Forming an ACLU club at your school

So, you want to start an ACLU club at your school

Thank you so much for your interest in civil liberties and civil rights, and your commitment to making our society more just and fair. We hope that your involvement with the ACLU lasts a lifetime, and that your experience working as an activist is very rewarding and meaningful.

Know what the ACLU is and what it does

The ACLU is a non-profit organization that has been around since the early 1900's fighting to defend people's individual rights as outlined in the Bill of Rights. The ACLU does this by fighting in the courts, in Congress and local state governments, and in the streets with direct action and public education. The ACLU spends a significant amount of its resources working to extend basic rights to people who have historically been denied these rights -- such as women, people of color, religious minorities, immigrants, lesbians and gay men, homeless people, and people with disabilities.

And understand what the ACLU believes in

The ACLU believes that once the government tramples on the rights of one group of people, it is then empowered to use that precedent to violate everyone else's rights. So the ACLU fights to protect the rights of all people.

The ACLU believes that:

• schools should fight speech with more speech, not with censorship
• religion and public schools don't mix and that required prayer or moments of silence are unconstitutional
• the student press has almost the same protections in California as the mainstream press
• students have a reasonable expectation of privacy in public schools and should not be subjected to random searches -- such as drug sniffing dogs, drug testing, locker searches, breathalyzer tests, metal detectors, strip searches, surveillance cameras, etc.
• young people have the same rights to move freely in public and should not be subjected to unwarranted searches, stops, curfews, bans from stores based on age, etc.
• students have the right to be in campus environments that are safe, secure, and peaceful according to the California State Constitution
• students should have the freedom to attend school without being discriminated against because of their sex, race, ethnicity, religion, sexual orientation, appearance, or physical disability
• since students who are female or people of color face discrimination, we support programs designed to help them do well in school, such as bilingual education or affirmative action programs

Know the ACLU positions that might be controversial

• The ACLU defends free speech, even the most hateful speech, because you don't need the First Amendment to protect popular viewpoints, only the most unpopular.
• The ACLU is against the death penalty because it is cruel and unusual punishment that is applied unfairly against the poor and people of color.
• The ACLU supports investment in rehabilitation and prevention rather than an over-reliance upon incarceration and punishment for those who break our laws.
• The ACLU believes our society still discriminates and therefore supports the need for affirmative action programs in employment and education.

As an ACLU club member, you don't have to agree with every position the ACLU takes. However, as an ACLU club, you must understand the full range of issues the ACLU deals with and support the general purpose of the ACLU which is to ensure that everyone's rights are protected, and to fight laws or policies that limit our freedoms as outlined in the Bill of Rights.