In a recent thread, a member produced a quote from the
American Center for Law & Justice. My immediate reaction was that the source cannot be trusted. My reasons for this is that the ACLJ is associated in my mind not only with partisan conservatives, but the American Religious Right as well.
But I could be wrong about the non-partisan nature of the ACLJ. Perhaps they really do have a sincere respect for peoples' rights, even if their view of rights don't coincide with mine.
But when I look at the
ACLJ website I notice something that, to me, is telling. In every single case (except, perhaps, for
McConnell v. FEC) the ACLJ took the side in favor of those holding and espousing conservative political or religious views. By the way, I will say that in a couple of instances I agree with the stance taken by the ACLJ, but the entire pattern I see here seems to indicate that the ACLJ isn't dedicated to protecting the rights of citizens, but in advancing the conservative cause.
In a long ago thread, it was pointed out how
the ACLU had defended a wide variety of cases, including defending individuals and actions the members of the ACLU find personally objectionable, and even defending organizations that are opposed to the very principles for which the ACLU stands. This, to me, indicates that the ACLU has a consistent view of rights that it is dedicated to protect, even at the expense of defending individuals that the members of the ACLU might find objectionable.
I have several questions:
Are there many cases where the ACLJ has defended individuals that the members of the ACLJ might personally oppose? Have they ever defended the rights of an individual against a conservative government, or the rights of a secularist or non-Protestant Christian? Have they ever defended the case on the side that could be considered the
liberal position?
If not, could we conclude that the ACLJ is not an organization committed to the protection of rights to the point of defending positions opposed by the members, but rather it is really a partisan conservative organization committed to advancing the conservative movement?
This is a Coffee House topic, but since it might be considered contentious I felt that it should be vetted by the moderators first. Also it might be good for people to notice this topic and think about it first before we get the predictable "pile on".
Edited by Chiroptera, : some typos, some clarity, and added last sentence
Edited by Adminnemooseus, : Changed tag for the second link from "ACLU website" to "ACLJ website".
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