The ACLU (American Civil Liberties Union) present themselves as being the defenders of liberty, human rights and limited government. As they say on their website,
"The American system of government is founded on two counterbalancing principles: that the majority of the people governs, through democratically elected representatives; and that the power even of a democratic majority must be limited, to ensure individual rights.
Majority power is limited by the Constitution's Bill of Rights, which consists of the original ten amendments ratified in 1791, plus the three post-Civil War amendments (the 13th, 14th and 15th) and the 19th Amendment (women's suffrage), adopted in 1920."
Despite these high-sounding ideals, the ACLU's track record presents a very different story. In George Grant's book The Family Under Siege, he shows thatThe ACLU supports the legalization of child pornography while it opposes voluntary school prayer.
The ACLU supports the legalization of drugs while it opposes sobriety checkpoints.
The ACLU supports tax exemptions for Satanists while it opposes tax exceptions for churches.
The ACLU supports legalization of prostitution while it opposes religious displays in public.
The ACLU supports abortion on demand while it opposes medical safety regulation and reporting.
The ACLU supports mandatory sex education while it opposes parental consent laws.
The ACLU supports busing while it opposes educational choice or home schooling.
The ACLU supports automatic entitled probation while it opposes prison terms for criminal offences.
The ACLU supports public demonstrations for Nazis and communists while it opposes public demonstrations for direct action pro-lifers.
The ACLU supports legalization of polygamy while it opposes teaching ‘monogamous, heterosexual intercourse within marriage’ in the public schools.
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Some of the ACLU's landmark cases include:
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The Palmer Raids Case of 1920: The ACLU combated Attorney General Mitchell Palmer over the deportation of a number of resident aliens who had been convicted of violent labour disruptions or who had been proven to be actively involved in various communist subversive activities throughout the country.
The Draft Amnesty Campaign of 1921: The ACLU launched a nationwide drive to release draft objectors and convicted subversives following the First World War.
The Patterson Strike Case of 1924: The ACLU defended a group of textile union members and other social activists – including the ACLU’s own founder, Roger Baldwin – who launched a large-scale strike and illegally occupied private property.
The Scopes Monkey Trial of 1925: The ACLU launched its ‘manipulated test case’ strategy against the state of Tennessee’s education standards, locating a small town biology teacher to act as a plaintiff and a showcase lawyer to focus national attention on the issue. Despite the fact that the ACLU and its high profile defender, Clarence Darrow, lost to the state’s attorney William Jennings Bryan, the publicity prove to be invaluable.
The Sacco and Vanzetti Case of 1927: The ACLU defended two notorious anarchists who had been charged with first-degree murder following a payroll robbery. With a long list of ties to the subversive socialist underground, Sacco and Vanzetti sealed the ACLU’s reputation as a radical instrument of the Left for some time to come.
The Gastonia Case of 1929: The ACLU defended seven striking workers who had been convicted of murdering a North Carolina police chief during a particularly violent confrontation. After declaring their anti-Christian and communist beliefs, the seven defendants jumped bail and fled to the Soviet Union.
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The Palmer Raids Case of 1920: The ACLU combated Attorney General Mitchell Palmer over the deportation of a number of resident aliens who had been convicted of violent labour disruptions or who had been proven to be actively involved in various communist subversive activities throughout the country.
The Draft Amnesty Campaign of 1921: The ACLU launched a nationwide drive to release draft objectors and convicted subversives following the First World War.
The Patterson Strike Case of 1924: The ACLU defended a group of textile union members and other social activists – including the ACLU’s own founder, Roger Baldwin – who launched a large-scale strike and illegally occupied private property.
The Scopes Monkey Trial of 1925: The ACLU launched its ‘manipulated test case’ strategy against the state of Tennessee’s education standards, locating a small town biology teacher to act as a plaintiff and a showcase lawyer to focus national attention on the issue. Despite the fact that the ACLU and its high profile defender, Clarence Darrow, lost to the state’s attorney William Jennings Bryan, the publicity prove to be invaluable.
The Sacco and Vanzetti Case of 1927: The ACLU defended two notorious anarchists who had been charged with first-degree murder following a payroll robbery. With a long list of ties to the subversive socialist underground, Sacco and Vanzetti sealed the ACLU’s reputation as a radical instrument of the Left for some time to come.
The Gastonia Case of 1929: The ACLU defended seven striking workers who had been convicted of murdering a North Carolina police chief during a particularly violent confrontation. After declaring their anti-Christian and communist beliefs, the seven defendants jumped bail and fled to the Soviet Union.
The Scottsboro Case of 1931: The ACLU and the communist-led International Labour Defence worked together to overturn the convictions of nine black men who had been found guilty of raping two white women on a freight train. Sentences for all nine were reduced or reversed….
Smith Act Reversal of 1957: The ACLU supported the defence of fourteen men convicted of conspiracy to violently overthrow the government of the United States. Lawyers argued on First Amendment free-speech grounds.
Nativity Scenes Man of 1960: The ACLU launched several legal initiatives to prohibit Christmas decorations or the singing of carols in public schools or on public property.
Regent’s Prayer Case of 1962: In this case – one of several anti-prayer suits that the ACLU was involved in - lawyers argued that a prayer recited each day in the New York public schools constituted an unlawful ‘establishment of religion.’…
Doe v. Bolton of 1973: In this ‘manipulated test case,’ the ACLU led the legal fight in a case that – with the companion Roe v. Wade ruling – eventually overturned the restrictive abortion laws in all fifty states.
The Watergate Hearings of 1974: The ACLU abandoned its façade of political neutrality by pursuing, in both the media and through legal channels, the impeachment of President Richard Nixon.
Christmas Pageants Ban of 1976: The ACLU has long fought against any form of public demonstration of religious faith. In this case they brought suit in New Jersey in an effort to prohibit Christmas pageants in the public schools.
The Skokie March of 1978: The ACLU shocked its liberal support by defending the right of American Nazis to march through a predominantly Jewish suburb of Chicago.
Newark School Board Case of 1981: The ACLU took this case in an attempt to prohibit the Gideons from distributing Bibles to students in the public schools on the grounds that such programs constitute a violation of the ‘separation of church and state.’
Arkansas Creationism Case of 1982: Fifty-six years after it had argued against educational exclusionism in the Scopes Trial, the ACLU reversed itself, fighting against the right to teach various views of origins in public school classrooms.
The Akron Case of 1983: The ACLU successfully fought to overturn the right of localities to regulate the medical safety and proper disclosure of abortion-related businesses.
Civil Rights Restoration Act of 1984: The Washington office of the ACLU led the four-year-long legislative battle to overturn the Supreme Court’s Grove City decision, thus requiring institutions receiving federal grants to extend privileged service access to homosexuals, abortionists, and drug abusers.
Jager v. Douglas County of 1986: The ACLU was ale to forbid religious invocations before high school football games. For the first time, the lawyers successfully used ‘endorsement’ language instead of the traditional ‘establishment’ language – the implication being that the government is not only forbidden to establish or institutionalise religion, it is even forbidden to endorse or condone it.
The Bork Confirmation of 1987: Once again abandoning all pretence of political neutrality, the ACLU led the smear campaign designed to deny Judge Robert Bork confirmation to the Supreme Court.
Equal Access Act of 1991: The ACLU was successful in making voluntary student prayer or Bible study meetings before or after school the one exception to the federal Equal Access Act of 1984. So, while students may father in public schools to discuss Marxism, view Planned Parenthood films, play ‘Dungeons and Dragon,’ listen to heavy metal rock music, or hold gay activist club gatherings, they are not allowed to pray or read the Bible together….
Smith Act Reversal of 1957: The ACLU supported the defence of fourteen men convicted of conspiracy to violently overthrow the government of the United States. Lawyers argued on First Amendment free-speech grounds.
Nativity Scenes Man of 1960: The ACLU launched several legal initiatives to prohibit Christmas decorations or the singing of carols in public schools or on public property.
Regent’s Prayer Case of 1962: In this case – one of several anti-prayer suits that the ACLU was involved in - lawyers argued that a prayer recited each day in the New York public schools constituted an unlawful ‘establishment of religion.’…
Doe v. Bolton of 1973: In this ‘manipulated test case,’ the ACLU led the legal fight in a case that – with the companion Roe v. Wade ruling – eventually overturned the restrictive abortion laws in all fifty states.
The Watergate Hearings of 1974: The ACLU abandoned its façade of political neutrality by pursuing, in both the media and through legal channels, the impeachment of President Richard Nixon.
Christmas Pageants Ban of 1976: The ACLU has long fought against any form of public demonstration of religious faith. In this case they brought suit in New Jersey in an effort to prohibit Christmas pageants in the public schools.
The Skokie March of 1978: The ACLU shocked its liberal support by defending the right of American Nazis to march through a predominantly Jewish suburb of Chicago.
Newark School Board Case of 1981: The ACLU took this case in an attempt to prohibit the Gideons from distributing Bibles to students in the public schools on the grounds that such programs constitute a violation of the ‘separation of church and state.’
Arkansas Creationism Case of 1982: Fifty-six years after it had argued against educational exclusionism in the Scopes Trial, the ACLU reversed itself, fighting against the right to teach various views of origins in public school classrooms.
The Akron Case of 1983: The ACLU successfully fought to overturn the right of localities to regulate the medical safety and proper disclosure of abortion-related businesses.
Civil Rights Restoration Act of 1984: The Washington office of the ACLU led the four-year-long legislative battle to overturn the Supreme Court’s Grove City decision, thus requiring institutions receiving federal grants to extend privileged service access to homosexuals, abortionists, and drug abusers.
Jager v. Douglas County of 1986: The ACLU was ale to forbid religious invocations before high school football games. For the first time, the lawyers successfully used ‘endorsement’ language instead of the traditional ‘establishment’ language – the implication being that the government is not only forbidden to establish or institutionalise religion, it is even forbidden to endorse or condone it.
The Bork Confirmation of 1987: Once again abandoning all pretence of political neutrality, the ACLU led the smear campaign designed to deny Judge Robert Bork confirmation to the Supreme Court.
Equal Access Act of 1991: The ACLU was successful in making voluntary student prayer or Bible study meetings before or after school the one exception to the federal Equal Access Act of 1984. So, while students may father in public schools to discuss Marxism, view Planned Parenthood films, play ‘Dungeons and Dragon,’ listen to heavy metal rock music, or hold gay activist club gatherings, they are not allowed to pray or read the Bible together….
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