ACLU founder Roger Baldwin said, “So long as we have enough people in this country willing to fight for their rights, we’ll be called a democracy.” We have been fortunate this year to stand with many people willing to fight for their rights, and to stand up for the principles of liberty, justice, and equality on which our democracy is built.
It is far easier to celebrate civil liberties than to defend them.
- Hector O. Villagra Executive Director ACLU of Southern Califormia
As we reflect on our work this year, we remember that it is far easier to celebrate civil liberties than to defend them, so we pay tribute to Tarek, Duncan, Sandra, Franky, Zoey, and all those who have stepped forward to help convert our civil liberties aspirations into reality.
Date
Friday, November 11, 2011 - 2:30pm
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On May 15, 1923, angered by the LAPD's brutal treatment and imprisonment of striking longshoremen, renowned journalist and novelist Upton Sinclair appeared at a rally in San Pedro. Sinclair began reading the First Amendment to the Constitution. Barely able to finish three lines, Sinclair was arrested by the police, who had warned him to "cut out that Constitution stuff." Ninety years later, the ACLU of Southern California has remained true to Sinclair's spirit.
Today, we are at the forefront of efforts to ensure basic equity to all public school students in California, reform our local jails and criminal justice system, provide basic fairness for immigrants, and oppose discrimination on the basis of race, religion, gender or sexual orientation.
Nationally, the ACLU is a leader in securing the right to vote, protecting privacy, defending reproductive freedom, and advancing the freedom to marry.
Our issues, and the individuals or groups in need of legal protection and advocacy, may change, but our mission remains constant. We believe the Constitution and the Bill of Rights establish the framework for maintaining individual freedom, and the constitutional principles of liberty, fairness and equality are our touchstone. Acco
Date
Thursday, November 1, 2012 - 3:00pm
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The national ACLU turned ninety-four this year — five hundred thousand Americans united in one cause. Since 1920, the political currents have repeatedly threatened to take — and sometimes have taken — America off course. But the ACLU’s compass has always been true, the vision always clear: to make our union — these United States — more perfect by upholding constitutional rights for everyone.
There’s much to celebrate. This report highlights key successes from this year, while recalling some of the historic milestones that helped bring us here.
The ACLU struck down the federal Defense of Marriage Act last year and look at how the freedom to marry has spread — for the first time, most Americans live in states where same-sex marriage is legal!
But even as we celebrate this advance, we must recognize the rising tide against basic rights. Some states have taken the election and reelection of a black president as a call to arms and want to prevent millions of Americans from voting. And the NSA developed a scheme of asking a secret judge, sitting on a secret court, for a warrant to spy on all American cellphone users — without any proof of criminal conduct by any of us.
There’s always too much to include in a single report because the work — standing for justice, standing against the currents of the day, and taking a stand for what’s right, fair, and just — never ends.
Date
Friday, November 1, 2013 - 3:00pm
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