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Principled and nonpartisan, the ACLU has been the nation’s foremost defender of civil liberties for over a century. With affiliate staff working in all 50 states, Puerto Rico, and Washington, D.C., the ACLU mobilizes the country’s largest team of public interest lawyers, lobbyists, and communication strategists—as well as millions of members and activists—to advance justice, equality, and freedom for all. This extensive network allows us to respond quickly and forcefully to any infringement on our civil rights and liberties, wherever they may occur. 

The ACLU combines litigation with public education, grassroots organizing, and other advocacy to protect and expand people’s rights at the local, state, and federal levels. The ACLU uses these strategies to advance a vast array of issues, including: criminal law reform; disability rights; ending the death penalty; equality for LGBTQ+ individuals; free speech; human rights; immigrants’ rights; privacy; racial justice; reproductive freedom; rights-protective national security policies; separation of church and state; and women’s rights. We use every tool at our disposal to protect and advance the promises of the constitution—in many cases, the same freedoms that we helped to bring to life in the first place. 

As our democracy faces existential threats to its institutions and operations, the ACLU remains uniquely qualified to stand up the principles of the American ideal, just as we did in the wake of both World Wars, the McCarthy era, the turbulence of the Civil Rights era, 9/11, and right up through to today. We believe that “We the people…” means all of us.