January 20, 2020

Yesterday, January 19, was the 100th anniversary of the founding of the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), a nonpartisan organization devoted to defending the rights and freedoms of people in the United States. The ACLU works mainly by providing lawyers and legal advice for individuals and groups in local, state, and federal courts. ACLU officials also testify before state and federal legislative committees, advise government officials, and conduct educational programs. The chief goal of the ACLU is to protect the fundamental rights of individuals as described in the Constitution of the United States.

Click to view larger image
ACLU logo. Credit: © ACLU

In 1917, a group of social activists founded the National Civil Liberties Bureau (NCLB) to support the Bill of Rights. The NCLB was led by Roger Baldwin, a social worker and civil rights champion, and Crystal Eastman, a lawyer and leader in the woman suffrage and equal rights movements. The NCLB became the ACLU in 1920, the same year that women in the United States won the right to vote.

The ACLU has defended the constitutional rights of a wide range of individuals and groups. It played an important part in Supreme Court rulings that guaranteed legal aid to poor people. The group has supported fair treatment of conscientious objectors, people whose conscience does not allow them to take part in war. The ACLU urged the desegregation of schools and promoted the African American civil rights movement. One of the current goals of the ACLU is the abolition of capital punishment. The group also calls for further restrictions on government investigative agencies and for stricter separation of church and state. In addition, it seeks greater protection for the rights of immigrants who enter the United States without the required papers and for the rights of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender people.

The ACLU has played a significant part in some of the landmark civil rights cases in American history. The ACLU backed both biology teacher John Scopes and attorney Clarence Darrow in the Scopes trial of 1925, which challenged a Tennessee law that outlawed the teaching of evolution in schools. During World War II (1939-1945), the ACLU fought against the internment of Japanese Americans. In 1954, the ACLU joined with the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) to challenge racial segregation in public schools. The ACLU defended individual freedom of speech in 1968 and women’s reproductive rights in 1973. In 1978, the ACLU famously defended the free speech of an American Nazi group who wanted to march in Illinois. The ACLU believes that constitutional rights apply to everyone regardless of individual ideology.

September 26, 2012

United States President Barack Obama addressed the opening session of the United Nations (UN) General Assembly in New York City on September 25. He stated that the United States will “do what we must” to stop Iran from acquiring nuclear weapons. Concerns over a nuclear-armed Iran have led the United States and many other countries to impose increasingly severe sanctions on Iran. The Iranian government has insisted that its nuclear program is intended for peaceful uses.

The president condemned the violence that erupted in predominantly Muslim nations over what he described as a “disgusting” anti-Islam video but defended U.S. freedom of speech and the spirit of tolerance that allowed the inflammatory anti-Muslim video to be made. “As president of our country, and commander in chief of our military, I accept that people are going to call me awful things every day,” noted the president. “And I will defend their right to do so.”

The United Nations (UN) General Assemblyis the only major organ of the United Nations in which all members are represented (© Mario Tama, Getty Images)

Speaking before President Obama, UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon characterized the civil war in Syria as “a regional calamity with global ramifications.” President Obama was more forthright in his assessment of the situation in Syria, bluntly stating that the Bashar al-Assad regime must go. According to human rights activists, at least 21,000 people have been killed since the uprising began in March 2011. An estimated 1 million people have been displaced by the violence.

Additional World Book articles:

• Arab Spring
• Middle East: From Fall to Spring (a Special Report)
• Syria 2011 (a Back in Time article)

Jan. 18, 2012

Thousands of Internet sites “went dark,” that is, took themselves offline, today to protest Internet anti-piracy legislation being debated by the U.S. Congress. The websites displayed only a critical summary of the two bills–Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA) and Protect Intellectual Property Act (PIPA)–instead of their usual content and urged website visitors to contact their congressional representatives. The bills, if passed, would impose harsh measures on websites that are found to distribute or link to copyrighted material. Faster broadband networks combined with fast, powerful computers have made it easier to download and stream music, movies, and television shows. The bills were strongly supported by the Motion Picture Association of America and other media companies, which have poured millions of dollars into lobbying for it. Such companies claim that online piracy–that is, the illegal sharing or distributing of copyrighted material–is rampant on the Internet and harms content producers’ ability to make profits.

Under the legislation, the U.S. Department of Justice and content owners could seek court orders against any website accused of “enabling or facilitating” piracy. Such U.S.-based search engines as Google Inc. and Yahoo! Inc. would also be forbidden to direct users to sites that distribute pirated materials.

The Internet makes possible communication that reaches around the world. In this photograph, Buddhist monks access the Internet from laptop computers and mobile phones at an Internet cafe in India. People everywhere use the Internet to research, shop, watch television, play games, and talk with friends. © Gianni Muratore, Alamy Images

The bills have, however, provoked a backlash. Critics, including the administration of President Barack Obama and powerful Internet companies, charged that the bills would grant overly broad power to media companies and could enable censorship. Critics took particular issue with the bills’ DNS (Domain Name System) filtering provisions, which could remove offending websites from the Internet’s directory. They also claimed that the legislation would hamper growth, innovation, and investment and curtail the First Amendment right of free speech. Congressional supporters of SOPA and PIPA said they would remove DNS filtering provisions from the bills but still try to pass their other provisions.

Additional World Book articles:

• Intellectual property
• Internet, Copyright, and You (A Special Report)
• Back in Time 2000 (Popular music)
• Back in Time 2007 (Popular music)