The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) is an American nonprofit organization founded in 1920 "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". The ACLU works through litigation and lobbying and has over 1,800,000 members as of July 2018, with an annual budget of over $300 million. Affiliates of the ACLU are active in all 50 states, the District of Columbia, 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.
Civil liberties in the United States are certain unalienable rights retained by citizens of the United States under the Constitution of the United States, as interpreted and clarified by the Supreme Court of the United States and lower federal courts. Civil liberties are simply defined as individual legal and constitutional protections from entities more powerful than an individual, for example, parts of the government, other individuals, or corporations. The explicitly defined liberties make up the Bill of Rights, including freedom of speech, the right to bear arms, and the right to privacy. There are also many liberties of people not defined in the Constitution, as stated in the Ninth Amendment: The enumeration in the Constitution, of certain rights, shall not be construed to deny or disparage others retained by the people.
The University of Houston Law Center is the law school of the University of Houston in Houston, Texas. Founded in 1947, the Law Center is one of 12 colleges of the University of Houston, a state university. It is accredited by the American Bar Association and is a member of the Association of American Law Schools. The law school's facilities are located on the university's 667-acre campus in southeast Houston.
Nadine Strossen is an American civil liberties activist who was president of the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) from February 1991 to October 2008. A liberal feminist, she was the first woman to ever lead the ACLU. A professor at New York Law School, Strossen is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations and other professional organizations.
A student publication is a media outlet such as a newspaper, magazine, television show, or radio station produced by students at an educational institution. These publications typically cover local and school-related news, but they may also report on national or international news as well. Most student publications are either part of a curricular class or run as an extracurricular activity.
The University of Virginia School of Law is the law school of the University of Virginia, a public research university in Charlottesville, Virginia. It was founded in 1819 by Thomas Jefferson as part of his "academical village" – which became the University of Virginia – where law was one of the original disciplines taught. UVA Law is the fourth-oldest active law school in the United States and the second-oldest continuously operating law school. The law school offers the J.D., LL.M., and S.J.D. degrees in law and hosts visiting scholars, visiting researchers and a number of legal research centers.
The University of Alabama School of Law, located in Tuscaloosa, Alabama is a nationally ranked top-tier law school and the only public law school in the state. It is one of five law schools in the state, and one of three that are ABA accredited. According to Alabama's official 2017 ABA-required disclosures, 84% of the Class of 2017 obtained full-time, long-term, JD-required employment nine months after graduation. An additional 8.4% of the Class of 2017 obtained JD-advantage employment.
Jack Greenberg was an American attorney and legal scholar. He was the Director-Counsel of the NAACP Legal Defense Fund from 1961 to 1984, succeeding Thurgood Marshall.
The University of Texas School of Law is the law school of the University of Texas at Austin. Texas Law is consistently ranked as one of the top law schools in the United States and is highly selective—registering the 8th lowest acceptance rate among all U.S. law schools for the class of 2022—with an acceptance rate of 17.5%. According to Texas Law’s 2019 disclosures, 90 percent of the Class of 2019 obtained full-time, long-term bar passage required/JD advantage employment nine months after graduation.
David D. Cole is the National Legal Director of the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU). Before joining the ACLU in July 2016, Cole was the Hon. George J. Mitchell Professor in Law and Public Policy at the Georgetown University Law Center from March 2014 through December 2016. He has published in various legal fields including constitutional law, national security, criminal justice, civil rights, and law and literature. Cole has litigated several significant First Amendment cases in the Supreme Court of the United States, as well a number of influential cases concerning civil rights and national security. He is also a legal correspondent to several mainstream media outlets and publications.
St. Mary's University School of Law is one of the professional graduate schools of St. Mary's University, a private Catholic university located in San Antonio, Texas.
Marjorie Heins (b.1946) is a First Amendment lawyer, writer and founder of the Free Expression Policy Project.
The British Columbia Civil Liberties Association (BCCLA) is an autonomous, non-partisan charitable society that seeks to "promote, defend, sustain, and extend civil liberties and human rights." It works towards achieving this purpose through litigation, lobbying, complaint assistance, events, social media, and publications. Founded in 1962, it is Canada's oldest civil liberties association. It is based in Vancouver and is jointly funded by the Law Foundation of British Columbia and by private citizens through donations and memberships.
Harvey Allen Silverglate is an attorney, journalist, writer, and co-founder of the Foundation for Individual Rights in Education (FIRE).
The Pittsburgh Journal of Technology Law & Policy is a biannual law review covering legal topics involving intellectual property and technology. The journal is published by an independent student group at the University of Pittsburgh School of Law, with recent issues available open access online. The journal is published by the Hillman Library as part of the D-Scribe Digital Publishing Program in conjunction with the University of Pittsburgh Press.
The Harvard Journal on Legislation is a journal of legal scholarship published by students at Harvard Law School.
The Harvard Civil Rights – Civil Liberties Law Review is a student-run law review published by Harvard Law School. The journal is published two times per year and contains articles, essays, and book reviews concerning civil rights and liberties. As of 2014, it was the leading progressive law journal in the United States. In 2009, its online companion Amicus was launched, which features standard length journal articles coupled with online responses. In 2018, the journal launched its podcast, Taking Liberties, which features panel discussions on current events related to civil rights and civil liberties, interviews with scholars and practitioners who fight for them, and tributes to those who have contributed to the advancement of civil rights throughout history.
The American Civil Liberties Union of New Jersey (ACLU-NJ) is a nonpartisan, not-for-profit civil rights organization in Newark, New Jersey, and an affiliate of the national American Civil Liberties Union. According to the ACLU-NJ's stated mission, the ACLU-NJ operates through litigation on behalf of individuals, lobbying in state and local legislatures, and community education.
The Minnesota Journal of International Law is a biannual law review published by students at the University of Minnesota Law School. It covers international and comparative law and policy, with a particular emphasis on politics, economics, and fundamental rights.
The Alabama Civil Rights & Civil Liberties Law Review (ACRCL) is a student-run law review published by the University of Alabama School of Law. The journal is published two times per year and contains articles, essays, and book reviews concerning civil rights and liberties. It is the largest civil rights law review in the Deep South.
