American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU)

American Civil Liberties Union - (ACLU), nonpartisan organization devoted to the preservation and extension of the basic rights set forth in the U.S. Constitution. Founded (1920) by such prominent figures as Jane Addams, Helen Keller, Judah Magnus, and Norman Thomas, the ACLU grew out of earlier groups that had defended the rights of conscientious objectors during World War I. Its program is Read More...

Read full-text books and articles on:

American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU)

1.

The Right to Protest: The Basic ACLU Guide to Free Expression
by Joel M. Gora, David Goldberger, Gary M. Stern, Morton H. Halperin. 360 pgs.

Book

Show Table of Contents [+]

Hide Table of Contents [-]

Title Page

Contents

Preface

Acknowledgments

I: General Principles

PART 1: The Sounds of Protest: Regulation of the Content of Political Speech

II: Challenging the State

III: Advocating Unlawful Action

IV: Provoking Adversaries or Offending the Public

V: Criticizing the Powerful

VI: The Funding of Protest

VII: Protesting by Public Employees

PART 2: Protest Activities in Public Places

VIII: Access to Traditional Public Forums, Reasonable Regulations, and Permit Requirements

IX: Government Regulation of Specific Speech Activities: Demonstrations and Parades

X: Government Regulation of Specific Speech Activities: Individual Speakers, Leafletting, Picketing, and Display of Signs and Posters

XI: Nontraditional Forums for Speech Activities

XII: Special Problems of Speakers in Public Places: Private Property and Injunctions

PART 3: Government Investigation and Surveillance

XIII: Investigations of Political Activists

XIV: FBI Investigations

XV: Other Agencies Responsible for Conducting Investigations Within the United States

XVI: State and Local Police Surveillance of Protected Political Expression

XVII: Surveillance Techniques

XVIII: Recourse for Persons and Organizations Subject to Unlawful Surveillance of Political Activities
2.

The Right to Religious Liberty: The Basic ACLU Guide to Religious Rights
by Barry Lynn, Marc D. Stern, Oliver S. Thomas. 144 pgs.

Book

Show Table of Contents [+]

Hide Table of Contents [-]

Title Page

Contents

Preface

Acknowledgments

Introduction

I: The Establishment Clause

II: Religion and Public Education

III Aid to Religious Organizations

IV: Religious Displays

V: Chaplains

VI: Religion and Family Law

VII: The Free Exercise Clause

VIII: Accommodation of Religion

IX: Church Autonomy: Claims Against Religious Organizations and Intrachurch Disputes

X: Conscientious Objection

XI: Refusal of Medical Treatment on Religious Grounds

XII: Zoning and Religious Institutions

XIII: Clergy Confidentiality

XIV: Religion in the Workplace

XV: Prisoners' Rights

XVI: The Religious Freedom Restoration Act

XVII: State Constitutions

XVIII: Deprogramming

XIX: The Legal System

Appendix A: Equal Access Act

Appendix B: The Equal Access Act and the Public Schools
3.

Reno v. ACLU: The First Amendment, Electronic Media, and the Internet Indecency Issue, in Communications and the Law
by J. Robert Craig. 14 pgs.

Journal Article
4.

Free Expression in America: A Documentary History (Document 19 "Guardian of Liberty: American Civil Liberties Union (c. 1920)")
by Sheila Suess Kennedy. 344 pgs.

Book

Read Synopsis [+]

Hide Synopsis [-]

Freedom of speech is a foundational principle of the American Constitutional system. This collection of over 100 primary documents from a variety of sources will help students understand exactly what is meant by "free speech," and how it has evolved since the founding of our country. Court cases, opinion pieces, and many other documents bring to life the tension between America's constitutional commitment to robust and unrestrained discourse and recurring efforts to suppress expression deemed dangerous, degrading or obscene. Explanatory introductions to each document aid users in understanding the various arguments put forth in debates over exactly how to define the Constitution to encourage readers to consider all sides when drawing their own conclusions.

Show Table of Contents [+]

Hide Table of Contents [-]

Title Page

Advisory Board

Copyright Acknowledgments

Contents

Series Foreword

Acknowledgments

Introduction

Document 1: Magna Carta (1215)

Part I: Foundations of Liberty

Document 2: Areopagitica (John Milton, 1644)

Document 3: Cato's Letters (1720)

Part II: The Concept of Free Speech and the Role of Government during the Founding and Early History of the United States

Document 4: Common Sense (Thomas Paine, 1776)

Document 5: The Virginia Declaration of Rights (1776)

Document 6: The Northwest Ordinance (1787)

Document 7: First Amendment, United States Constitution (1791)

Document 8: The Alien and Sedition Acts (1798)

Document 9: The Kentucky and Virginia Resolutions (1798)

Document 10: "Of the Liberty of Thought and Discussion"

Document 11: Fourteenth Amendment, United States Constitution (1868)

Part III: 1900-1950: A Half- Century of Paternalism

Document 12: "The Regulation of Films" (Nation, 1915)

Document 13: "Birth Control and Public Morals: An Interview with Anthony Comstock" (Mary Alden Hopkins, 1915)

Document 14: The Espionage Act of 1917

Document 15: Schenck v. United States; Baer v. United States (1919)

Document 16: Debs v. United States (1919)

Document 17: Abrams v. United States (1919)

Document 18: "What Is Left of Free Speech" (Gerard C. Henderson, 1919)

Document 19: "Guardian of Liberty: American Civil Liberties Union" (C. 1920)

Document 20: The Scopes Trial (1925)

Document 21: Gitlow v. People of New York (1925)

Document 22: "Freedom of Speech and Its Limitations" (Roger Hoar, 1927)

Document 23: "Dirty Hands: A Federal Customs Officer Looks at Art" (Perry Hobbs, 1930)

Document 24: Lovell v. City of Griffin (1938)

Document 25: "Facts of Life" (Time, 1938)

Document 26: Schneider v. State (Town of Irvington) (1939)

Document 27: Cantwell v. Connecticut (1940)

Document 28: Chaplinsky v. New Hampshire (1942)

Document 29: West Virginia State Board of Education v. Barnette (1943)

Document 30: "The Easy Chair" (Bernard DeVoto, 1944)

Part IV: The 1950s: McCarthyism, Racism, and Censorship

Document 31: The Internal Security Act of 1950 (The McCaffan Act)

Document 32: Veto of the Internal Security Act of 1950

Document 33: The Smith Act (1940)

Document 34: Dennis v. United States (1951)

Document 35: Beauharnais v. Illinois (1952)

Document 36: "The Legion and the Library" (Loren P. Beth, 1952)

Document 37: "The Freedom to Read" (1953)

Document 38: Roth v. United States (1957)

Document 39: National Association for the Advancement of Colored People v. Alabama ex rel. Patterson, Attorney General (1958)

Document 40: "Freedom of Association Upheld by High Court" (Christian Century, 1958)

Part V: 1960-1998: Smut, Cyberspace, and Political Correctness

Document 41: "The Playboy Philosophy" (Hugh Hefner, 1963)

Document 42: "An Infinite Number of Monkeys" (Christian Century, 1963)

Document 42: "An Infinite Number of Monkeys" (christian Century, 1963)

Document 44: United States v. O'Brien (1968)

Document 45: Brandenburg v. Ohio (1969)

Document 46: Street v. New York (1969)

Document 47: Tinker v. Des Moines Independent Community School District (1969)

Document 48: Miller v. California (1973)

Document 49: Paris Adult Theatre I v. Slaton, District Attorney (1973)

Document 50: Jenkins v. Georgia (1974)

Document 51: Federal Election Campaign Act of 1971

Document 52: Buckley v. Valeo, Secretary of the United States Senate (1976)

Document 53: Virginia State Board of Pharmacy v. Virginia Citizens Consumer Council, Inc. (1976)

Document 54: Linmark Associates, Inc. v. Township of Willingboro (1977)

Document 55: Board of Education, Island Trees Union Free School District No. 26 v. Pico, by his next friend Pico (1982)

Document 56: New York v. Ferber (1982)

Document 57: Indianapolis Ordinance on Pornography (1984)

Document 58: American Booksellers Association, Inc. v. William H. Hudnut, III, Mayor, City of Indianapolis (1985)

Document 59: Texas v. Johnson (1989)

Document 60: St. Paul Bias-motivated Crime Ordinance (1990)

Document 61: Irving Rust v. Louis W. Sullivan, Secretary of Health and Human Services; New York v. Louis W. Sullivan, Secretary of Health and Human Services (1991)

Document 62: R. A. V. v. City of St. Paul, Minnesota (1992)

Document 63: Wisconsin Statute on Hate Crimes (1989-1990)

Document 64: Wisconsin v. Mitchell (1993)

Document 66: Lamb's Chapel and John Steigerwald v. Center Moriches Union Free School District (1993)

Document 67: Communications Decency Act of 1996

Document 68: Janet Reno, Attorney General of the United States v. American Civil Liberties Union (1997)

Document 69: "A Declaration of the Independence of Cyberspace" (John Perry Barlow, 1996)

Part VI: The Free Press: A Necessary Irritant

Document 70: "The Day Mencken Broke the Law" (Herbert Asbury, 1951)

Document 71: Near v. Minnesota (1931)

Document 72: "A Letter to the American Society of Newspaper Editors on Free Speech and a Free Press" (Franklin D. Roosevelt, 1941)

Document 73: New York Times Co. v. Sullivan (1964)

Document 74: "Libel and the Free Press" (Norman Dorsen, 1964)

Document 75: Curtis Publishing Co. v. Butts (1967)

Document 76: The Fairness Doctrine (1966)

Document 77: Red Lion Broadcasting Co, Inc. v. Federal Communications Commission (1969)

Document 78: "Fairness Rules of F.C.C. Upheld" (Fred P. Graham, 1969)

Document 79: New York Times Co. v. United States (1971)

Document 80: Gertz v. Robert Welch, Inc. (1974)

Document 81: Florida Statute on Right of Reply (1973)

Document 82: Miami Herald Publishing Co., Division of Knight Newspapers, Inc. v. Tornillo (1974)

Document 83: Cox Broadcasting Corp. v. Cohn (1975)

Document 84: Federal Communications Commission v. Pacifica Foundation (1978)

Document 85: Landmark Communications, Inc. v. Virginia (1978)

Document 86: Public Broadcasting Act (1967)

Document 87: Federal Communications Commission v. League of Women Voters of California (1984)

Document 88: Reverend Jerry Falwell v. Larry C. Flynt (1986)

Document 89: Hazelwood School District v. Kuhlmeier (1988)

Document 90: "The Wrong Lesson" (Tom Wicker, 1988)

Document 91: "Freedom for All: Can Public Records Be Too Public?" (Chris Feola, 1996)

Document 92: "Public Information Is a Public Issue" (Maggie Balough, 1996)

Document 93: Alabama Statute on Loitering and Picketing (1923)

Part VII: The Right to Assemble and Petition: Haranguing, Picketing, and Public Order

Document 94: Thornhill v. Alabama (1940)

Document 95: Marsh v. Alabama (1946)

Document 96: Arthur Terminiello's Speech (1949)

Document 97: Terminiello v. Chicago (1949)

Document 98: Feiner v. New York (1951)

Document 99: Edwards v. South Carolina (1963)

Document 100: Cox v. Louisiana (1965)

Document 101: Gregory v. City of Chicago (1969)

Document 102: Coates v. City of Cincinnati (1971)

Document 103: Smith, President of the Village of Skokie, Illinois v. Collin (1978)

Document 104: Nazis in Skokie: Freedom, Community, and the First Amendment (Donald Alexander Downs, 1985)

Document 105: "The Speech We Hate" (Progressive, 1992)

Document 106: Paul Schenck and Dwight Saunders v. Pro-Choice Network of Western New York (1997)

Glossary

Selected Bibliography

Index

Primary Documents in American History and Contemporary Issues
5.

Capital Punishment in the United States: A Documentary History (Document 48 "The ACLU Takes a Stand against the Death Penalty")
by Bryan Vila, Cynthia Morris. 337 pgs.

Book

Read Synopsis [+]

Hide Synopsis [-]

Both sides of the highly charged capital punishment debate in the United States are examined in this breakthrough collection of 112 key documents, arranged by historical period. The political and social aspects of the debate are represented through a wide range of documents, including congressional hearings, Supreme Court decisions, position papers, biographical accounts, and news stories. An explanatory introduction precedes each document to help readers understand how various and seemingly unrelated social, economic and political factors have impacted public attitudes, legislation, and judicial decisions pertaining to capital punishment.

Show Table of Contents [+]

Hide Table of Contents [-]

Title Page

Copyright Acknowledgments

Contents

Series Foreword

Preface

Introduction

Significant Dates in the History of Capital Punishment

Part I: Early Views on Capital Punishment: Colonial Era to Independence

Part II: The Abolition Movement Gains Ground, 1800-1917

Part III: War and Economic Depression Overshadow Capital Punishment, 1918-1959

Part IV: Capital Punishment in the Courts, 1960-1976

Part V: The Debate Begins Anew, 1977-1989

Part VI: The Death Penalty in the 1990s: Contemporary Issues

Glossary

Appendix A: Federal and State Capital Offenses in the United States

Appendix B: U.S. Executions: Colonial Times to 1995

Appendix C: Selected U.S. Supreme Court Cases

Appendix D: Capital Punishment Interest Groups and Related Organizations

Select Bibliography

Index

About the Editors
6.

Pro Bono Legal Work: For the Good of Not Only the Public, but Also the Lawyer and the Legal Profession, in Michigan Law Review
by Nadine Strossen. 28 pgs.

Journal Article
7.

Interest Groups and Judicial Federalism: Organizational Litigation in State Judiciaries (Chap. 6 "Obscenity: The ACLU in State Judiciaries" and Chap. 7 "Obscenity: The Organizational Threshold and Group Litigation")
by Donald J. Farole Jr. 201 pgs.

Book

Read Synopsis [+]

Hide Synopsis [-]

Farole examines the role of organized interest groups in rights litigation in state courts, analyzing factors affecting groups' willingness and ability to enter state litigation. Farole also investigates whether groups assert rights claims based on state constitutional law, as urged by proponents of the new judicial federalism.

Show Table of Contents [+]

Hide Table of Contents [-]

Title Page

Contents

Preface

Abbreviations

INTEREST GROUPS AND JUDICIAL FEDERALISM

1: State Courts, Federalism, and Rights

2: Understanding State Court Litigation in the Federal Context

Notes

3: Legal Incentives in Takings Law

Notes

4: Interest Group Litigation in State Takings Cases

5: Legal Incentives in Obscenity Law

6: Obscenity: The Aclu in State Judiciaries

7: Obscenity: The Organizational Threshold and Group Litigation

8: Conclusion: Interest Groups and Rights in a Decentralized Litigation Environment

Appendix A: National Organizational Participation in State Court Takings Litigation

Appendix B: National Organizational Participation in State Court Obscenity Litigation

Appendix C: Methodological Appendix

Table of Cases

Works Cited

Index

About the Author
8.

Crisis on the Left: Cold War Politics and American Liberals, 1947-1954 (Chap. 7 "Civil Liberties and Security")
by Mary Sperling McAuliffe. 204 pgs.

Book

Show Table of Contents [+]

Hide Table of Contents [-]

Title Page

Contents

Acknowledgments

Introduction

1: Liberals, Communists, and the Postwar Popular Front

2: Liberals and the Cold War: 1947

3: Defeat for the Popular Front: 1948

4: The Red Scare and the Politics of the Liberal Center: 1949

5: A New Liberalism

6: Mccarthy, National Security, and Liberal Paralysis

7: Civil Liberties and Security

8: The Demands of Cultural Freedom

9: The Vital Center and the Politics of Anti-Communism: 1954

Conclusion

Notes

Bibliographical Note

Index
9.

Roger Nash Baldwin, the National Civil Liberties Bureau, and Military Intelligence during World War I, in The Historian
by Robert C. Cottrell. 20 pgs.

Journal Article
10.

The Habitats of Sex-Crazed Perverts: Campaigns Against Burlesque in Depression-Era New York City, in Journal of the History of Sexuality
by Andrea Friedman. 36 pgs.

Journal Article
11.

Ideas or Interests: Privacy in Electronic Communications, in Policy Studies Journal
by Priscilla M. Regan. 20 pgs.

Journal Article
12.

Free Expression in the Age of the Internet: Social and Legal Boundaries (Chap. 5 "Reno v. ACLU: A Legal Test in the Age of the Internet")
by Jeremy Harris Lipschultz. 331 pgs.

Book

Read Synopsis [+]

Hide Synopsis [-]

Jeremy Harris Lipschultz is communication graduate chair and associate professor at the University of Nebraska at Omaha.

Show Table of Contents [+]

Hide Table of Contents [-]

Title Page

Contents

Preface

Acronyms

1: Social Communication Theory of Free Expression: Politics and the Internet

2: A Historical Look at Traditional Legal Thought on Free Expression

3: Broadcast Versus Print Models of Free Expression

4: Normative Legal Versus Social Theory Approaches to Free Expression

5: Reno v. ACLU: A Legal Test in the Age of the Internet

6: The Drudge Report and the Clinton Scandal

7: A Survey of the Range of Internet Content

8: E-Mail, Listservs, and Other Personal Forms of Free Expression

9: The Special Case of Invasion of Privacy

10: Property and Commercial Rights in a Digital Age

11: Comparative International Issues

12: Toward Thinking About Free Expression in a Digital Age

Glossary

References

Index
13.

Has the ACLU Lost its Mind?, in Washington Monthly
by Amitai Etzioni. 3 pgs.

Magazine Article
14.