Defending Civil Liberties
(see also Attack on Civil Liberties, Freedom of Information, Internet Activism, Separating Church from State & Human Rights Advocacy)
Basics
On the Web: Articles
Federal Judge Strikes Down Part of Patriot Act. Dan Whitcomb, Reuters (1/26/04).
A Chill Wind is Blowing in this Nation. Tim Robbins at National Press Club (4/15/03).
Citizens, Combatants & the Constitution. Lawrence H. Tribe, NY Times (6/16/02). Arbitrary arrest & detention.
National Coalition to Defend Political Freedom Holds 4th Annual Convention. Kristin Sremski, Washington Report on the Middle East (10/01). No secret evidence in judicial proceedings.
On the Web: Specialized Sites
American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU). National office. See for links to all state & regional offices.
ACLU of Northern California (ACLU-NC).
ACLU of San Diego & Imperial Counties.
ACLU of Southern California (ACLU-SC).
Americans for Religious Liberty (Works to protect & maintain separation of church & state).
Bill of Rights Defense Committee.
Center for Constitutional Rights.
Civil Liberties Watch. Elaine Cassell.
Decades of Shame. ACLU history as viewed from the Christian Right.
Future of Freedom Foundation. Libertarian perspective.
Lawyers' Committee for Civil Rights of the San Francisco Bay Area.
Lawyers' Committee for Civil Rights Under Law.
Meiklejohn Civil Liberties Institute.
National Constitution Center (Philadelphia museum honoring its contribution to American life).
National Whistleblowers Center (Defends First Amendment rights of corporate & government employees who speak out against corporate & government misconduct).
New York Civil Liberties Union (ACLU).
Peacefire (Seeks to preserve open access for Net generation).
Progressive Coalition for Equal Opportunity & Justice.
In the Library: Articles
Bendavid, Naftali. "ACLU rolls soar to record numbers," San Jose Mercury News (6/7/03):6A.
Stern, Seth. “How to get Gen Y to carry ACLU cards,” Christian Science Monitor (10/14/03): 20.
Stern, Seth & Sara B. Miller. "Odd bedfellows fall in line," Christian Science Monitor (10/29/03): 16.
Swarns, Rachel L. “Government dropping registration of Muslim immigrants,” Santa Cruz Sentinel (11/22/03):C1.
Vidal, Gore. "Sex is politics," Playboy (1/79).
In the Library: Non-Fiction Books
Alderman, Ellen & Caroline Kennedy. In Our Defense: The Bill of Rights in Action (NY: Avon, 1992).
Boghosian, Heidi. The Assault on Free Speech, Public Assembly & Dissent (NY: National Lawyers' Guild, 2004).
Cash, Arthur H. John Wilkes: The Scandalous Father of Civil Liberty (New Haven CT: Yale, 2006).
Chafee, Zechariah. Free Speech in the US (Cambridge MA: Harvard, 1941).
Chevigny, Paul. More Speech: Dialogue Rights & Modern Liberty (Philadelphia: Temple, 1988).
Cook, Timothy E. (ed.) Freeing the Presses: The First Amendment in Action (Baton Rouge: Louisiana State U., 200?).
Delgado, Richard & Jean Stefancic. Must We Defend Nazis? Hate Speech, Pornography, & the New First Amendment (NY: NYU, 1997).
Downs, Donald A. Nazis in Skokie: Freedom, Community & the First Amendment (Notre Dame IN: Notre Dame, 1985).
Ewing, K.D. & C.A. Gearty. The Struggle for Civil Liberties: Political Freedom & the Rule of Law in Britain, 1914-1945 (NY: Oxford, 2002).
Fiss,Owen M. The Irony of Free Speech (Cambridge MA: Harvard, 1996).
Garey, Diane. Defending Everybody: A History of the American Civil Liberties Union (NY: TV, 1998).
Glasser, Ira. Visions of Liberty: The Bill of Rights for All Americans (NY: Arcade, 1991).
Godwin, Mike. Cyber Rights: Defending Free Speech in the Digital Age (Cambridge MA: MIT, 2003).
Hamin, David. The Nazi Skokie Conflict: A Civil Liberties Battle (Boston: Beacon, 1980).
Hargreaves, Robert. The First Freedom: A History of Free Speech (Phoenix Mill, Gloucestershire: Sutton, 2001). Popular history, Socrates to present.
Howard, Phillip K. The Collapse of the Common Good: How America's Lawsuit Culture Undermines Our Freedom (NY: Ballantine, 2002).
Johnson, Donald. The Challenge to American Freedom: World War I & the Rise of the ACLU (Lexington: U. of Kentucky, 1963).
Lamson, Peggy. Roger Baldwin: Founder of the American Civil Liberties Union (Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1976).
Lewis, Anthony. Make No Law: The Sullivan Case & the First Amendment (NY: Random House, 1992).
Lobel, Jules (ed.) A Less Than Perfect Union: Alternative Perspective on the US Constitution (NY: Monthly Review, 1987).
McAuliffe, Mary Sperling. Crisis on the Left: Cold War Politics & American Liberals, 1947-1954 (Amherst: U. of Massachusetts, 1978).
Meares, Tracey L. & Dan M. Kahan. Urgent Times: Policing & Rights in Inner-City Communities (Boston: Beacon, 1999).
Meiklejohn, Alexander. Political Freedom: The Constitutional Powers of the People (NY: Harper, 1960. Includes his classic Free Speech & Its Relation to Self-Government [1948].
Neier, Aryeh. Defending My Enemy: American Nazis, the Skokie Case, & the Risks of Freedom (NY: E.P. Dutton, 1979).
__________. Taking Liberties: Four Decades in the Struggle for Rights (NY: PublicAffairs, 2003).
Peters, John Durham. Courting the Abyss: Free Speech & the Liberal Tradition (Chicago: U. of Chicago, 2005).
Reitman, Alan (ed.) The Pulse of Freedom: American Liberties, 1920s-1970s (NY: Norton, 1975).
Smith, D.L. Zechariah Chaffee, Jr.: Defender of Liberty & the Law (Cambridge MA: Harvard, 1986).
Storey, John W. & Glenn H. Utter. Religion & Politics: A Reference Handbook (Santa Barbara CA: ABC-CLIO, 2002).
Walker, Samuel. The American Civil Liberties Union: An Annotated Bibliography (NY: Garland, 1992).
__________. Hate Speech: The History of an American Controversy (Lincoln: U. Nebraska, 1994).
__________. In Defense of American Liberties: A History of the ACLU [1990] (2nd ed.; Carbondale IL: U. of Southern Illinois, 1999).
In the Library: Fiction
In the Library: For Young Readers
Irons, Peter. Courts, Kids, & the Constitution: May it Please the Court (NY: New Press, 2002). Includes 4 90 minute audio tapes.
Krull, Kathleen. A Kid's Guide to America's Bill of Rights (Scranton PA: Harper Collins, 1999).
In the Library: Poetry
In the Library: Drama
In the Library: Photography
CD & Audio
Film & Video
"The ACLU: A History" [1998], by Diane Garey & Lawrence R. Hott, ?m. From Films for the Humanities & Sciences/
"Other American Voices" [2002], dir. Corinna Belz & Neil Hollander, 52m. From First Run/Icarus. Noam Chomsky, Richard Deats, Katrina van den Heuvel, Amy Goodman, Asif Ulla & others on US & civil liberties since 9/11.
"This Divided State" [2005], dir. Steven Greenstreet, 105m. In video stores. Michael Moore appearance provokes free speech debate at Utah Valley State College.