In Defense of American Liberties: A History of the ACLU

by Samuel E. Walker

This updated comprehensive history of the American Civil Liberties Union recounts the ACLU's stormy history since its founding in 1920 to fight for free speech and explores its involvement in some of the most famous causes in American history, including the Scopes "monkey trial," the internment of Japanese Americans during World War II, the Cold War anti-Communist witch hunts, and the civil rights movement. The new introduction covers the history of the organization and developments in civil liberties in the 1990s, including the U.S. Supreme Court's declaration of the Communications Decency Act as unconstitutional in ACLU v. Reno .

Genres: Law, Nonfiction, History, Politics

536 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1990

About the author

Samuel Walker is Professor Emeritus of Criminal Justice at the University of Nebraska, Omaha, where he taught for 31 years before retiring in 2005. He is the author of 13 books on policing, criminal justice history and policy, and civil liberties. His current research involves police accountability, focusing primarily on citizen oversight of the police and police Early Intervention Systems (EIS). Originally trained as a historian, he is completing a book on U.S. presidents and civil liberties. His personal website, with information on police accountability is: http: //samuelwalker.net.

Reviews

[Eric · Rating 4 out of 5]

At the mention of certain people or organizations certain preconceptions immediately spring to mind. With the ACLU, 'founded by a Communist' and 'Nazis march Skokie' are two that immediately spring to mind. In fact ACLU founder Roger Baldwin was not a Communist, assisted in purging the ACLU of that group and the Nazis never actually marched in Skokie (and never really wanted to). Samuel Walkers book fleshes out the gray in those black and white statements.

'In Defense of American Liberties is as complete a history as I found available on the subject of the ACLU. What you get between the covers is the complexity of an organization to defend the rights of all Americans. This includes vastly differing opinions on what cases and issues to address, funding, and the involvement with the American government. I found it astounding the degree that the ACLU went to please the FBI and two administrations during the first and second World Wars. No book is without bias, but this is the closest that I have gotten to it on this specific topic.

[Barbara · Rating 4 out of 5]

Samuel Walker does an excellent job of explaining the role the ACLU has played in the course of American history during the 20th century. Whether you like or dislike the organization generally depends on what's being debated in the news and whose side you're on. Walker doesn't gloss over some of the more unpleasant stories from inside the organization, either. I found it very helpful in doing research for an English composition class, in which I had to write an essay outlining an argument I was defending.

[J · Rating 3 out of 5]

It's probably best to see this as a reference book. You can extract some great background information about the ACLU and the history of American politics from it, but it's not going to make it easy or interesting to do so. It's broken into many small, self-contained sections, so it's easy to treat it this way.