Back الاتحاد الأمريكي للحريات المدنية Arabic Unió Americana per les Llibertats Civils Catalan American Civil Liberties Union Czech American Civil Liberties Union German Usona Unio de Civilaj Liberecoj Esperanto Unión Estadounidense por las Libertades Civiles Spanish American Civil Liberties Union Basque اتحادیه آزادی‌های مدنی آمریکا Persian American Civil Liberties Union Finnish Union américaine pour les libertés civiles French

American Civil Liberties Union

For the conservative legal aid group founded in the 1990s, see American Civil Rights Union.
"ACLU" redirects here. For the Australian organisation (1980–2004), see Australian Civil Liberties Union.

American Civil Liberties Union
PredecessorNational Civil Liberties Bureau
FormationJanuary 19, 1920 (1920-01-19)[1]
Founders
Type501(c)(4) nonprofit organization
13-3871360
PurposeCivil liberties advocacy
Headquarters125 Broad Street, New York City, U.S.
Region served
United States
Membership
1.84 million (2018)[2]
Deborah Archer
Executive Director
Anthony Romero
Budget
$309 million (2019; excludes affiliates)[3]
Staff
Nearly 300 staff attorneys[4]
Volunteers
Several thousand attorneys[5]
Websitewww.aclu.org Edit this at Wikidata

The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) is an American nonprofit human rights organization founded in 1920. The organization strives "to defend and preserve the individual rights and liberties guaranteed to every person in this country by the Constitution and laws of the United States."[6][7][8] The ACLU works through litigation and lobbying and has more than 1,800,000 members as of July 2018, with an annual budget over $300 million. ACLU affiliates are active in all 50 states, Washington, D.C., and Puerto Rico. The ACLU provides legal assistance in cases where it considers civil liberties at risk. Legal support from the ACLU can take the form of direct legal representation or preparation of amicus curiae briefs expressing legal arguments when another law firm is already providing representation.

In addition to representing persons and organizations in lawsuits, the ACLU lobbies for policy positions established by its board of directors. The ACLU's current positions include opposing the death penalty; supporting same-sex marriage and the right of LGBT people to adopt; supporting reproductive rights such as birth control and abortion rights; eliminating discrimination against women, minorities, and LGBT people; decarceration in the United States; protecting housing and employment rights of veterans;[9] reforming sex offender registries[10] and protecting housing and employment rights of convicted first-time offenders; supporting the rights of prisoners and opposing torture; and upholding the separation of church and state by opposing government preference for religion over non-religion or for particular faiths over others.

Legally, the ACLU consists of two separate but closely affiliated nonprofit organizations, namely the American Civil Liberties Union, a 501(c)(4) social welfare group; and the ACLU Foundation, a 501(c)(3) public charity. Both organizations engage in civil rights litigation, advocacy, and education, but only donations to the 501(c)(3) foundation are tax deductible, and only the 501(c)(4) group can engage in unlimited political lobbying.[11][12] The two organizations share office space and employees.[13]

  1. ^ Cite error: The named reference W47 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  2. ^ David Weigel (July 5, 2018). "The ACLU's Membership Has Surged and It's Putting Its New Resources to Use". Fortune.
  3. ^ "ACLU Annual Report 2019 p. 18".
  4. ^ "ACLU History," first section, paragraph 3. American Civil Liberties Union. Retrieved March 3, 2017.
  5. ^ "ACLU History," section: "And how we do it," paragraph 3. American Civil Liberties Union. Retrieved March 3, 2017.
  6. ^ "FAQs". American Civil Liberties Union.
  7. ^ "ACLU History," section: "And how we do it," paragraph 1. American Civil Liberties Union. Retrieved May 9, 2015.
  8. ^ Cooley, Amanda Harmon (2011). "American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU)." Encyclopedia of Social Networks. Ed. George A. Barnett. Thousand Oaks, Calif.: Sage Publications. Vol. 1. pp. 26–27.
  9. ^ "Homeless veterans: whose responsibility? | ACLU of Southern California". www.aclusocal.org. October 8, 2012. Retrieved September 28, 2023.
  10. ^ "Why We Must Rethink the Way We Treat People Convicted of Sex Offenses | New York Civil Liberties Union | ACLU of New York". www.nyclu.org. April 27, 2022. Retrieved September 25, 2023.
  11. ^ "ACLU and ACLU Foundation: What Is the Difference?". American Civil Liberties Union web site. ACLU. Archived from the original on September 6, 2007. Retrieved September 5, 2007.
  12. ^ Krehely, Jeff (2005). "Maximizing Nonprofit Voices and Mobilizing the Public" (PDF). Responsive Philanthropy: 9–10, 15. Archived from the original (PDF) on March 4, 2016. Retrieved March 10, 2015.
  13. ^ "Annual report fiscal year 2007" (PDF). American Civil Liberties Union. p. 2. Retrieved March 10, 2015.

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