- We defend the rights of everyone, even our opponents.
At a staff retreat this summer, we all discussed why we work for the ACLU and which issues are most important to us. The range of issues that our staff cares about covered the entire scope of the ACLU’s work, but the one response that came from every one of us to the “why we’re here” question is our consistency of principle. It may sometimes be difficult or complicated to protect the First Amendment right to free speech and assembly and petition for everyone, but the First Amendment does not articulate any exceptions and we’re here to make sure of that. Just this year, the Town of Farmington tried to prohibit a group from gathering signatures to repeal the legislation for marriage equality on town property, and they called on us. The town reversed its decision within a week of receiving our letter reminding the selectmen of their obligations under the First Amendment.
- You’re never too young to learn your rights.
One of the perks of my job is attending the Bill of Rights Conferences hosted for High School Students around the state, organized by our Field Organizer Brianna Twofoot. During these days students revisit the Bill of Rights, attend a mock trial between two MCLU volunteer lawyers, participate in a mock trial themselves, and learn more about their 1st, 4th, and 14th amendment rights. Our Executive Director Shenna Bellows asks students to find the word “privacy” in the Bill of Rights, which does not exist, but is vested in the Fourth Amendment, a fundamentally important right, which prevents warrantless surveillance of Americans, protects a woman’s right to choose and gives all citizens protection from unreasonable strip searches. Some students already know their rights, and others walk away empowered with more knowledge than they had before. Just recently, Brianna was told that a student who had attended one of our conference knew he had did not have to consent to a search of his car and demanded that he have a parent present. When you hear a story like that, you know you’re doing the right thing.
- We don’t always win, but we never stop trying either.
It’s hard for me to describe the mood in our office and how I felt on November 5th of this year, the day after marriage equality was denied at the ballot box in Maine. While the defeat was truly heartbreaking, it is fair to say we all felt a sense of resolve that Question 1 was just a setback, and that we would never relent in the fight for marriage equality in our state. I’ve only been an employee of the MCLU for six months, so I know that my colleagues at the MCLU have had a larger share of setbacks and losses on issues such as REAL ID and the Patriot Act, but out of those losses I can attest to the sustained determination of our office on every issue, regardless of past outcomes. There is a quote on a wall in our office which hangs right across from my desk, which says “eternal vigilance is the price of liberty”. The MCLU will never relent on the issues that matter to all of us.
- The country would look a little different without the ACLU.
As a high school student, I heard about the release of the Bush administration torture memos, and did not know at the time that their release was the result of an ACLU Freedom of Information Act request. As Glenn Greenwald has noted, “the ACLU has performed the function which Congress and the media are intended to perform but do not.” In addition to the more publicized aspects of the ACLU’s work, you will also find affiliates in every state of the country making phone calls and writing letters to public schools and local government officials to remind them of their obligations under the Bill of Rights. I’ve seen this firsthand in our office. I think we would all be a little less free today without the work of the ACLU.
- We truly could not do our work without the support of our members.
We are a member-supported organization, and from the electricity in our office to the student Bill of Rights conferences we organize all over the state, you are the reason why we’re able to do the work that we do. This has been a tough year all around, and we know how fortunate we are to have committed members renew their membership and give a gift to the MCLU so we can continue our work, and we have plenty on our plates in the coming year, ranging from a bill to limit and regulate the use of solitary confinement in prisons to the use of license plate scanners on police cruisers. The ACLU has just lost 25% of its budget and we can use your continued support, especially now, and you can click here to make a donation.
