The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) was founded in New York in 1920 by a group of individuals concerned about government threats to freedom of speech, association, conscience, and the press during World War I. Among the founders were Jane Addams, Clarence Darrow, Norman Thomas, Eugene V. Debs, John Dewey, Felix Frankfurter, Alexander Meiklejohn, Roger N. Baldwin, Helen Keller, and Arthur Garfield Hays. The ACLU succeeded the National Civil Liberties Bureau, founded in 1917 to ensure decent treatment of conscientious objectors, among them Roger Baldwin, who was imprisoned in 1918, and later served as ACLU executive director and activist for more than thirty years.
The non-profit, non-partisan ACLU acts as “the nation's only organization devoted exclusively to the defense of the Bill of Rights for everyone.” Other areas of concentration include due process of law cases, and assuring equal protection of the law without discrimination. Much of the organization's efforts are directed towards test court cases, in which the ACLU usually acts independently, by filing amicus curiae briefs, or by providing counsel for individuals or organizations.
The ACLU is composed of a national chapter and numerous affiliates, in addition to individual, non-affiliated members in those areas with no chapter nearby. National headquarters of the organization are in New York City. Governing bodies include the national board of directors and national executive committee, while state correspondents carry out ACLU functions in states lacking affiliates. A corps of volunteer attorneys is maintained for legal work.
Noteworthy cases and issues championed by the ACLU throughout its history include:
- Scopes case (1925) - the issue of academic freedom
- Sacco and Vanzetti case (1927) - right to a fair trial
- Numerous strike breaking cases (1920's and 1930's)
- Scottsboro case (1931) - right to a fair trial
- Bonus Army Eviction (1932) - right to freedom of assembly
- Free Speech for the Ford Company (1937)
- Japanese mass evacuation (1942) - due process of law
- McCarthy (Joseph R.), McCarthyism, loyalty, security, blacklisting, House Un-American Activities Committee (1950's) - due process of law
- Civil rights and desegregation cases (1950's and 1960's) - equal treatment under law
- Birth control and abortion cases (1959- ) - freedom of conscience
- Illegal police arrests and detention (continually)- due process of law
- Censorship of books, movies, the mails
- Equal rights and women's rights (1950's- )
- Indochina War (1965-1975)
- Status of labor
