American Civil Liberties Union

Free Speech:
Freedom of speech is protected in the First Amendment of the Bill of Rights and is guaranteed to all Americans. Since 1920, the ACLU has worked to preserve our freedom of speech. Learn more and take action to protect the right to free speech.


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Freedom Files - Season 2
Ideological Exclusion

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Free Speech : General : Press Releases view all

Senate Poised To Tighten Broadcast Ownership Rules (04/24/2008)
Washington, DC – Today, the Senate Commerce Committee is expected to approve a bipartisan resolution, sponsored by Sen. Byron Dorgan (D-ND), which would restore a media ownership rule recently rescinded by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC). The old rule generally restricted a company from owning both a newspaper and a television station in the same city, unless the FCC granted a waiver.

ACLU: Keep the Internet Open and Innovative (04/17/2008)
Washington, DC –The ACLU submitted comments to the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) today calling for open access to the internet. Its activists plan to participate in today’s FCC public hearing on Internet freedom and net neutrality in Palo Alto.

ACLU Encouraged By Bipartisan Support of Shield Bill (04/15/2008)
Washington, DC - After reports that the three major presidential candidates expressed support for The Free Flow of Information Act, the American Civil Liberties Union asked the Senate leadership to use that momentum to bring H.R. 2102, the House-passed version of the bill, to the floor for a vote. Senators John McCain (R-AZ), Hillary Clinton (D-NY) and Barack Obama (D-IL) all signaled their support for a federal shield bill yesterday, with Senator McCain announcing his backing in a speech and Senators Clinton and Obama adding their names as co-sponsors of the Senate version of the bill.

ACLU Encouraged By Bipartisan Support of Shield Bill (04/15/2008)
Washington, DC - After reports that the three major presidential candidates expressed support for The Free Flow of Information Act, the American Civil Liberties Union asked the Senate leadership to use that momentum to bring H.R. 2102, the House-passed version of the bill, to the floor for a vote. Senators John McCain (R-AZ), Hillary Clinton (D-NY) and Barack Obama (D-IL) all signaled their support for a federal shield bill yesterday, with Senator McCain announcing his backing in a speech and Senators Clinton and Obama adding their names as co-sponsors of the Senate version of the bill.

ACLU Introduces First Amendment Argument In Key Patent Law Case (04/04/2008)
WASHINGTON - Introducing a rare argument applying the First Amendment to patent law, the American Civil Liberties Union filed a friend of the court brief today urging a federal court to uphold the denial of a patent that would, if awarded, violate freedom of speech. In the brief, the ACLU argues that Bernard L. Bilski is seeking a patent for an abstract idea, and that abstract ideas are not patentable under the First Amendment.

Free Speech : General : Publications

Publish and Perish: The Need for a Federal Reporters' Shield Law (03/14/2007)
The need for a federal reporters' shield law today is urgent. Efforts by the press to fulfill its role of exposing government abuses of power and unlawful acts are met with subpoenas, criminal charges, and lengthy prison terms.

Freedom of Expression (10/31/2005)

Urge Your Senators to Defend Political Free Speech (04/27/2005)

NYCLU Report: Arresting Protest (04/28/2003)

Free Speech : General : Legal Documents view all

In re Bilski and Warsaw - ACLU Amicus Brief (04/03/2008)

Motion to Intervene in Bank Julius Baer v. Wikileaks (02/27/2008)

Amici Curiae appeal brief in Minnesota v. Craig (01/15/2008)

Craig v. State of Minnesota - ACLU Amicus (09/17/2007)

Jarrar v. Harris, etal. - Complaint and Jury Demand (08/09/2007)

Free Speech : General : Legislative Documents view all

ACLU Comments before the FCC regarding Broadband Industry Practices (04/17/2008)
The ACLU, Technology and Liberty Project of the ACLU, and ACLU of Northern California support the underlying petitions and urge the Commission to find in favor of Petitioners by upholding concepts of accessibility and non-discrimination in the provision of text messaging and short code services and in the delivery of broadband services.

ACLU Letter to Senate Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation Leadership Regarding S.J. Res 28, Disapproving of the Rule Submitted by the Federal Communications Commission with Respect to Broadcast Media Ownership (04/01/2008)

ACLU Comments to FCC Regarding Net Neutrality (03/14/2008)

ACLU Letter to Congress Urging Members to Vote "No" On the Semper Fi Act (02/26/2008)

Remove the Unconstitutional Limits on Using Names and Images of Soldiers from the Conference Report (11/09/2007)

Free Speech : General : Resources view all

Freedom of Information Act Request to the Executive Office for United States Attorneys (11/29/2007)
FOIA request filed in response to recent reports that reveal that United States Attorneys Offices ("USAOs") are assisting law enforcement officers in obtaining information from mobile carriers that enables officers to track the location of individuals' mobile phones.

Freedom of Information Act Request to the Drug Enforcement Agency (11/29/2007)
FOIA request filed in response to reports that law enforcement officers from the DEA are obtaining information from mobile phone carriers that enables officers to track the location of individuals' mobile phones.

An Evening Without... (04/13/2006)
Writers who are currently or have been banned from the U.S. will have their work read by Martin Amis, Russell Banks, Gioconda Belli, Barbara Goldsmith, Naomi Shihab Nye, Liev Schreiber, Todd Solondz, Eloy Urroz, Debra Winger and others.

Oppose HJ Res 10, the Constitutional Amendment on Flag Desecration (06/09/2005)

Support Free Expression on Cable Television and the Internet PDF (04/05/2005)

Free Speech : General : Fact Sheets

Additional Statements of Leslie Weise and Alex Young (11/21/2005)

Free Speech : General : Supreme Court Cases

Wisconsin Right to Life v. FEC (11/21/2005)
Whether the ACLU can be barred from broadcasting advertisements prior to an election that name a federal candidate, even though the ACLU has never taken a position on an election in its 85-year history. DECIDED

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