ACLU - darn conservative organization at it again

[shortylickens]

I never thought of the ACLU as conservative. They defend illegals.

 

[jonks]

They defend, not prosecute.

Not wholly accurate. Only the government prosecutes. But private parties can bring a civil case as a plaintiff, or they can be sued as a defendant (who can in turn sue someone else and become a third party plaintiff, but let's leave that for later eh?) The ACLU has taken positions in civil matters as both plaintiff and defendant, as well as representing criminal defendants in government prosecutions.

 

[feralkid]

Not wholly accurate. Only the government prosecutes. But private parties can bring a civil case as a plaintiff, or they can be sued as a defendant (who can in turn sue someone else and become a third party plaintiff, but let's leave that for later eh?) The ACLU has taken positions in civil matters as both plaintiff and defendant, as well as representing criminal defendants in government prosecutions.

I stand corrected; pardon my ignorance.

 

[JS80]

Great, one token case they take every so often so they can give the illusion of being nonpartisan.

 

[jonks]

Great, one token case they take every so often so they can give the illusion of being nonpartisan.

Thank you for illustrating the point of the thread. It's a strange world where defending the plain wording of the constitution is NOT considered to be a conservative position.

 

[jackschmittusa]

The ACLU has consistently been the defender of the rights and freedoms of all Americans. Even the ones you do not like.

If only all of our American organizations stayed so true to their ideals and principles.

 

[GodisanAtheist]

Don't we selectively rescind the rights of minors on a regular basis? They can't vote or own firearms, so why does the 1st amendment have to apply either?

Serious question maybe I'm totally off the rails here.

 

[Siddhartha]

Can anyone think of any organization whose charter is to help the powerless, poor, women, minorities, etc that has not been attacked by groups and individuals whose positions are championed by FOX News and conservative talk radio?

 

[jackschmittusa]

GodisanAtheist

Government at all levels has always had the opinion that it may offer only a limited set of rights until the person reaches the age of majority. Such limitations must generally prove a compelling state interest in preserving the health and welfare of a minor.

 

[Amused]

Agreed. I fundamentally distrust them while accepting that they are not the devil I tend to see when I look in their direction, so I'm always glad to see something they do with which I can agree.

Actually, I support just about everything they do, except their ridiculous and highly damaging stance on the 2nd Amendment. IMO, their position on the 2nd comes near to nulling everything else they do.

 

[Amused]

Can anyone think of any organization whose charter is to help the powerless, poor, women, minorities, etc that has not been attacked by groups and individuals whose positions are championed by FOX News and conservative talk radio?

There are valid reasons to dislike the ACLU besides the rantings of social conservatives. For me, it's their stance on the 2nd Amendment.

 

[JS80]

Thank you for illustrating the point of the thread. It's a strange world where defending the plain wording of the constitution is NOT considered to be a conservative position.

Yes, because they defend all parts of the constitution so equally well. If they did, you'd think they were a right wing organization.

 

[comptr6]

Can anyone think of any organization whose charter is to help the powerless, poor, women, minorities, etc that has not been attacked by groups and individuals whose positions are championed by FOX News and conservative talk radio?

The tea party of course. The tea party relies on conservative news as the liberal lame stream media does everything it can to paint them as ignorant extremists.

 

[feralkid]

The tea party of course. The tea party relies on conservative news as the liberal lame stream media does everything it can to paint them as ignorant extremists.

I guess I never knew the Tea Party's charter is to help the powerless, poor, women, minorities, etc.

 

[Siddhartha]

Instead of critcizing the ACLU for not championing your causes, start a similar organization that will do this. I think you should not have trouble finding financial backers for such an organization.

 

[comptr6]

I guess I never knew the Tea Party's charter is to help the powerless, poor, women, minorities, etc.

Unlike liberal organizations the Tea Party doesn't discriminate, it's for all Americans.

 

[feralkid]

Unlike liberal organizations the Tea Party doesn't discriminate, it's for all Americans.

Cool.

Where does one find a copy of this charter you speak of claiming to help the powerless, poor, women, minorities, etc.?

 

[QuantumPion]

The ACLU vigorously defends our Constitutional rights, and nearly all of the lawyers involved there do so on a voluntary basis. Frequently the cases they take on are distasteful and repugnant to the general public, so they frequently actually damage those attorneys ability to make money in their profession.

By my standards the ACLU is a sterling example of a conservative group-or at least what a conservative group should be. But then again, the liberal-conservative label is pretty much nonsense anyway.

Every amendment except the 2nd!

 

[Vette73]

Every amendment except the 2nd!

Yea the ACLU never helps people in gun cases...

http://www.nola.com/news/t-p/metro/index.ssf?/base/news-34/1246599031151650.xml&coll=1

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/04/05/us/05guns.html?_r=1

http://articles.sun-sentinel.com/2010-07-22/news/fl-gun-guy-wins-20100721_1_mr-weinstein-guns-seized


yep never happens...

 

[xj0hnx]

Yea the ACLU never helps people in gun cases...

http://www.nola.com/news/t-p/metro/index.ssf?/base/news-34/1246599031151650.xml&coll=1

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/04/05/us/05guns.html?_r=1

http://articles.sun-sentinel.com/2010-07-22/news/fl-gun-guy-wins-20100721_1_mr-weinstein-guns-seized


yep never happens...

And there are so very few examples, which is why ...''

Alice Tripp, the legislative director for the rifle association, conceded that the groups had been seen as an odd couple. “Everybody kind of went, ‘Oh my God, what’s the A.C.L.U. doing here with the gun people?’ ” Ms. Tripp said. But she said they had found common ground on self-defense as an endangered liberty.

This was even a line in the story. The ACLU has historically taken the position of the collective over the individual in gun cases, and in those stories their interest wasn't even to insure that rights to guns were upheld.

 

[CitizenKain]

Unlike liberal organizations the Tea Party doesn't discriminate, it's for all Americans*.

*By Americans we mean white older people.

 

[xj0hnx]

*By Americans we mean white people older people.

You are a classic moron.

 

[zinfamous]

Agreed. I fundamentally distrust them while accepting that they are not the devil I tend to see when I look in their direction, so I'm always glad to see something they do with which I can agree.

eh, it's attitudes like that which simply expose your own bias towards freedoms that you accept--or your interpretation of such freedoms, over freedoms that you'd rather we not have, or simply do not care about.

The ACLU is across-the-board superior to SCOTUS when it comes to defending constitutional liberty.

As far as gun rights (which seems to be 95% of why people distrust this "commie lib-infiltration organization"), they have always defaulted to the historical SCOTUS platform.

Only in the last 2 decades has the SCOTUS turned about 170 degrees from their much, much, much longer history of repsonsible gun control and personal responsibility to "arm the fuck out of everyone YEE-HAW!" due to Charlton Heston and shit loads of money, and thus deviating from the relatively unchanged platform of the ACLU.

:\

 

[zinfamous]

The tea party of course. The tea party relies on conservative news as the liberal lame stream media does everything it can to paint them as ignorant extremists.

no, they do that themselves. Quite willingly, I might add.

lol you are so fucking blind.

 

[zinfamous]

good. they should go after eco-theism dirt rollers next.

do dopers have rights that need protecting????