The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) is a left-of-center activism organization focused on issues related to civil liberties founded in 1920. During its history, the ACLU has aligned with the ideological left, becoming a “hub of liberal activism.” ¹ The ACLU advocates special government protections specifically for left-of-center demographics and special interest groups such as immigrants, labor unions, LGBT people, the poor, prisoners, and the severely mentally ill. ²

The ACLU’s main tool is courtroom activism, with the organization bringing or supporting a lawsuit in the hope that a court will find a legal justification for enshrining the ACLU’s position. ^{3 4} Since its inception, the ACLU has fought for judicial mandates favoring labor unions; ⁵ expanding rights of accused defendants; ⁶ challenged aggressive policing measures; ⁷ defended the pedophilia advocacy group North American Man-Boy Love Association (NAMBLA) ⁸ and the free expression rights of numerous controversial organizations including the Ku Klux Klan, the Nation of Islam, and the National Socialist Party of America; ⁹ and represented terrorists including Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, reputed mastermind of the attacks of September 11, 2001, ¹⁰ while seeking to end national security surveillance programs. ¹¹

The organization seeks to eliminate the death penalty ¹² and has defended death row inmates. ¹³ The ACLU advocates for increased government spending as repayment for slavery and segregation. ¹⁴ The ACLU also seeks to expand rights for illegal immigrants and seeks to make enforcement of immigration laws and border protections more difficult. ¹⁵

In 2017, the ACLU assumed a leadership role in the opposition to the Trump administration and touts that in 2017 it launched over 110 different legal actions to prevent Republican-backed policies from taking effect. ¹⁶ Since it took a more partisan approach after the first election of President Donald Trump, the ACLU has been criticized by civil libertarians for subjugating its stated civil libertarian principles to the needs of left-of-center activism. ¹⁷

The ACLU Foundation is the charitable nonprofit affiliate of the ACLU. ¹⁸ Anthony Romero is the executive director of the ACLU, a position he has held since 2001. ¹⁹

Historical Overview

In 1920, a small group of left-of-center activists led by labor activist Roger Baldwin, Crystal Eastman, and Albert DeSilver re-organized and expanded the defunct National Civil Liberties Bureau under the name, American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU). ²⁰ The ACLU conducted militant “direct actions” to defend against violations of civil liberties. ²¹

The original national committee of the ACLU included labor union leaders and left-of-center activists including chairman Harry Ward of the Union Theological Seminary, William Z. Foster from the American Federation of Labor (AFL), future Supreme Court Justice Felix Frankfurter, ²² social activist Jane Addams, author Helen Keller, attorney Arthur Garfield Hayes, and socialist politician Norman Thomas. ²³

During the 1960s and 1970s, conservatives accused the ACLU of using judges to push a left-of-center political agenda. Critics pointed to the ACLU’s positions in favor of abortion, against the Vietnam War, and in support of then-President Richard Nixon’s impeachment as evidence of its leftward political shift. ⁴

Historian Samuel Walker wrote that the ACLU’s “greatest impact on American life” was its role in convincing the U.S. Supreme Court to “constitutionalize” countless controversial policies. ³ Similarly, one historian estimates that the ACLU has participated in 80 percent of the U.S. Supreme Court’s most controversial cases since 1925. ⁴

In The Politics of the American Civil Liberties Union, William A. Donohue writes, “quite simply, the ACLU has a politics, and that politics is liberalism” and “the voice of the ACLU has been the voice of liberalism.” Donohue concludes that every action the ACLU has taken from its lobbying efforts to its policy decisions reflect value priorities, that are “the quintessential embodiment of American liberalism.” ²⁴

Organizational Structure

The ACLU’s “work is coordinated by a national office in New York, aided by a legislative office in Washington that lobbies Congress.” ⁹ The organization claims to have more than 1 million members and organizes a nationwide network of affiliate chapters in every state and more than 300 chapters in smaller towns and cities. These affiliate organizations carry out local advocacy campaigns, local litigation-activism, and local lobbying efforts. ⁹

The ACLU’s national office operates as two related entities, the ACLU itself, a 501(c)(4) “social welfare” nonprofit, and the related ACLU Foundation, a charitable organization. Both entities pursue litigation, issue communications and carry out left-of-center public advocacy and awareness programs; however, the ACLU finances most of the organization’s lobbying at the local, state, and federal levels in support of its preferred policies. ²⁵

Historical Campaigns

Defense of Communists

The ACLU denies the allegation that it was a communist front group; ²⁶ however, the ACLU often defended individuals accused of being communists ²⁷ and was heavily criticized as a potential “front” for communist influence during Cold War-era investigations of Soviet influence. ²⁸

In 1931, the U.S. Supreme Court, siding with the ACLU, ruled that a Communist Party member had the constitutional right to salute a communist flag. ²⁹

In 1943 a report of the California Senate Fact-Finding Subcommittee on Un-American Activities stated: ³⁰  

The American Civil Liberties Union may be definitely classed as a Communist front or ‘transmission belt’ organization. At least 90% of its efforts are expended on behalf of Communists who come into conflict with the law. ³⁰  

Organized Labor

Since its inception the ACLU supported organizing labor unions, beginning with efforts to promote unions in the 1920s. ³¹ In 1932, the ACLU played a major role in advancing the Norris-LaGuardia Act, a federal law that forced employers to allow their employees to join labor unions and prevented employers from outlawing strikes and other union organizing activities. ⁵ Similarly, in 1939, the ACLU fought and won a lawsuit at the U.S. Supreme Court that allowed labor unions the ability to organize. ⁹

Defense of Extremist Groups

The ACLU has defended a number of extremist groups and individuals, including the Ku Klux Klan, the Nation of Islam, and the National Socialist Party of America. ⁹ In one of the group’s most famous cases, the ACLU defended the right of the American Nazi Party to march through Skokie, Illinois, a mostly Jewish suburb of Chicago, in 1977. ⁶

Criminal Justice

The ACLU has a long history of supporting an expanded interpretation of rights for accused defendants and lighter sentencing laws for convicts. Throughout the 1960’s the ACLU supported or argued a number a number of U.S. Supreme Court cases that made it harder for the police to gather evidence during criminal investigations, and was criticized for expanding the rights of criminals. ⁷ In 1963 the ACLU supported a case in which the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that the poor had a constitutionally guaranteed right to legal counsel. ⁶

In 1988, then-Vice President George H.W. Bush said, “I have never been a member (of the ACLU) because they’re always coming down on the side of criminals.” ³² Similarly, Edwin Meese, a counselor to President Ronald Reagan and Attorney General in the Reagan administration, labeled the ACLU the “criminals’ lobby.” ³³

The ACLU has argued that “virtual child pornography” that does not involve real children should not be prohibited. ³⁴ In 2000, the ACLU defended the North American Man Boy Love Association (NAMBLA), a group that supports pedophilia, against a civil suit filed by the family of a Massachusetts victim of molestation. ⁸

Church and State

The ACLU defended John Scopes in a case that sought to overturn a Tennessee requirement that human evolution not be taught in public schools. ⁶ Since then, the ACLU has often fought against religion in public institutions. ³⁵

In 1947, the ACLU led the legal challenge that persuaded the U.S. Supreme Court to declare religious teaching in state-governed schools unconstitutional. ³ In the 1980s, the ACLU supported the elimination of tax exemptions for churches, including the Roman Catholic Church. ^{6 36 22} More recently, the ACLU complained when first Trump administration Attorney General Jeff Sessions proposed ways for federal agencies to accommodate religious observance and practice. ¹⁶

The ACLU has supported the right of schoolchildren not to salute the American flag when it violates their religious beliefs. ³⁵

National Security

The ACLU has frequently opposed national security policies. ⁹ In 2002, the ACLU fought to reinstate a set of multi-layer bureaucratic guidelines barring FBI intelligence gathering known colloquially as “the wall.” Before the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, this “wall” had prevented Federal Bureau of Investigation agents from fully investigating the terrorists involved in planning the 9/11 attacks, and was removed by the administration of George W. Bush. ³⁷

The ACLU also filed suit regarding then-President George W. Bush’s surveillance program, which allowed for eavesdropping on international phone calls and e-mails of people deemed a terror risk. ¹¹

In 2010, the ACLU sued to “prevent the U.S. military and CIA from undertaking the ‘targeted killing’ of persons suspected of posing a terrorist threat to the U.S.” ³⁸

The ACLU has consistently argued for the closure of the Guantanamo Bay terrorist detention facility ³⁹ and has litigated and campaigned to make sure terrorists are tried in civilian court. ⁴⁰

The ACLU has defended several accused terrorists, their alleged domestic abettors, and their financiers. The ACLU pushed for a civilian trial and then defended confessed 9/11 mastermind Khalid Sheik Mohammed and five of his alleged co-conspirators. ¹⁰ The ACLU defended Lynne Stewart, who was convicted in 2005 after being videotaped helping the “blind sheikh” Omar Abdel Rahman communicate from prison with his Egyptian terrorist comrades. The ACLU defended an Islamist charity, Kind Hearts for Charitable Humanitarian Development, which was shut down in 2006 by the U.S. Treasury Department for funneling money to the Palestinian foreign terrorist organization Hamas. ⁴⁰

National Rifle Association

In March 2024, the ACLU argued on behalf of the plaintiffs in the U.S. Supreme Court case, National Rifle Association v. Vullo. According to the National Rifle Association (NRA), former New York State regulator Maria Vullo illegally coerced third party organizations to deny financial services to the NRA. In its statement, the ACLU claimed it “disagrees sharply with the NRA on many issues, yet we represented the group in this case because of the First Amendment principles at stake.” ⁴¹

Advocacy Positions

Numerous organizations have declared the ACLU the leader of the left-of-center opposition to Republican-led federal governments, especially during the first Trump administration. The organization has spent millions of dollars in political expenditures against right-of-center policies. ^{42 43 44}

The organization’s shift toward electoral organizing and advocacy and away from purist civil libertarianism has been criticized by supporters of free speech and procedural safeguards for defendants. ¹⁷

Crime and the Death Penalty

The ACLU argues that “in all circumstances, the death penalty is unconstitutional” and that “no one deserves to die,” including murderers. ¹² The ACLU also supports other easing of non-capital sentences. ⁴⁵ In 2015, an ACLU representative called President Barack Obama’s decision to free more than 6,000 federal inmates “nothing short of thrilling.” ⁴⁶ The ACLU has similarly opposed the use of civil forfeiture to punish criminals, ⁴⁷ and has sought to take military-style weapons away from police. ⁴⁸ The ACLU joined with the Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights and the NAACP Legal Defense and Education Fund in labeling fatal police shootings a “national crisis” and calling for federal legislative reforms. ⁴⁹

The ACLU argues that due to inadequate federal programs and spending along with tough on crime police policies, Black and Indigenous people have not overcome the impacts of slavery and land revocation that took place hundreds of years ago. The ACLU thus brings lawsuit, lobbies, and advocates for policies that favor these specific communities based on their racial classification based on perceived “institutional” concerns. ¹⁴

In June 2020, the ACLU wrote an op-ed for Cosmopolitan arguing for “defunding the police.” The article claimed that American policing descends from slave patrols and has historically “directed oppression and violence at Black people” by enforcing Jim Crow laws, anti-drug laws, and protest crackdowns. Claiming that there is little evidence that police presence suppresses crime, the article advocates for massively cutting the budgets of police departments across the United States and redirecting the funding toward community services and economic development. ⁵⁰

Prison Conditions

In 1972, the ACLU founded the National Prison Project (NPP) to improve living conditions in prisons, jails, and immigration detention centers. Its main goal is to reduce the incarcerated population and promote policies that facilitate the release of criminals. ⁵¹

Immigration

The ACLU seeks to expand the rights of illegal immigrants and brings lawsuits meant to make enforcement of immigration laws and border protections more difficult. ⁵² The ACLU opposed the proposed collection of citizenship information by the 2020 Census, ⁵³ has defended “sanctuary city” leaders from criminal prosecution, ⁵⁴ has brought numerous lawsuits arguing against the deportation of illegal immigrants, ⁵⁵ and has supported government-funded benefits for immigrants. ⁵⁶ The ACLU filed 13 different lawsuits seeking to block President Donald Trump’s proposed bans on travel from a number of majority-Muslim states, later amended to hostile countries such as Iran, North Korea, and Venezuela. ¹⁶

LGBT Issues

The ACLU has promoted mandates on religious institutions concerning LGBT individuals. In 2018, the ACLU campaigned to ensure that religious institutions and individuals are forced to provide services to LGBT individuals even if it contradicts their religious beliefs. ⁵⁷ The ACLU also opposed a Trump administration ban on transgender individuals serving in the military. ⁵⁸

In November 2020, in response to the release of Irreversible Damage, a book that claimed that a rise in transgenderism was attributable to a social contagion, then-co-director of the ACLU’s LGBTQ and HIV Project Chase Strangio, who is openly transgender, posted to Twitter that the book is “dangerous” and “stopping the circulation of this book and these ideas is 100% a hill I will die on.” ^{59 60} Strangio would later argue U.S. v. Skrmetti, a Supreme Court challenge to a Tennessee state law restricting gender-reassignment treatments. ⁶¹

The ACLU played a leading role in United States v. Skrmetti, a U.S. Supreme Court case challenging Tennessee’s ban on gender-affirming medical care for minors. Representing several transgender youth, the ACLU argued that the law violated the Equal Protection Clause of the Constitution. The case was also supported by Lambda Legal and the U.S. Department of Justice under the Biden Administration. ACLU attorney Chase Strangio became the first openly transgender person to argue before the Supreme Court in this context. While the organization aimed to establish stronger constitutional protections for transgender individuals, the case drew debate within legal and medical communities regarding the timing of the appeal and the evolving standards of care it relied upon. ⁶²

Abortion

The ACLU touts that “abortion is one of the most common medical procedures performed today,” and argues that the procedure is “incredibly safe.” ⁶³ As such, the ACLU uses its various tools to try and block efforts to restrict the availability and government funding of abortions. ⁶³

Voting

The ACLU advocates for laws to increase voter access. After the 2020 election, the ACLU campaigned against over 400 state-level voter security bills that allegedly infringed on voter access, including voter ID laws, reductions in early voting times, and purging voter rolls. ^{64 65}

The ACLU opposes laws that take away voting rights of felons. ⁶⁴

Political Advocacy

During the 2018 election cycle, the ACLU expressed plans to spend over $25 million attacking Republicans based on their right-of-center policy positions. Specifically, the ACLU planned to attack Republicans for ensuring only citizens may vote, for supporting restrictions on the entry of foreigners, for opposing abortion, and for opposing illegal immigration. The ACLU expressed plans to get involved in about a dozen state and federal races across the country. ¹

In Florida, the ACLU planned to spend $5 million on a ballot initiative that would allow an estimated 1.5 million convicted felons the right to vote. According to ACLU executive director Anthony Romero, the proposal if successful would alter the state’s political balance in favor of left-of-center interests. ¹

According to Romero, during the 2024 election season the organization was preparing to use litigation to block policy passed by a potential second Trump administration should then-former President Donald Trump win the election. Such actions included hiring an auditing firm to check the ACLU’s finances to withstand claims of scrutiny as well as 63 scenarios Romero claims map out areas where Trump could pose a threat to rule of law. Romero claimed, “We’re going to be the David to the government’s Goliath.” ^{66 67}

In June 2025, the ACLU participated in organizing or supporting protests branded under the “#NoKings” banner, a national day of demonstrations positioned as a defense of democratic norms against President Trump. These events were part of a larger mobilization involving over 70 Democratic Party affiliates and allied organizations across at least 19 U.S. states and multiple international locations, according to publicly available event listings on Mobilize.us, a Democratic Party-aligned organizing platform. ^{68 69}

Between January 10-11, 2026, the ICE Out For Good Coalition organized a series of protests to demonstrate against U.S Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) following the killing of Renée Nicole Good by an ICE agent in Minneapolis, MN on January 7. The demonstrations were reportedly planned in multiple cities around the country including New York City, Chicago, Lubbock, TX, and Danville, KY. Listed member organizations of the ICE Out For Good Coalition include Indivisible, the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), Voto Latino, and United We Dream. ⁷⁰

People Power

Also see People Power (Nonprofit)

People Power was created in 2017 by the ACLU to oppose President Donald Trump’s immigration policies, as well as promote a series of other left-of-center ideological issues, including LGBT rights, police surveillance and abortion rights. Its initial head was then-ACLU national political director Faiz Shakir. ⁷¹

Controversy

Speech Policy

In 2017, after the far-right demonstrations in Charlottesville, Virginia that led to the car-ramming murder of a left-of-center counter-protester, the ACLU hosted a celebration for longtime ACLU lawyer David Goldberger, who was best known for defending the free speech rights of Nazis to march in Skokie, Illinois in the 1970s. The New York Times characterized ACLU speakers as having “argued that the free speech rights of the far right were not worthy of defense by the A.C.L.U. and that Black people experienced offensive speech far more viscerally than white allies.” The Times also reported, “In the hallway outside, an A.C.L.U. official argued it was perfectly legitimate for his lawyers to decline to defend hate speech.” ⁵⁹

In 2018, an internal memo laid out a new ACLU policy which would consider the “impact of the proposed speech and the impact of its suppression” before pursuing legal action on First Amendment grounds. The organization also began considering the alleged impacts of free speech on racial and ethnic minority communities before taking cases. ^{72 73}

In June 2018, lawyer Wendy Kaminer wrote an op-ed in the Wall Street Journal criticizing these policies, stating that “the ACLU has already lost its zeal for vigorously defending the speech it hates.” ⁷⁴

In response, Goldberg commented “I got the sense it was more important for ACLU staff to identify with clients and progressive causes than to stand on principle… Liberals are leaving the First Amendment behind.” ⁷⁴

Former executive director of the ACLU Ira Glasser has also said that the organization’s leftward shift “has the capacity to destroy the organization as it has always existed.” ⁷⁵

Left-of-center author and former Harvard Law School professor Alan Dershowitz wrote in an op-ed for The Hill that “The ACLU is no longer a neutral defender of everyone’s civil liberties. It has morphed into a hyper-partisan, hard left political advocacy group.” ⁷⁵ According to Dershowitz, the ACLU has formally engaged in partisan politics and election, and because the majority of the ACLU’s contributors are left-of-center, it is bound to promote left-of-center policy goals. ⁷⁵

In June 2021, New York Times writer Michael Powell argued that the ACLU’s “identity crisis” was due to friction between the organization’s original free-speech advocacy and increased left-of-center political advocacy. According to Powell, the organization’s shift occurred following the 2016 presidential election, which was then followed by the group’s budget being tripled to over $300 million that year. The group also gained $1 million in donations within 24 hours of Donald Trump’s victory in the election. ⁵⁹

The Foundation for Economic Education has previously criticized the ACLU for allegedly shielding, “away from its unbridled support of free speech, leaving a void in the movement to defend First Amendment protections.” ⁷³

COVID-19 Mandates

In August 2021, the ACLU was criticized for its “increasingly odd definition of civil liberties” when it announced a lawsuit against the South Carolina Governor Henry McMaster (R) to end an executive order prohibiting public schools from forcing students to wear masks because of COVID-19. The ACLU argued that the executive order created a disability rights issue since it would force students with disabilities to stay home from school because of the risk of COVID-19 infection, to which many disabled people were vulnerable. ⁷⁶

Critics of the ACLU’s decision, like Philip Klein of the right-leaning National Review, pointed out that COVID-19 infection posed very minimal risks to children and argued that Governor McMaster’s executive order protected the civil liberties of students and parents by guaranteeing their right to make their own health choices. According to Klein, the lawsuit was “another in the long-line of examples demonstrating that the ACLU is just a left-wing group rather than a civil rights organization.” ⁷⁶

In January 2008, the ACLU published a report on recommended pandemic policy titled “Pandemic Preparedness: The Need for a Public Health – Not a Law Enforcement/National Security – Approach.” ⁷⁷

The report argued that “there is a significant and appropriate role for the government in pandemic preparedness and mitigation. Unfortunately, many policymakers today believe that protecting public health requires suppressing individual rights … The notion that we must ‘trade liberty for security’ is both false and dangerous. It is false because coercive actions are seldom conducive to public health protection. It is dangerous because it provides a never-ending justification for the suppression of civil liberties while failing to safeguard public health.” ⁷⁷ The report strongly opposed post-9/11 efforts initiated under the George W. Bush administration to expand executive powers in addressing possible pandemics and cited several examples of historical and recent government mishandling of pandemic prevention policies that led to the trampling of individual liberties. ⁷⁷

The report claimed that there was a significant public interest in promoting vaccination, but that the “right to refuse to be vaccinated should be honored. No one should be forced to be vaccinated against their will both because of the constitutional right to refuse treatment, and pragmatically because forced vaccination will deter at least some people from seeking medical help when they need it.” ⁷⁷

Censoring Ruth Bader Ginsburg

On September 18, 2021, the one-year anniversary of the late Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg’s death, the ACLU published a tweet that modified a quote by the late Justice Ginsburg to remove words like “woman,” “she,” and “her.” ⁷⁸ Charles Cooke of the right-leaning National Review and other political commentators criticized the ACLU for censoring the quote to appease transgender activists who might find gender-specific language offensive. Cooke denounced the decision, writing, “what the ACLU has done here represents a flat-out repudiation of the core value for which the ACLU is supposed to stand: anti-censorship.” ⁷⁹

Johnny Depp

In 2018, the ACLU helped actress Amber Heard draft an op-ed about domestic abuse that was later published by the Washington Post that implied that Heard was a victim of domestic abuse by her ex-husband, actor Johnny Depp. The op-ed later became an important element of the 2022 defamation case brought against Heard by Depp. While the op-ed never mentioned Depp by name, Depp and his lawyers claimed the false and “heinous” accusations made in the op-ed resulted in Depp losing money, movie roles, and his reputation. ^{80 81}

After her divorce with Depp in 2017, Heard promised the ACLU half of her $7 million divorce settlement while promising the other half to the Children’s Hospital of Los Angeles. ⁸² The ACLU later named Heard an ambassador of the ACLU and offered to help with the article. ⁸³ An executive from the ACLU testified in the defamation trial claiming that Heard had not fulfilled that promise to the organization as they had only received $1.3 million from her at the time of the trial. ⁸⁴ It was found that “of [that] $1.3 million slice of the donation…, $100,000 came directly from her ex-husband Depp.” ⁸³

After the defamation trial concluded in 2022, a jury found that Amber Heard had defamed Depp three times in the Washington Post op-ed which the ACLU had helped draft. The jury awarded Depp $15 million in compensation. ⁸⁵ The ACLU received criticism after its support of Heard, with one left-of-center law professor writing “The ACLU now seems largely unable or unwilling to uphold its core values.” ⁸⁶ In a statement, the ACLU said “We do not write op-eds or offer ambassadorships in exchange for donations. Period.” ⁸⁷

In 2022, The Atlantic published an article entitled “The ACLU Has Lost Its Way” primarily focused on the ACLU’s role in the Heard-Depp case. The article claimed, “it might be possible to overlook the bizarre involvement of the ACLU. But the civil-rights organization’s cringeworthy role deserves closer scrutiny because of its centrality to the case, and because it exemplifies the degree to which the ACLU has lost its way in recent years.” ⁸⁸

Stacey Abrams Campaign

The ACLU has been criticized for spending $800,000 on a television advertisement during the 2018 Georgia gubernatorial election. The ad endorsed the prison and drug policies of Stacey Abrams (D), but ACLU executive director Anthony Romero later released a statement regretting the ad, claiming, “I probably would do a different ad today to be completely candid.” ^{89 59}

U.S. Supreme Court Justice Kavanaugh Confirmation

In 2018, the ACLU opposed the nomination of Judge Brett Kavanaugh to the Supreme Court. It was the fourth time in the organization’s history that it had publicly opposed a U.S. Supreme Court nominee. ^{59 90}

In a follow-up statement, the ACLU claimed its pronouncement was not partisan and that it did not find it necessary to wait until after the Federal Bureau of Investigation completed its investigation of Kavanaugh because the board members were sufficiently persuaded by the testimony of Christine Blasey Ford, who had accused Kavanaugh of sexual misconduct. ⁹⁰

Soon after the statement, the ACLU spent $1 million to broadcast a television commercial opposing Kavanaugh and suggesting that he was guilty of sexual assault. The ad compared Kavanaugh to Bill Cosby, who has faced trial for sexual offenses. ⁵⁹

303 Creative v. Elenis

On December 4, 2022, Christopher Mills, a principal for law firm Spero Law LLC, wrote an op-ed published by the Wall Street Journal criticizing the ACLU’s viewpoint on the U.S. Supreme Court case 303 Creative v. Elenis. ⁹¹ Colorado-based website designer Lori Smith had refused to design custom websites for same-sex weddings due to her religious beliefs, despite the Colorado Antidiscrimination Act (CADA) claiming that a business cannot “refuse services to customers based on characteristics like sexual orientation and does not allow businesses to announce their intention to refuse to perform such services.” ⁹² Smith in turn challenged the state law in U.S. District Court for the District of Colorado claiming CADA forcing her to make same-sex marriage websites violates her First Amendment Rights. ⁹²

Mills criticized the ACLU’s support for the state of Colorado and the CADA law by claiming the ACLU had previously supported First Amendment protection for “Big Tech Companies” during past court rulings in which states attempted to regulate said companies’ attempts to censor user-generated content. He wrote, “the ACLU apparently believes that the First Amendment shields Big Tech while leaving Ms. Smith at the mercy of local officials who can compel her to speak against her faith or drive her out of business. ⁹¹

One example used by Mills was the ACLU agreeing with a lawyer representing social media companies in a Texas case that was asked if Twitter “had a First Amendment right to “ban all pro-LGBT speech.”” ⁹¹ The ACLU’s brief argued in favor, claiming that a state should not be able to push “conformity with a single government-imposed view” despite “the vices or virtues of any social media firm’s particular choices.” ⁹¹ Another example he cited was the ACLU’s brief in a similar Florida case in which it argued that the First Amendment “protects ‘business corporations’ and ‘ordinary people engaged in unsophisticated expression’ alike.” ⁹¹

Lawyers Accused of Misconduct

A 2024 report by three judges from the federal court districts of Alabama accused lawyers from the ACLU and other left-of-center organizations of “misconduct” following their involvement in three separate lawsuits to challenge Alabama’s 2022 Vulnerable Child Compassion and Protection Act meant to eliminate hormonal and surgical procedures for gender reassignment on minors. The report accused lawyers of “judge-shopping,” with one of the judges claiming the lawyers were involved in “a particularly pernicious form of forum shopping…a practice that has the propensity to create the appearance of impropriety in the judicial system.” ⁹³ The group of lawyers were from similar left-of-center organizations including the Southern Poverty Law Center, GLBTQ Legal Advocates and Defenders, Lambda Legal, and the National Center for Lesbian Rights. ⁹³

NLRB Case

In March 2024, the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) made a preliminary ruling against the ACLU in a dispute with Kate Oh, whom the ACLU had fired for allegedly criticizing senior staff. The ACLU argued that it had fired Oh for, among other offenses, “demonstration of a pattern of hostility toward people of color, particularly black men.” ⁹⁴ The NLRB affirmed an administrative law judge’s decision to permit Oh to present her dispute to the NLRB process, rather than arbitration. ⁹⁴

By August, left-of-center journalist Matt Bruenig reported for Jacobin that an NLRB administrative law judge had ruled that the ACLU had violated the National Labor Relations Act by terminating Oh over protected complaints about management while also refusing to transfer her. In addition, the opinion found that an outside consulting group hired to investigate the matter concluded that Ronnie Newman, one of the supervisors whom Oh had criticized, had mistreated employees and that Oh had expressed legitimate grievances that were not motivated by racism. ⁹⁵

Immigration Assistance Under Biden Administration

In June 2025, the ACLU was one of 215 non-governmental organizations (NGO) the U.S House of Homeland Security Committee noted as having received federal funding during the Biden Administration to settle undocumented migrants in the United Stated while helping “fuel the worst border crisis in our nation’s history.” ⁹⁶ House Homeland Security Committee Chairman Mark Green (R-TN) and Subcommittee Chairman Josh Brecheen (R-OK) sent letters to the over 200 organizations demanding the full amount in “federal grants, contracts or payments” they received  “between Jan. 19, 2021, and Jan. 20, 2025” as well as additional information on potential legal action they might have taken against the Federal Government and all services they provided to undocumented migrants during that period of time. The letters further read “[t]he Committee remains deeply concerned that NGOs that receive U.S. taxpayer dollars benefitted from the border crisis created by the Biden Administration, and stand ready to do so under future Democrat administrations.” ^{96 97}

Financial Overview

Funders

The ACLU is funded by small-dollar membership contributions. The ACLU substantially expanded its claimed membership and financial coffers in 2017. ⁹⁸ The group claimed that its membership quadrupled from 400,000 members in 2016 to 1.6 million members in 2017. It also claims that it raised more than $83 million from member donations during that time. ⁹⁹

The ACLU has taken money from a number of left-of-center organizations including George Soros’ Open Society Institute, the Carnegie Corporation of New York, the David and Lucile Packard Foundation, the Ford Foundation, the Geraldine R. Dodge Foundation, the Joyce Foundation, the Lear Family Foundation, the Public Welfare Foundation, the Rockefeller Foundation, the Susan Thompson Buffett Foundation, the Sandler Family Supporting Foundation, and the Tides Foundation. ¹⁰⁰

In 2024, the ACLU received $1.5 million from Pierre Omidyar, the billionaire founder of eBay and left-of-center donor, who donated $16.4 million that year to 501(c)(4) organizations. ¹⁰¹

Program Spending

In 2017, the ACLU spent $107 million on programming including $32.2 million on left-of-center litigation, $60 million supporting its local affiliates’ activities, $11.9 million on public awareness campaigns, and $1.4 million on lobbying. ¹⁰²

The ACLU Foundation complemented the ACLU’s spending with $109 million in similar program spending. ¹⁰³

Total Revenues

In 2023, the ACLU earned $142,704,104 in revenue, nearly all of which was generated through grants. ¹⁰⁴

In 2015 and 2016, the organization’s revenue was reported as $50,628,968 and $42,801,693 respectively. In 2017, the ACLU’s revenue increased to $155,827,510. Since then, the organization’s annual revenue has not fallen below $142,704,104. ¹⁰⁵

People

Anthony D. Romero is the ACLU’s executive director. Romero took over at the ACLU on September 4, 2001 and quickly launched the Keep America Safe and Free campaign, which sought to restrict national security counterterrorism programs following the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks. ^{106 59} In 2024, Romero earned over $1.3 million in compensation from the ACLU. ¹⁰⁷

1. Isaac-Dover, Edward. “ACLU to storm 2018 midterms.” Politico. January 6, 2018. Accessed May 1, 2018. https://www.politico.com/story/2018/01/06/aclu-2018-midterms-327115
2. “About the ACLU.” ACLU Website. Archived April 12, 1997. Accessed May 1, 2018. https://web.archive.org/web/19970412155011/http://www.aclu.org:80/about/about.html
3. Walker, Samuel. “In Defense of American Liberties: A History of the ACLU.” PP. 221. Southern Illinois University Press. Carbondale, IL. 1990. Accessed May 1, 2018. https://books.google.com/books?id=hdkrBVJ37I4C&printsec=frontcover&dq=In+Defense+of+American+Liberties:+A+History+of+the+ACLU&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwj8urH56OTaAhVp4oMKHc5aDOkQ6AEIKTAA#v=onepage&q=1917&f=false
4. Hall, Kermit; Ely Jr., James; and Grossman, Joel. “The Oxford Companion to the Supreme Court of the United States, Second Edition.” PP. 35 Oxford University Press. New York, N.Y. 2005. Accessed May 1, 2018. https://books.google.com/books?id=cY3er3ilgjcC&pg=PA34&lpg=PA34&dq=ACLU+and+%22victim+groups%22&source=bl&ots=PryEixV-rX&sig=swqmhc-Yz384T4FnCt85YQrCSzU&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwiZpMbUy-XaAhXE2lMKHaIpCtwQ6AEIQzAD#v=onepage&q=ACLU%20and%20%22victim%20groups%22&f=false
5. Walker, Samuel. “In Defense of American Liberties: A History of the ACLU.” PP 87. Southern Illinois University Press. Carbondale, IL. 1990. Accessed May 1, 2018. https://books.google.com/books?id=hdkrBVJ37I4C&printsec=frontcover&dq=In+Defense+of+American+Liberties:+A+History+of+the+ACLU&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwj8urH56OTaAhVp4oMKHc5aDOkQ6AEIKTAA#v=onepage&q=1917&f=false
6. McBride, Nicholas. “Controversy nothing new to feisty ACLU.” The Christian Science Monitor. October 3, 1988. Accessed May 1, 2018. https://www.csmonitor.com/1988/1003/aaclu.html
7. Walker, Samuel. “In Defense of American Liberties: A History of the ACLU.” PP. 249-253. Southern Illinois University Press. Carbondale, IL. 1990. Accessed May 1, 2018. https://books.google.com/books?id=hdkrBVJ37I4C&printsec=frontcover&dq=In+Defense+of+American+Liberties:+A+History+of+the+ACLU&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwj8urH56OTaAhVp4oMKHc5aDOkQ6AEIKTAA#v=onepage&q=1917&f=false
8. Robinson, Bryan. “ACLU Represents Man-Boy Love Group.” ABC News. August 31, 2000. Accessed May 1, 2018. http://abcnews.go.com/US/story?id=95942&page=1
9. “About The ACLU.” ACLU Website. Undated. Accessed May 1, 2018. https://www.aclu.org/about-aclu
10. Rosenberg, Carol. “ACLU taps top legal talent to defend accused 9-11 plotters.” McClatchy DC Bureau. April 4, 2008. Accessed May 1, 2018. http://www.mcclatchydc.com/news/politics-government/article24480271.html
11.  “ACLU Files Suit to Block NSA Spying.” Newsmax. January 17, 2006. Accessed May 1, 2018. https://web.archive.org/web/20100218080142/http://archive.newsmax.com/archives/ic/2006/1/17/93614.shtml?s=lh
12. “The Death Penalty: Questions And Answers.” ACLU Website. Undated. Accessed May 1, 2018. https://www.aclu.org/other/death-penalty-questions-and-answers
13. ACLU Search Results: Capital Punishment Cases. ACLU website. Undated. Accessed May 1, 2018. https://www.aclu.org/search/%20?f%5B0%5D=field_issues%3A82&f%5B1%5D=type%3Acase
14. “Racial Justice.” ACLU Website. Undated. Accessed May 1, 2018. https://www.aclu.org/issues/racial-justice
15. “Immigrants Rights.” ACLU Website. Undated. Accessed May 1, 2018. https://www.aclu.org/issues/immigrants-rights
16. Weiss, Brennan. “The ACLU has taken over 100 legal actions against the Trump administration so far — here’s a guide to the most notable ones.” Business Insider. November 26, 2017. Accessed May 1, 2018. http://www.businessinsider.com/aclu-lawsuits-vs-trump-administration-2017-10
17. Greenfield, Scott. “The New and Improved ACLU.” Simple Justice. May 02, 2018. Accessed May 08, 2018. https://blog.simplejustice.us/2018/05/02/the-new-and-improved-aclu/
18. “American Civil Liberties Union Foundation Inc.” ProPublica. Accessed May 26, 2025. https://projects.propublica.org/nonprofits/organizations/136213516.
19. “Anthony D. Romero.” American Civil Liberties Union, January 29, 2025. https://www.aclu.org/bio/anthony-d-romero.
20. Walker, Samuel. “In Defense of American Liberties: A History of the ACLU.” Southern Illinois University Press. Carbondale, IL. 1990. Accessed May 1, 2018. https://books.google.com/books?id=hdkrBVJ37I4C&printsec=frontcover&dq=In+Defense+of+American+Liberties:+A+History+of+the+ACLU&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwj8urH56OTaAhVp4oMKHc5aDOkQ6AEIKTAA#v=onepage&q=1917&f=false
21. Walker, Samuel. “In Defense of American Liberties: A History of the ACLU.” PP 46-47. Southern Illinois University Press. Carbondale, IL. 1990. Accessed May 1, 2018. https://books.google.com/books?id=hdkrBVJ37I4C&printsec=frontcover&dq=In+Defense+of+American+Liberties:+A+History+of+the+ACLU&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwj8urH56OTaAhVp4oMKHc5aDOkQ6AEIKTAA#v=onepage&q=1917&f=false
22. Cottrell, Robert. “Roger Nash Baldwin and the American Civil Liberties Union.” PP. 122. Columbia University Press. New York. 1983. Accessed May 1, 2018. https://books.google.com/books?id=f3uDCgAAQBAJ&pg=PR4&dq=Roger+Nash+Baldwin+and+the+American+Civil+Liberties+Union,+2000&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwjyxtTHluXaAhWm5oMKHZG2AXAQ6AEIKTAA#v=onepage&q=%22felix%20frankfurter%22&f=false
23. “ACLU Facts and Figures.” ACLU Website. Undated. Accessed May 1, 2018. https://www.aclu.org/files/FilesPDFs/facts.pdf
24. Donohue, William. “The Politics of the American Civil Liberties Union.” PP 4-5. Transaction Publishers. New Brunswick. 2009. Accessed May 1, 2018. https://books.google.com/books?id=kMnGnFOG6rcC&pg=PA3&lpg=PA3&dq=%22The+House+Un+American+Activities+Committee%22+AND+%22ACLU%22&source=bl&ots=ucA2kamU1k&sig=mS4rXGozmrOQpLNmpHNpzsjsyX4&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwiU0IihjuXaAhVG5oMKHZtlCHg4ChDoAQg9MAY#v=onepage&q=%22The%20House%20Un%20American%20Activities%20Committee%22%20AND%20%22ACLU%22&f=false
25. “Giving To The American Civil Liberties Union And The American Civil Liberties Union Foundation: What Is The Difference?” ACLU Website. Undated. Accessed May 1, 2018. https://action.aclu.org/content/giving-american-civil-liberties-union-and-american-civil-liberties-union-foundation-what?redirect=acluf.html
26. “Frequently Asked Questions.” ACLU Website. Undated. Accessed May 1, 2018. https://www.aclu.org/faqs
27. Walker, Samuel. “In Defense of American Liberties: A History of the ACLU.” PP 187. Southern Illinois University Press. Carbondale, IL. 1990. Accessed May 1, 2018. https://books.google.com/books?id=hdkrBVJ37I4C&printsec=frontcover&dq=In+Defense+of+American+Liberties:+A+History+of+the+ACLU&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwj8urH56OTaAhVp4oMKHc5aDOkQ6AEIKTAA#v=onepage&q=1917&f=false
28. Walker, Samuel. “In Defense of American Liberties: A History of the ACLU.” PP 193, 195-197. Southern Illinois University Press. Carbondale, IL. 1990. Accessed May 1, 2018. https://books.google.com/books?id=hdkrBVJ37I4C&printsec=frontcover&dq=In+Defense+of+American+Liberties:+A+History+of+the+ACLU&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwj8urH56OTaAhVp4oMKHc5aDOkQ6AEIKTAA#v=onepage&q=1917&f=false
29. Walker, Samuel. “In Defense of American Liberties: A History of the ACLU.” PP 221. Accessed May 1, 2018. https://books.google.com/books?id=hdkrBVJ37I4C&printsec=frontcover&dq=In+Defense+of+American+Liberties:+SouthernIllinoisUniversityPress.Carbondale,IL.1990.of+the+ACLU&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwj8urH56OTaAhVp4oMKHc5aDOkQ6AEIKTAA#v=onepage&q=1917&f=false
30. Journal of the Senate. Legislature of the State of California. PP 161. 1961 Regular Session. January 2, 1961- June 16,1961. Accessed May 1, 2018. https://books.google.com/books?id=rG6Z5q0UJegC&pg=RA13-PA161&lpg=RA13-PA161&dq=The+American+Civil+Liberties+Union+may+be+definitely+classed+as+a+Communist+front+or+transmission+belt+organization.+At+least+90%25+of+its+efforts+are+expended+on+behalf+of+Communists+who+come+into+conflict+with+the+law&source=bl&ots=ykC25X43PS&sig=ITf2Sr78pvSf63cSAj6u0HI0538&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwjWpquI1uzaAhVEmlkKHaKmDHQQ6AEIOjAB#v=onepage&q=The%20American%20Civil%20Liberties%20Union%20may%20be%20definitely%20classed%20as%20a%20Communist%20front%20or%20transmission%20belt%20organization.%20At%20least%2090%25%20of%20its%20efforts%20are%20expended%20on%20behalf%20of%20Communists%20who%20come%20into%20conflict%20with%20the%20law&f=false
31. “Collective Bargaining And Civil Liberties.” ACLU Website. Undated. Accessed May 1, 2018. https://www.aclu.org/other/collective-bargaining-and-civil-liberties
32. Miller, Tim. “Bush targets crime policies in FOP speech.” Dayton Daily News. June 27, 1988. Accessed May 1, 2018. https://www.newspapers.com/newspage/407037493/
33. Donohue, William. “The Politics of the American Civil Liberties Union.” PP 4. Transaction Publishers. New Brunswick. 2009. Accessed May 1, 2018. https://books.google.com/books?id=kMnGnFOG6rcC&pg=PA3&lpg=PA3&dq=%22The+House+Un+American+Activities+Committee%22+AND+%22ACLU%22&source=bl&ots=ucA2kamU1k&sig=mS4rXGozmrOQpLNmpHNpzsjsyX4&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwiU0IihjuXaAhVG5oMKHZtlCHg4ChDoAQg9MAY#v=onepage&q=%22The%20House%20Un%20American%20Activities%20Committee%22%20AND%20%22ACLU%22&f=false
34. Murphy, Laura and Johnson, Marvin.  “Letter To Reps. Smith And Scott On H.R. 4623, The ‘Child Obscenity And Pornography Prevention Act Of 2002.’”ACLU Website. Undated. Accessed May 1, 2018. https://www.aclu.org/letter/letter-reps-smith-and-scott-hr-4623-child-obscenity-and-pornography-prevention-act-2002?redirect=cpredirect/14793
35. “ACLU Briefing Paper.” Summer 1999. Accessed May 1, 2018. https://www.aclu.org/sites/default/files/FilesPDFs/church_state99.pdf?redirect=library/pbp3.html
36. Wulfhorst, Ellen. “ACLU responds to Bush.” United Press International. September 26, 1988. Accessed May 1, 2018. https://www.upi.com/Archives/1988/09/26/ALCU-responds-to-Bush/6380591249600/
37. Pearce, Jean. “The ACLU’s War on Homeland Security.” Front Page Magazine. June 11, 2003. Accessed May 1, 2018. http://archive.frontpagemag.com/readArticle.aspx?ARTID=17759
38. White, Adam. “The ACLU Sues to Prohibit “Targeted Killing” of Foreign and U.S.-Born Terrorists. Weekly Standard. August 31, 2010. Accessed May 1, 2018. https://www.weeklystandard.com/adam-j-white/the-aclu-sues-to-prohibit-targeted-killing-of-foreign-and-us-born-terrorists
39. “Close Guantánamo.” ACLU Website. Undated. Accessed May 1, 2018. https://www.aclu.org/feature/close-guantanamo
40. Walden, Andrew. “The ACLU’s Terror Lobby.” Front page Magazine. November 24, 2009. Accessed May 1, 2018. https://web.archive.org/web/20091126214726/https://www.frontpagemag.com/2009/11/24/the-aclu%E2%80%99s-terror-lobby-%E2%80%93-by-andrew-walden
41. “ACLU Defends NRA’s First Amendment Rights, Urges Supreme Court to Protect All Advocacy Groups’ Free Speech Rights.” ACLU. March 18, 2024. Accessed May 27, 2025. https://www.aclu.org/press-releases/aclu-defends-nras-first-amendment-rights-urges-supreme-court-to-protect.
42. Demick, Barbara and Pearce, Matt. “Once again, the ACLU takes its place on the front lines of a liberal resistance.” L.A. Times. February 14, 2017. Accessed May 1, 2018. http://www.latimes.com/nation/la-na-aclu-profile-20170131-story.html
43. Pilkington, Ed. “The frontline of resistance: ACLU ready for further fights with Trump.” The Guardian. January 3, 2018. Accessed May 1, 2018. https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2018/jan/03/aclu-civil-rights-donald-trump
44. Weigel, David. “ACLU is leading a million-dollar resistance effort against Trump’s policies.” Washington Post. March 12, 2017. Accessed May 1, 2018. https://www.washingtonpost.com/powerpost/aclu-is-spending-millions-on-grass-roots-resistance-campaign/2017/03/12/f0fe8158-05ed-11e7-ad5b-d22680e18d10_story.html?utm_term=.77a038d0c02d
45. “Reforming Police Practices.” ACLU Website. Undated. Accessed May 1, 2018. https://www.aclu.org/issues/criminal-law-reform/reforming-police-practices
46. Schmidt, Michael. “U.S. to Release 6,000 Inmates From Prisons.” N.Y. Times. October 6, 2015. Accessed May 1, 2018. https://www.nytimes.com/2015/10/07/us/us-to-release-6000-inmates-under-new-sentencing-guidelines.html?_r=1
47. “Call To Pass Civil Forfeiture Reform Quickly And Independently.” Undated. Accessed May 1, 2018. https://www.aclu.org/letter/call-pass-civil-forfeiture-reform-quickly-and-independently
48. “Coalition Letter To House And Senate On Military Equipment Program For Police.” ACLU Website. Undated. Accessed May 1, 2018. https://www.aclu.org/letter/coalition-letter-house-and-senate-military-equipment-program-police
49. “Civil Rights Groups Call For Congressional Action On Fatal Police Shootings.” ACLU Website. Undated. Accessed May 1, 2018. https://www.aclu.org/letter/civil-rights-groups-call-congressional-action-fatal-police-shootings
50. Fernandez, Paige. “Defunding the Police Will Actually Make Us Safer.” ACLU. June 11, 2020. Accessed May 27, 2025. https://www.aclu.org/news/criminal-law-reform/defunding-the-police-will-actually-make-us-safer.
51. “ACLU Prison Project Director David Fathi Discusses Death-Row Conditions and Covid-19 in U.S. Prisons.” Death Penalty Information Center, deathpenaltyinfo.org/resources/podcasts/discussions-with-dpic/aclu-prison-project-director-david-fathi-discusses-death-row-conditions-and-covid-19-in-u-s-prisons.  Accessed 27 Oct. 2024.
52. “Immigrant Rights.” ACLU Website. Undated. Accessed May 1, 2018. https://www.aclu.org/issues/immigrants-rights
53. “ACLU Comment On Trump Administration Plan To Include Citizenship Question In 2020 Census.” ACLU Website. March 27, 2018. Accessed May 1, 2018. https://www.aclu.org/news/aclu-comment-trump-administration-plan-include-citizenship-question-2020-census
54. Wofsy, Cody. “DHS’ Threat to Prosecute Officials of Sanctuary Cities Is Unconstitutional.” ACLU website. January 17, 2018. Accessed May 1, 2018. https://www.aclu.org/blog/immigrants-rights/state-and-local-immigration-laws/dhs-threat-prosecute-officials-sanctuary
55. “Deportation And Due Process.” ACLU Website. Undated. Accessed May 1, 2018. https://www.aclu.org/issues/immigrants-rights/deportation-and-due-process
56. “The Rights Of Immigrants -ACLU Position Paper.” ACLU Website. Accessed May 1, 2018. https://www.aclu.org/other/rights-immigrants-aclu-position-paper
57. “Using Religion To Discriminate.” ACLU Website. Undated. Accessed May 1, 2018. https://www.aclu.org/issues/religious-liberty/using-religion-discriminate
58.  “Half Of Senate Opposes Transgender Military Ban.” ACLU Website. April 27, 2018. Accessed May 1, 2018. https://www.aclu.org/news/half-senate-opposes-transgender-military-ban
59. Powell, Michael. “Once a Bastion of Free Speech, the A.C.L.U. Faces an Identity Crisis.” The New York Times. June 6, 2021. Updated September 28, 2021. Accessed May 27, 2025. https://www.nytimes.com/2021/06/06/us/aclu-free-speech.html.
60. “Chase Strangio.” Twitter. Accessed May 27, 2025. https://pbs.twimg.com/media/GNSLfySXgAEvQ9V?format=jpg&name=large.
61. Howe, Amy. “Supreme Court Appears Ready to Uphold Tennessee Ban on Youth Transgender Care.” SCOTUSblog, May 28, 2025. https://www.scotusblog.com/2024/12/supreme-court-appears-ready-to-uphold-tennessee-ban-on-youth-transgender-care/.
62. Confessore , Nicholas. “U.S. v. Skrmetti: How the Transgender Rights Movement Bet on the Supreme Court and Lost – The New York Times.” New York Times , June 19, 2025. https://www.nytimes.com/2025/06/19/magazine/scotus-transgender-care-tennessee-skrmetti.html.
63. “Reproductive Freedom.” ACLU Website. Undated. Accessed May 1, 2018. https://www.aclu.org/issues/reproductive-freedom
64. “Fight for Voting Rights.” American Civil Liberties Union. Accessed May 27, 2025. https://www.aclu.org/issues/voting-rights/promoting-access-ballot.
65. “Block the Vote: How Politicians are Trying to Block Voters from the Ballot Box.” ACLU. August 17, 2021. Accessed May 27, 2025. https://www.aclu.org/news/civil-liberties/block-the-vote-voter-suppression-in-2020.
66. Epstein, Reid J., Maggie Haberman, Charlie Savage, and Jonathan Swan. “The Resistance to a New Trump Administration Has Already Started.” New York Times, June 16, 2024. https://www.nytimes.com/2024/06/16/us/politics/trump-2025-democratic-resistance.html
67. Mclaughin, Dan. “The Resistance Sequel Will Be Even Worse.” The National Review, June 19, 2024. https://www.nationalreview.com/corner/the-resistance-sequel-will-be-even-worse/
68. “Partners.” No Kings. Accessed June 25, 2025. https://www.nokings.org/partners.
69. Nomani, Asra. “Asra Nomani: The Familiar Hidden Hand behind Today’s #nokings Protests.” Fox News, June 14, 2025.https://www.foxnews.com/opinion/asra-nomani-familiar-hidden-hand-behind-todays-nokings-protests.
70. Herchenroeder, Katie. “Hundreds of Anti-ICE Protests Are Happening Across the Nation This Weekend.” Mother Jones, January 10, 2026. https://www.motherjones.com/politics/2026/01/anti-ice-protests-this-weekend/
71. Gabbatt, Adam. “ACLU Launching People Power to Resist Trump Immigration Policies in ‘freedom Cities’.” The Guardian. March 10, 2017. Accessed June 14, 2018. https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2017/mar/09/aclu-people-power-freedom-cities-trump-immigration-policies.
72. “ACLU Case Selection Guidelines: Conflicts Between Competing Values or Priorities.” Wall Street Journal. Accessed May 27, 2025. https://www.wsj.com/public/resources/documents/20180621ACLU.pdf.
73. Hunter, Brittany. “The ACLU Is No Longer Free Speech’s Champion, but Other Groups Are Filling the Gap.” Foundation for Economic Education. August 3, 2021. Accessed May 27, 2025. https://fee.org/articles/the-aclu-is-no-longer-free-speechs-champion-but-other-groups-are-filling-the-gap/.
74. Kaminer, Wendy. “The ACLU Retreats From Free Expression.” Wall Street Journal. June 20, 2018. Accessed May 27, 2025. https://www.wsj.com/articles/the-aclu-retreats-from-free-expression-1529533065?shareToken=stb69e3fd1ea8b4b2e9de96737955984ce.
75. Dershowitz, Alan M. “The Final Nail in the ACLU’s Coffin.” TheHill. June 11, 2018. Accessed June 20, 2018. http://thehill.com/opinion/civil-rights/391682-the-final-nail-in-the-aclus-coffin.
76. Klein, Philip. “ACLU Suing to Force Parents to Mask Their Children.” National Review. National Review, August 24, 2021. https://www.nationalreview.com/corner/aclu-suing-to-force-parents-to-mask-their-children/?utm_source=recirc-desktop&utm_medium=homepage&utm_campaign=right-rail&utm_content=corner&utm_term=fourth.
77. Annas , George J, Wendy K Mariner, and Wendy E Parmet. “PANDEMIC PREPAREDNESS THE NEED FOR A PUBLIC HEALTH – NOT A LAW ENFORCEMENT/NATIONAL SECURITY– APPROACH.” ACLU , January 2008. https://www.aclu.org/sites/default/files/pdfs/privacy/pemic_report.pdf.
78. Brown, Lee. “ACLU Ripped for Altering RBG Quote to Erase Her Use of ‘Woman,’ ‘She’ and ‘Her’.” New York Post. New York Post, September 23, 2021. https://nypost.com/2021/09/23/aclu-botches-twitter-tribute-to-rbg/.
79. Cooke, Charles C. W. “The ACLU’s RBG Tweet Shows Once Again That It Has Abandoned Free Speech.” National Review. National Review, September 23, 2021. https://www.nationalreview.com/corner/the-aclus-rbg-tweet-shows-once-again-that-it-has-abandoned-free-speech/.
80. Nolan, Emma. “ACLU Still Backing Amber Heard despite Confusion over $3.5m Donation.” Newsweek. Newsweek, May 19, 2022. https://www.newsweek.com/aclu-backing-amber-heard-confusion-donation-divorce-settlement-johnny-depp-trial-1708081
81. Richwine, Lisa. “Johnny Depp Calls Amber Heard Accusations ‘Heinous,’ Says He Never Struck Ex-Wife.” Reuters. Thomson Reuters, April 20, 2022. https://www.reuters.com/world/us/johnny-depp-testify-defamation-case-against-ex-wife-amber-heard-2022-04-19/.
82.  Shamsian, Jacob, and Azmi Haroun. “Amber Heard Says She Never Completed Her Pledged $7 Million Charity Donations Because Johnny Depp Filed a $50 Million Lawsuit against Her.” Insider. Insider, May 17, 2022. https://www.insider.com/amber-heard-stopped-aclu-donations-johnny-depp-lawsuit-2022-5
83. Helmore, Edward. “ACLU Helped Draft Article at Heart of Depp V Heard Case for $3.5m Donation, Court Hears.” The Guardian. Guardian News and Media, April 28, 2022. https://www.theguardian.com/film/2022/apr/28/johnny-depp-amber-heard-libel-case-aclu
84. Chappell, Bill. “The ACLU Says Amber Heard Has Paid Less than Half of Her $3.5 Million Donation Pledge.” NPR. NPR, April 29, 2022. https://www.npr.org/2022/04/29/1095571524/amber-heard-aclu-donation-johnny-depp-defamation-trial.
85. Moghe, Sonia. “Legal victory for Johnny Depp after he and Amber Heard found liable for defamation.” CNN, 2022. https://www.cnn.com/2022/06/01/entertainment/johnny-depp-amber-heard-verdict/index.html. Accessed June 2, 2022.
86. Bazelon, Lara. “The ACLU Has Lost Its Way.” The Atlantic, 2022. https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2022/05/aclu-johnny-depp-amber-heard-trial/629808/. Accessed June 2, 2022.
87. ACLU. “What You Need to Know About ACLU Artist Ambassadors, Including Amber Heard.” https://www.aclu.org/news/civil-liberties/what-you-need-to-know-about-aclu-ambassadors-including-amber-heard. Accessed June 2, 2022.
88. Bazelon, Lara. “The ACLU Has Lost Its Way.” The Atlantic. May 10, 2022. Accessed May 27, 2025. https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2022/05/aclu-johnny-depp-amber-heard-trial/629808/.
89. “Kate.” YouTube. October 22, 2018. Accessed May 27, 2025. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P0aqKS3ihVM.
90. Herman, Susan N. “Why the ACLU Opposes Brett Kavanaugh’s Nomination to the Supreme Court.” ACLU. October 3, 2018. Accessed May 27, 2025. https://www.aclu.org/news/civil-liberties/why-aclu-opposes-brett-kavanaughs-nomination-supreme-court.
91. Mills, Christopher. “Op-Ed: Free Speech for All—Except the Little Guy.” Wall Street Journal, December 4, 2022. https://www.wsj.com/articles/free-speech-for-all-except-the-little-guy-303-creative-monopoly-lorie-smith-tenth-circuit-big-tech-aclu-11670162150
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