ACLU
We have grown from that roomful of civil libertarians to more than 1.7 million members. The ACLU today is the nation’s largest public interest law firm, with a 50-state network of staffed, autonomous affiliate offices. We appear before the United States Supreme Court more than any other organization except the U.S. Department of Justice. About 100 ACLU staff attorneys collaborate with about 2,000 volunteer attorneys in handling close to 2,000 cases annually.The ACLU is non-profit and non-partisan. We do not receive any government funding. Member dues and contributions and grants from private foundations and individuals pay for the work we do. The ACLU, with headquarters in New York City, litigates across the nation and all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court. Our Washington, D.C., legislative office lobbies the U.S. Congress. We use strategic communications to educate the public about issues. And the ACLU has expanded its reach by applying international human rights standards in our complex Post 9/11 world. A number of national projects address specific civil liberties issues: AIDS, capital punishment, lesbian and gay rights, immigrants’ rights, prisoners’ rights, reproductive freedom, voting rights, women’s rights and workplace rights.
If you believe your civil liberties have been violated, or if you wish to join the ACLU, contact your local ACLU affiliate from the listing in the telephone directory, or write to the national headquarters, Attention: Membership Department. Briefing papers, each on a different civil liberties issue, and other publications and information are available from the Communications Department of the ACLU’s national office in New York.