Is the ACLU a communist or left-wing organization?
PRO (yes)
CON (no)
Warner Todd Huston, commentator, wrote in the May 16, 2006 article "Is the ACLU evil?" for RenewAmerica.us:
"Sure the ACLU has done a few good things, but their bad things far outweigh the good. Not only that, but they have an agenda that is antithetical to the USA. This organization was started at the turn of the last century, and is today perpetuated by, communists/socialists who wish to destroy just about everything that makes our nation great only to have it remade on a communist/socialist model. This aim of the ACLU is antithetical to all our interests as well as our culture and history."
William H. Donohue, PhD, President of the Catholic League for Religious and Civil Rights, said in his Aug. 23, 2006 interview with Stop the ACLU that:
"I believe that the American Civil Liberties Union is based upon a noble purpose. However, they often work against that very purpose due to a radical interpretation of the Constitution and the Bill of Rights... They are an arm of the radical left. In my first book..., I also exposed just how phony their claim of being non-partisan is.... Its record is far from showing impartiality. It is full of attempts to reform American society according to the ideals of liberalism."
Devvy Kidd, Founder and Director of the Project on Winning Economic Reform, wrote the Dec. 3, 2004 "ACLU Fulfilling Communist Agenda" for World Net Daily that said:
"For the past few decades, the ACLU has been on a major crusade to destroy Christianity in America, promote filth under 'freedom of speech and expression,' and of course, vigorously defend the homosexual culture of death...
Anyone who has been following the destructive path of the ACLU can easily see how effective these communist goals have been implemented to 'promote democracy' and protect your 'civil rights...' Perhaps it's time to recognize the ACLU as the American Communist Lawyers Union instead of their disingenuous 'civil rights' stage name."
Ralph de Toledano, PhD, Former Editor of Newsweek, wrote the July 1, 2002 article "What The ACLU Doesn't Want You To Know" in Insight on the News that:
"The ACLU has from its inception encouraged political and moral anarchy. This curious organization wraps itself in all kinds of lofty rhetoric designed to separate some of our more soft-headed financial nabobs from the coin of the realm... Meanwhile it prefers that no one smarten up the chumps about the aims and principles of its founder, Roger Baldwin, who wrote in 1935 that 'Communism is the goal.' In its early days, the ACLU was not shy about making known its agenda."
The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) of Nebraska, in its Frequently Asked Questions on its website (accessed Jan. 29, 2007), responded to the question "What is ACLU Nebraska?" that:
"The ACLU is nonpartisan. It believes that the only way to protect freedom is to stand fast for the idea that everyone, no matter how unpopular, has the same rights -- that liberty is preserved only if principle stays ahead of the politics of the moment."
The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) of Massachussetts, in its Frequently Asked Questions on its website (accessed Sep. 25, 2006), stated in response to the question "Is the ACLU a left-wing organization?":
"No. In fact, the ACLU is in many ways our nation's most conservative organization. Our main job is to conserve America's original civic values as written in the Constitution and The Bill of Rights. Historically, we have agreed with conservatives on some issues and with liberals on others. For example, we worked with the National Rifle Association to defeat a proposal by the Federal Bureau of Investigation that would expand wiretapping authority... The ACLU also filed a brief on the right of Oliver North not to incriminate himself when he testified before a congressional committee."
The Kalamazoo Gazette wrote the editorial entitled "A Sure Sign of the Apocalypse?" on Jan. 10, 2007, which stated:
"Although many conservative groups rally their base by calling the ACLU as anti-Christian, communistic and anti-American, the truth is that the ACLU has gone to bat for anyone whose constitutional rights are in danger of being eroded -- Christian, Jewish, Muslim, liberal, moderate or conservative."
Burton Caine, JD, Former President of the ACLU Greater Philadelphia Branch, wrote "ACLU in Communist China?" posted on the ACLU of Pennsylvania's website, (accessed Sep. 25, 2006):
"I rarely associated ACLU and the government except as adversaries... In response to the accusation of 'conservatives' I maintained that ACLU is the most 'conservative' organization in the country because it stands up for the nation's oldest document - the Constitution, and 'laws ... in Pursuance thereof' enforcing civil liberties as 'the supreme Law of the land.'"
