In Defense of Speech, Civil Liberties and Censorship
The quickest solutions are usually the most dangerous
The American Civil Liberties Union has had some interesting clients over the last century. Founded during World War One (1917), The ACLU has a stated mission, “to defend and preserve the individual rights and liberties guaranteed to all people in this country by the Constitution and laws of the United States.”
In those early days, the organization defended conscientious objectors, individuals who refused to perform military service, often on religious grounds, many of whom were Quakers. During the 1970s, they defended the rights of actual Nazis to march in Skokie Illinois, an area with many Holocaust survivors. After the attacks on 9/11 in 2001, they defended the rights of suspected terrorists detained in ultra secretive Guantanamo Bay prison. Quakers, Nazis, and Terrorists, one of these things is not like the others.
Here in America, freedom of speech is kind of a big deal. Enshrined in the First Amendment of the U.S Constitution, it follows freedom of religion, and precedes freedoms of the press, assembly, and petitioning government.
In the battle for freedom of speech and censorship, The ACLU has been involved in nearly every First Amendment case to reach the U.S Supreme Court.
