I
test the statute on behalf
of John Scopes, a science
teacher.
Though Scopes was
convicted and fined $100,
this case played a major
role in getting religious
indoctrination out of the
:ublic schools.
Life looked better for
the ACLU in 1954, when
the U.S. Supreme Court
ruled in Brown vs. Board
f Education that public
school segregation vio-
iates the 14th Amend-
ment.
Michigan's Detroit
office is constantly bom-
barded with calls from
)otential plaintiffs.
Tolunteer attorneys han-
.Ie between 40 and 60 of
ecision that public
chool segregation is a
.oration of the 14th
nendment.
1963: RIGHT TO
COUNSEL
Gideon was the first in
a series of ACLU-sup-
orte _cases expanding
ie right to counsel. In
this case, the U.S.
Supreme Court held that
the Constitution re-
quired each state to pro-
vide an attorney, if
equested, for a person
too poor to hire one.
Clarence Earl Gideon,
found guilty after
defending himself, was
latter retried and acquit-
) %._,Jith assistance of a
• ..appointed attor-
• wo other signifi-
at decisions followed
...Leon. The Court ruled
7scobedo that a per-
._.1 accused of a crime
must be allowed to con-
sult with a lawyer before
questioning. And in
Miranda, the Court held
that police are obligated
to inform accused of the
right to counsel and the
right to remain silent.
1965: DEATH
PENALTY
them each year.
Each case goes before a
board of directors. And,
board members say, they
rarely agree completely
on anything. Decisions to
take cases are not black
and white.
Currently on the
Michigan roster is a
church and state case,
Pensinger vs. Blooming-
dale, in which a 17-year-
old high school senior
sued a school board
because a photo of Jesus
hangs on a wall in the
school.
The ACLU is defending
the student in a court
hearing scheduled on
Monday in Grand
Rapids.
Following a two-year
study of this highly divi-
sive issue, ACLU took a
stand it still holds today
and opposed capital pun-
ishment. ACLU believes
capital punishment is
unconstitutional because
it denies equal protec-
tion under the law by
discriminating against
blacks, the poor, the une-
ducated, is cruel and
unusual, and eliminates
due process guarantees.
1967: INTERRACIAL
MARRIAGE
In an ACLU case, laws
making interracial mar-
riage illegal were struck
down in 17 states by the
U.S. Supreme Court.
An interracial couple
was arrested and sen-
tenced to one-year terms,
which later were sus-
pended on the condition
they leave the state and
not return for 25 years.
The crime: being married
and violating the
Virginia "Act for the
Preservation of Racial
Integrity."
1973: NIXON
IMPEACHMENT
The ACLU was the
CASES page 26
In the past month, the
ACLU settled with the
City of Detroit a case,
3rown Vs. City of
Detroit, over a random
drug-testing program.
Detroit chapter Presi-
dent Mark Brewer
argued the case for
Detroit police officers in
which the city agreed to
pay $975,000 to its offi-
cers for forcing them to
take drug tests under
unsanitary and humiliat-
ing conditions.
In the past five years,
the state's ACLU roster
has been filled with
cases for free speech,
handicapper rights and
the right to peaceful
protest. Though the
organization calls itself
pro-choice, ACLU attor-
neys have litigated on
behalf of both sides on
the abortion debate. (See
Famous Cases)
The group has its crit-
ics, and many who agree
with its basic principles
yet wish it would re-
examine its policies.
"They are a well-
intended institution,"
says Rabbi Charles
Rosenzweig, director of
the Holocaust Memorial
Center. "But Skokie was
a terrible mistake. They
lost a lot of members
because they went over-
board, and in pursuit of
civil liberties, they forgot
about protecting the gen-
eral population."
Economist David Litt-
mann likes the fact that
the ACLU concentrates
on civil liberties and pro-
tects the individual.
"Some of the work they
do is very courageous
and unique," he says.
"I wish they'd be a lit-
tle more consistent on
individual and economic
liberties," he says. "But
every little bit helps."
Some suggest the
group is a group of self-
righteous radicals.
The Rev. D. James
Kennedy of the Coral
Ridge Ministries (Chris-
tian fundamentalist
group) of Coral Ridge,
Fla., bought an hour of
air time two years ago to
attack the ACLU on
national television.
In the segment, the
Rev. Kennedy repeatedly
blasted the ACLU as the
"liberal arm of the liber-
al left," and said the
group was an "insidious
parasite that ate away at
the nation's moral fabric
and was an opponent of
Christian values."
Rev. Kennedy says the
ACLU is a pro-choice
group, and he complains
that the organization
will not represent mem-
bers of the pro-life
Operation Rescue when
police "brutally" arrest
them during "peaceful"
"I was aware of
human rights well
before I viewed
myself as a Jew."
— Nadine Strossen, ACLU
national president
LIBERTY page 28
"Democracy
depends
on eternal
vigilance."
Howard Simon
— David Littman, economist