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

ACLU Responds To Arrest Of ABC Reporter In Denver (08/28/2008)
DENVER – Following news reports and a video showing Denver law enforcement agents ordering a reporter off a public sidewalk and pushing him into the street and later arresting him, the American Civil Liberties Union and the ACLU of Colorado called for renewed protection of the First Amendment guarantees of free speech and a free press.

Federal Court Blocks State from Enforcing Law Criminalizing Sale of Anti-War Shirts (08/20/2008)
PHOENIX, AZ – A federal judge today blocked Arizona from enforcing a new law that makes it a crime to sell anti-war t-shirts that list troops killed in Iraq. The permanent injunction striking down the law as unconstitutional ensures that Flagstaff activist Dan R. Frazier will be able to exercise his First Amendment rights by continuing to sell t-shirts featuring anti-war messages.

ACLU-NCLF Files Lawsuit Against North Carolina State Board of Elections Challenging Total Ban on Lobbyist Contributions (08/19/2008)
RALEIGH – The American Civil Liberties Union of North Carolina Legal Foundation (ACLU-NCLF) filed a lawsuit today in the federal district court for the Eastern District of North Carolina, challenging North Carolina's Campaign Contribution Prohibition, (N.C. Gen. Stat. § 163-278.13C(a)), which imposes a year-round total prohibition on certain state campaign contributions by lobbyists. The plaintiff in the case is Sarah Preston, the ACLU-NC's lobbyist, whose First and Fourteenth Amendment rights to freedom of association and free expression are being violated by the state law barring her from contributing even one dollar to the campaign of candidates for the state legislature and many other state offices at any time during the year, as long as she is registered as a lobbyist. This year-round, zero-dollar ban applies without regard to whether the would-be recipient of the contributions is, ever has been, or will be the object of Ms. Preston's lobbying efforts.

Oregon Supreme Court Finds State's Harassment Statute Unconstitutional (08/14/2008)
The Oregon Supreme Court today echoed the arguments of the ACLU Foundation of Oregon in its decision to reverse a Court of Appeals decision involving the "abusive speech" provision of the state's harassment law.

Court Strikes Down Law Used To Remove Candidate's Political Signs (08/05/2008)
Ruling in an ACLU case, a federal judge has struck down a state law that was used by the Town of Richmond to repeatedly remove former Congressional candidate Rod Driver's political signs from private property during the 2006 election. In a 25-page opinion, Judge William Smith agreed with the ACLU that the statute violated Driver's First Amendment rights.

Free Speech : General : Publications view all

ENACTING A REASONABLE FEDERAL SHIELD LAW: A REPLY TO PROFESSORS CLYMER AND ELIASON (07/01/2008)
These days, it can be difficult to read a newspaper without seeing a story of another journalist subpoenaed to identify a confidential source. From Lance Williams and Mark Fainaru-Wada to Judith Miller and Jim Taricani, many reporters are becoming known more for the court proceedings against them than they are for the stories they write. Pulitzer Prize-winning New York Times reporter James Risen, who broke the story on the Bush Administration’s illegal warrantless wiretapping program, is the latest casualty.2 Instead of reporting the news, journalists have become the news.

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

ACLU v. Department of Justice - Complaint (07/01/2008)

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)

Free Speech : General : Legislative Documents view all

ACLU, TLP, and ACLU of PA Comments Before FCC Re: Hearing on Broadband and the Digital Future (07/21/2008)
The ACLU, Technology and Liberty Project of the ACLU, and the ACLU of Pennsylvania have been principal participants in many of the important Internet censorship and neutrality cases decided by the United States Supreme Court in the past two decades, including Reno v. ACLU, Ashcroft v. ACLU, Ashcroft v. Free Speech Coalition, and the Brand X decision, in which the Court held that cable companies providing broadband Internet access were “information service providers” for purposes of regulation by the FCC under the Communications Act. The ACLU of Pennsylvania was co-counsel in two of the leading Internet decisions, Reno v. ACLU and Ashcroft v. ACLU. Last year, the ACLU of Pennsylvania obtained relief in the Ashcroft litigation that permanently enjoined the Child Online Protection Act (“COPA”).

Coalition Sign-On Letter Opposing the Workplace Religious Freedom Act (05/15/2008)

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)

Free Speech : General : Resources view all

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.

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.

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

FAQs on Reporter Shield Laws (05/28/2008)

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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