American Civil Liberties Union: overview and history

American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU)

The civil liberties that majority of Americans enjoy today were fought for through tough conditions and in several occasions people got detained and even killed defending the basic civil rights that need to be availed to each American on equal basis. The early 1920 saw the increase in the civil rights movements that wanted the democratic space within the country expanded and guaranteed more than it was at that moment in time.

ACLU was founded in 1920 with the headquarters in New York though there are affiliate offices across several other states in the U.S. (American Civil Liberties Union of Indiana, 2014). ACLU is regarded as the nation's guardian of liberty with the mission to work on a daily basis within the communities, the courts as well as the legislatures to ensure that the individual rights of each American, as provided for in the constitution and the laws of America, are protected and guaranteed to them.

The founder of ACLU left one of the most inspiring phrases that has kept most of the defenders of freedom and democracy in the right focus and optimistic in their work. Roger Baldwin said that "So long as we have enough people in this country willing to fight for their rights, we'll be called a democracy." And this has extensively helped shape the belief of many, not just those working with ACLU, that it is possible to enjoy the rights and also protect the rights of another person and hence have a fully democratic society (American Civil Liberties Union, 2014). This protection of freedom is the central aspect to ACLU since freedom cannot protect itself.

Among the rights that ACLU considers central and focus on extensively are; the first ammendment rights which give freedom of association, speech and assembly. This includes the freedom of the press as well as the freedom of religion. The other right that is central to this union is the right to equal protection under the law and this includes the protection against discrimmination in America. Another right is that of getting due process, which means receiving fair treatment from the state when the loss of the property or liberty of an individual is at stake. The last on in this context is the right to privacy which guarantees each individual the freedom from government instriusions that may be unwaranted, into the personal affairs of the individual.

Therefore, ACLU has the sole purpose of ensuring that these above mentioned civil rights of each American are not infringed upon by the state and its other agencies. ACLU often delves into casesthat have attracted large public concerns and tries to work with the victims in pursuit of justice. It also represents societies, associations and communities when it comes to cases of possible violations of the rights of these members of the groupings mentioned. ALCU also undertakes independent projects like investigations or researching into contemporary issues that might be deemed to be infringing on the rights of the individual citizens and there after giving their stand and positiotion concerning the matter.

One such an example that ACLU has extensively worked on and conducted significant research is the issue of continued militarization of the police and the effect it has on the society in terms of the perpetuation of the abuse of civil rights of individuals and families in the U.S. This research looked at the changing training patterns of the police to reflect the military characteristics. This was accompanied by the state entrusting military equipment in the hands of the police. There is also observed in this research the use of incentives to ensure the police gets militarized as much as possible. The report further questions the use of military tactics and approaches to solving community challenges like the use of forced entries especially in areas suspected of drug dealing. ACLU has concerns that this continued militarization of the police will continually expose the American population to possible deprivation of their rights and even abuse of their rights. For instance the use of SWAT that uses violent tactics when entering a house or a home, what is referred to as forced entry, often trespasses the rights of privacy of the individual. In instances like the forced entry, a lot of violence is used such that the due process that the individual is entitled to is often overlooked since he is looked at as already guilty from the onset (ACLU, 2014).

ACLU also posits that the extensive militarization of the police will be counter productive since it makes the police not looks at a criminal as a person who needs help and correction, but as an enemy who needs to be dominated and vanquished as is the se in the military engagements and war. The police are trained and consequently forced to be at war with a harmless and often unarmed citizen. These have resulted in citizens being brutalized by police even in peaceful demonstrations. This is an intriguing project that ACLU worked on since it was evident that there was no official oversight body over the military approach to policing within the U.S. This is a void that I likely to encourage the breaching of the civil rights of the victim.