the group sees as teacher-led prayer in

school activities.[66]
    * The ACLU defended Frank Snepp, formerly of the Central Intelligence

Agency, from an attempt by the government agency to enforce a gag order

against him.[67]
    * The ACLU has aided the Florida Justice Institute and

WriteAPrisoner.com in supporting prisoner's rights, especially what the

ACLU sees as the First Amendment right to post online profiles seeking pen

pals during their incarceration and jobs upon their release.
    * In 2006, the ACLU of Washington state and the Second Amendment

Foundation jointly filed a lawsuit[68] against the North Central Regional

Library District (NCRL) in Washington State for its policy of refusing to

disable restrictions upon an adult patron's request. Library patrons

attempting to access pro-gun web sites were blocked, and the library

refused to remove the blocks.

Much ACLU work is done in the political arena where it faces frequent

controversy as well.

    * The ACLU has been a vocal opponent of the USA PATRIOT Act of

2001, the PATRIOT 2 Act of 2003, and associated legislation made in

response to the threat of domestic terrorism. The ACLU believes such

legislation violates either the letter or the spirit of the U.S. Bill of Rights.

In response to a requirement of the USA PATRIOT Act, the ACLU

withdrew from the Combined Federal Campaign.[69] The requirement was

that ACLU employees must be checked against a federal anti-terrorism

watch list. The ACLU has stated that it would "reject $500,000 in

contributions from private individuals rather than submit to a government

'blacklist' policy."[69]

See also: American Civil Liberties Union v. Ashcroft (2004)

    * The ACLU opposes the use of capital punishment, calling it "the

ultimate denial of civil liberties."[70] The ACLU claims that the death

penalty is unfairly applied to racial minorities and the poor, and considers it

"cruel and unusual" punishment.[71] The organization often opposes

executions on the grounds that the present method of lethal injection

sometimes goes awry.[72]

    * The ACLU's position on spam is considered controversial by a broad

cross-section of political points of view. In 2000, Marvin Johnson, a

legislative counsel for the ACLU, stated that proposed anti-spam legislation

infringed on free speech by denying anonymity and by forcing spam to be

labeled as such: "Standardized labeling is compelled speech." He also

stated, "It's relatively simple to click and delete."[73] The debate found

the ACLU joining with the Direct Marketing Association and the Center for

Democracy and Technology in criticizing a bipartisan bill in the House of

Representatives in 2000. As early as 1997 the ACLU had taken a strong

position that nearly all spam legislation was improper,[74] although it has

supported "opt-out" requirements in some cases. The ACLU opposed the

2003 CAN-SPAM act[75] suggesting that it could have a chilling effect on

speech in cyberspace.

Notable historical cases
Main article: List of court cases involving the American Civil Liberties Union

Since its founding, the ACLU has been involved in many cases. A few of the

most significant are discussed here.

1920–1960

In 1925, the ACLU persuaded John T. Scopes to defy Tennessee's anti-

evolution law in a court test. Clarence Darrow, a member of the ACLU

National Committee, headed Scopes' legal team. The prosecution, led by

William Jennings Bryan, contended that the Bible should be interpreted

literally in teaching creationism in school. The ACLU lost the case and

Scopes was fined $100. The Tennessee Supreme Court later upheld the law

but overturned the conviction on a technicality.[76][77]

In 1954, the ACLU filed an amicus brief in the case of Brown v. Board of

Education, which led to the ban on racial segregation in U.S. public

schools.[78]

1960–2000

In 1967, the ACLU successfully argued against state bans on interracial

marriage, in the case of Loving v. Virginia.[79]

In 1973, the ACLU was the first major national organization to call for the

impeachment of President Richard Nixon, giving as reasons the Nixon

administration's violations of civil liberties.[11] That same year, the ACLU

was involved in the cases of Roe v. Wade and Doe v. Bolton, in which the

Supreme Court held that the constitutional right of privacy extended to

women seeking abortions.

In 1977, the ACLU filed suit against the Village of Skokie, Illinois, seeking

an injunction against the enforcement of three town ordinances outlawing

Neo-Nazi parades and demonstrations. Skokie, Illinois at the time had a

majority population of Jews, totaling 40,000 of 70,000 citizens. A federal

district court struck down the ordinances in a decision eventually affirmed

by the Supreme Court. The ACLU's action in this case led to a rift between

the Jewish Defense League and the ACLU. According to David Hamlin,

executive director of the Illinois ACLU, "...the Chicago office which chose

to provide legal counsel to neo-Nazis who have been planning to march in

Skokie, has lost about 25% of its membership and nearly one-third of its

budget." 30,000 ACLU members resigned in protest.[80][81][82] In his

February 23, 1978 decision overturning the town ordinances, US District

Court Judge Bernard M. Decker described the principle involved in the case

as follows: "It is better to allow those who preach racial hatred to expend

their venom in rhetoric rather than to be panicked into embarking on the

dangerous course of permitting the government to decide what its citizens

may say and hear ... The ability of American society to tolerate the

advocacy of even hateful doctrines ... is perhaps the best protection we

have against the establishment of any Nazi-type regime in this

country."[83]

In the 1980s, the ACLU filed suit to challenge the Arkansas 1981

creationism statute, which required the teaching in public schools of the

biblical account of creation as a scientific alternative to evolution. The law

was declared unconstitutional by a Federal District Court.[84]

In 1982, the ACLU became involved in a case involving the distribution of

child pornography (New York v. Ferber).[85] In an amicus brief, the ACLU

argued that the law in question "has criminalized the dissemination, sale or

display of constitutionally protected non-obscene materials which portray

juveniles in sexually related roles," while arguing that child pornography

deemed obscene under the Miller test deserved no constitutional protection

and could be banned.[86]

2000–present

In a 2002 letter, the ACLU stated that it "opposes child pornography that

uses real children in its depictions," but that material "which is produced

without using real children, and is not otherwise obscene, is protected under

the First Amendment."[87]

During the 2004 trial regarding allegations of Rush Limbaugh's drug abuse,

the ACLU argued that his privacy should not have been compromised by

allowing law enforcement examination of his medical records.[88]

In June 2004, the ACLU received numerous phone calls from angry parents

after the Dover Area School District in Dover, Pennsylvania passed a

curriculum change requiring that its high school biology students be read a

one-minute statement saying that the theory of evolution is not fact and

mentioning intelligent design as an alternative theory. Believing that the

school was promoting a religious idea in the classroom and violating the

Establishment Clause of the First Amendment, several Dover parents called

the ACLU to discuss a possible lawsuit against the school. The ACLU, along

with Americans United for Separation of Church and State and Pepper

Hamilton, LLP, went on to represent the parents, the plaintiffs, in Kitzmiller

v. Dover Area School District. After a more than 40-day trial, Judge John

E. Jones III ruled in favor of the plaintiffs, finding that intelligent design

is not science and permanently forbidding the Dover school system from

teaching intelligent design in science classes.[89]

In January 2006, the ACLU filed a lawsuit, ACLU v. NSA, in a federal

district court in Michigan, challenging government spying in the NSA

warrantless surveillance controversy.[90] On August 17, 2006, that court

ruled that the warrantless wiretapping program is unconstitutional and

ordered it ended immediately.[91] However, the order is stayed pending an

appeal. The Bush administration did suspend the program while the appeal

was being heard.[92] In February 2008, the US Supreme Court "turned

down an appeal from the [ACLU] to let it pursue a lawsuit against the

program that began shortly after the Sept. 11 terror attacks."[93]

The ACLU and other organizations also filed separate lawsuits around the

country against telecommunications companies. The ACLU filed a lawsuit in

Illinois (Terkel v. AT&T) which was dismissed because of the State Secrets

Privilege[94] and two others in California requesting injunctions against

AT&T and Verizon.[95] On August 10, 2006, the lawsuits against the

telecommunications companies were transferred to a federal judge in San

Francisco.[96]

After the town of Hazleton, Pennsylvania passed an ordinance to punish

landlords who rented to illegal immigrants and businesses who hired illegal

immigrants, the ACLU and Puerto Rican Legal Defense and Education Fund

sued Hazleton, saying the ordinance was unconstitutional.[97][98] On July

26, 2007, a federal court agreed and struck down the Hazleton ordinance;

Hazleton's mayor promised to appeal the decision.[99]

In 2008, the ACLU stated that it would represent defendants arrested in

Flint, Michigan for disorderly conduct when sagging (wearing pants low

enough to show underwear), partly on the basis of unconstitutional racial

profiling.[100]

After the City of Indianapolis, Indiana began cracking down on when, where

and how homeless persons can solicit donations, the ACLU sued Indianapolis,

claiming the city's police unconstitutionally forced homeless persons to

produce identification without probable cause.[101]

Bibliography, SEE

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_Civil_Liberties_Union
--------------
ACLU Gags Its Own Members

http://www.moonbattery.com/archives/2006/05/aclu_bids_to_ga.html
Since its inception, the American Civil Liberties Union has been about

contributing to the corrosion of American civilization, with the ultimate

objective of bringing about its demise. Or maybe you thought it had

something to do with liberties? Certainly not for Christians. Not even for

ACLU members themselves.

True to its communist roots, the ACLU is considering new measures to stifle

internal dissent. Proposed new standards include the following language:

Where an individual director disagrees with a board position on matters of

civil liberties policy, the director should refrain from publicly highlighting

the fact of such disagreement. ... Directors should remember that there is

always a material prospect that public airing of the disagreement will affect

the ACLU adversely in terms of public support and fund-raising. ... A

director... may not criticize the ACLU board or staff.
Naive liberals and libertarians who have been drawn to the ACLU by its

free speech rhetoric are showing early signs of waking up to smell the

coffee. Clearly misjudging the purpose of the organization, former board

member Nat Hentoff gasped:

For the national board to consider promulgating a gag order on its members

— I can't think of anything more contrary to the reason the ACLU exists.
But executive director Anthony Romero points out that it's hardly novel that

the ACLU would attempt to suppress speech it doesn't care to hear:

Take hate speech. While believing in free speech, we do not believe in or

condone speech that attacks minorities.
Of course, this depends on the minority. White Baptists who live in the

South are a minority. But we can rest easy in the knowledge that the ACLU

will go to any length to defend our right to make fun of them.

Behind the scenes, things are getting ugly, as some board members begin to

realize the nature of their own organization. They don't like the

sophisticated data-mining techniques used to recruit members, or the

tactics employed to silence abortion opponents.

Those in favor of the gag order are right to worry that if the public knew

more, fundraising would suffer. As too few people are aware, the ACLU

was founded by a radical named Roger Baldwin, who summed up his motives

and objectives like this:

I seek the social ownership of property, the abolition of the propertied

class, and the sole control of those who produce wealth. Communism is the

goal.
Now that communists are no longer the primary threat to this country, the

ACLU has found a new ally in radical Islam. The organization has impeded

the war on terror every step of the way, actively encouraging municipalities

not to comply with the Patriot Act and even working with the likes of

Palestinian Islamic Jihad terrorist Sami Al-Arian and the Hamas front group

CAIR.

Communism and Islamic extremism would have limited appeal to a group truly

devoted to civil liberties. But the ACLU is not on the side of the angels —

as they would like to prevent disillusioned members from letting the world

find out.

With thanks to V the K.


ACLU head Anthony Romero.
Posted by Van Helsing at May 24, 2006 9:41 PM

Comments
I don't know why this strikes me as funny, but perhaps you should crop the

picture so it only shows him from the neck up, then title it, "The head of

the ACLU, Anthony Romero."

Posted by: Steve at May 24, 2006 10:04 PM

He looks like an illegal alien,anybody check him out?


Posted by: mickey at May 25, 2006 12:00 AM

VtK Tip o' The Day presents the Number One Reason to Oppose Bush's

Amnesty Plan: Carter praises Bush's immigration stance

Posted by: V the K at May 25, 2006 11:09 AM

Well, it seems only fair. They've been making the rest of us gag for

years...