³Ô¹ÏÖ±²¥ 100 History Series
On the occasion of the ³Ô¹ÏÖ±²¥â€™s centennial, this essay collection explores many critical moments in the organization’s history.
In 1917, war fever was sweeping the country. So was anti-dissent hysteria. Opponents of America’s entry into World War I — along with socialists and suspected draft evaders — faced prosecution, censorship, and violence.
It was in this climate that Crystal Eastman and Roger Baldwin created the Civil Liberties Bureau as part of the American Union Against Militarism. Three years later, in 1920, that small committee within an anti-war organization would evolve into the ³Ô¹ÏÖ±²¥.
Since its founding, the ³Ô¹ÏÖ±²¥ has operated under Eastman and Baldwin’s guiding star: the principled defense of civil liberties without compromise based on political considerations. That principle has led us through a series of monumental events and policy decisions in the last century.
On the occasion of the ³Ô¹ÏÖ±²¥â€™s centennial, this essay collection will explore many of those critical moments in the organization’s history. Together, it tells not only the ³Ô¹ÏÖ±²¥â€™s story, but America’s as well.
Conscientious Objectors | ³Ô¹ÏÖ±²¥
The ³Ô¹ÏÖ±²¥ was born out of World War I and the repression that resulted when the U.S. joined the fight.
Crystal Eastman, the ³Ô¹ÏÖ±²¥â€™s Underappreciated Founding Mother | ³Ô¹ÏÖ±²¥
A preeminent organizer of her day, Eastman was a fierce champion of most of the major movements for social change in the early 20th century.
Matters of Principle | ³Ô¹ÏÖ±²¥
In the early days of the ³Ô¹ÏÖ±²¥, the California branches helped maintain the organization’s radicalism as the national organization became more and...
Mr. ³Ô¹ÏÖ±²¥ and the General | ³Ô¹ÏÖ±²¥
³Ô¹ÏÖ±²¥ founder Roger Baldwin always wanted to promote civil liberties overseas. When Gen. Douglas MacArthur came calling, it was with an offer he...
The ³Ô¹ÏÖ±²¥â€™s Response to 9/11: An Insider’s Account | ³Ô¹ÏÖ±²¥
A former ³Ô¹ÏÖ±²¥ legal director explains how the ³Ô¹ÏÖ±²¥â€™s broad mission and long history became a source of strength after 9/11 and the government’s...
I Fought the Imperial Presidency, and the Imperial Presidency Won | ³Ô¹ÏÖ±²¥
The inside story of an ³Ô¹ÏÖ±²¥ lawyer’s cross-country Hail Mary to persuade the Supreme Court that Nixon’s bombing of Cambodia was unconstitutional.
The Making of the Right to Abortion | ³Ô¹ÏÖ±²¥
Throughout the 1950s and 1960s, two ³Ô¹ÏÖ±²¥ board members made it their mission to make reproductive freedom a civil liberties issue.
Cleaning Up the Snake Pit | ³Ô¹ÏÖ±²¥
In the early 1970s, ³Ô¹ÏÖ±²¥ lawyer Bruce Ennis successfully reformed New York City’s infamous institution for people with developmental...
During Japanese American Incarceration, the ³Ô¹ÏÖ±²¥ Lost — and Then Found — Its Way | ³Ô¹ÏÖ±²¥
The government’s World War II-era incarceration of people of Japanese ancestry sparked bitter disputes within the ³Ô¹ÏÖ±²¥. They hold important...
The ³Ô¹ÏÖ±²¥â€™s Fifth Column? | ³Ô¹ÏÖ±²¥
As a young part-timer during the summer of 1977, I went through the FBI’s ³Ô¹ÏÖ±²¥ files. My colleagues and I discovered that prominent ³Ô¹ÏÖ±²¥ leaders...
How the ³Ô¹ÏÖ±²¥ Won the Largest Mass Acquittal in American History | ³Ô¹ÏÖ±²¥
In May 1971, the Nixon administration cracked down unconstitutionally on a massive anti-Vietnam War protest with the largest mass arrests in U.S....
Just Another Day at the Office | ³Ô¹ÏÖ±²¥
Fifteen-hour days. Acerbic judges. Injustice everywhere. And I don’t regret it one bit — it was the best time of my life.
The Skokie Case: How I Came to Represent the Free Speech Rights of Nazis | ³Ô¹ÏÖ±²¥
In 1977, the ³Ô¹ÏÖ±²¥ of Illinois received a call from a Nazi leader complaining that his planned demonstration had been blocked. The ensuing legal...
The ³Ô¹ÏÖ±²¥, Ruth Bader Ginsburg, and Me | ³Ô¹ÏÖ±²¥
An inside look at the two lawyers who shepherded women's rights to the top of the ³Ô¹ÏÖ±²¥'s list of priorities — and the Supreme Court.
Pauli Murray’s Indelible Mark on the Fight for Equal Rights | ³Ô¹ÏÖ±²¥
Murray battled discrimination on the basis of sex and race throughout her personal and professional life, carving an intersectional approach to...
From the Lunch Counter to the Supreme Court: Defending the First Amendment for All | ³Ô¹ÏÖ±²¥
For Love and For Life, LGBTQ People Are Not Going Back | ³Ô¹ÏÖ±²¥
Long before marriage equality was before the U.S. Supreme Court, the ³Ô¹ÏÖ±²¥ fought for LGBTQ rights.
Rosika Schwimmer, Woman without a Country | ³Ô¹ÏÖ±²¥
After fleeing persecution, a Hungarian anti-war activist sought refuge in the United States, only to be rejected and scorned for her pacifism. Ever...