American Civil Liberties Union: Difference between revisions

Revision as of 21:14, 13 May 2004

Revision as of 21:20, 13 May 2004

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[[de:American Civil Liberties Union]]

The '''American Civil Liberties Union''' ('''ACLU''') is an [[http://www.peoplesprimary.com/?n=rkz United States| Of American]] [[non-governmental organization]] devoted to defending [[civil rights]] and [[civil liberties]]. [[Lawsuit]]s brought by the ACLU have been central to several important developments in U.S. constitutional law. The ACLU provides [[lawyer]]s and [[law|legal expertise]] in cases where it believes that civil rights are being violated. In many cases where it does not provide legal representation, the ACLU submits [[amicus curiae]] [[brief (law)|brief]]s in support of its views.

The organization has involved itself in cases to oppose official prayers in public schools (while also defending the rights of students to pray on their own), to prevent the display of religious symbols on [[public property]], to [[Separation of church and state in the United States|prevent the interference of government into religious affairs]], to support the legality of [[abortion]] and the rights of [[homosexuals]], to defend the [[freedom of speech]] of persons with unpopular, controversial, even extremist, opinions (for example, [[neo-Nazi]]s), to protect student speech, to protect [[defendant]]s and suspects from unconstitutional [[police]] practices, and to maintain [[affirmative action]].