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NYCLU Letter to the Crossgates Mall (03/11/2003)

Flag Amendment Defeated, First Amendment Stands Unscathed (02/21/2003)
Read about the history of the flag amendment and why Americans across the country oppose this amendment.

Newspaper editors' opposition to the flag "desecration" amendment (02/21/2003)

Tom Robbins Reads Tropic of Cancer: Banned Books Week 2001 (02/27/2002)
Hear author Tom Robbins read an excerpt of Henry Miller's novel Tropic of Cancer as part of our Banned Books Week audio special.

Michael Chabon (02/27/2002)
Hear author Michael Chabon read an excerpt from Love in the Time of Cholera by Gabriel Garcia-Marquez as part of the ACLU's Banned Books Week audio special.

Freedom of Expression in the Arts and Entertainment (02/27/2002)
In the late 1980s, state prosecutors brought a criminal obscenity charge against the owner of a record store for selling an album by the rap group, 2 Live Crew. Although this was the first time that obscenity charges had ever been brought against song lyrics, the 2 Live Crew case focused the nation's attention on an old question: should the government ever have the authority to dictate to its citizens what they may or may not listen to, read, or watch?

Lawrence Ferlinghetti Discusses the Publication of "Howl:" ACLU Banned Books Week 2001 (02/27/2002)
Hear poet Lawrence Ferlinghetti discuss the publication and ensuing obscenity trial of Allen Ginsberg's ""Howl and Other Poems,"" as part of the ACLU Banned Books Week audio special.

Freedom of Expression (02/27/2002)
Freedom of speech, of the press, of association, of assembly and petition -- this set of guarantees, protected by the First Amendment, comprises what we refer to as freedom of expression. The Supreme Court has written that this freedom is "the matrix, the indispensable condition of nearly every other form of freedom." Without it, other fundamental rights, like the right to vote, would wither and die.

Links to Other Free Expression Sites (02/19/2002)
The following sites provide comprehensive or unique resources relating to the work of the ACLU in this issue area. While some of these sites are operated by organizations that work frequently in coalition with the ACLU, the sites may also include materials on positions we do not share. To report a broken or relocated link, or to suggest a site for inclusion on this page, use the feedback button at the bottom of this page.

Authors Speak in Celebration of Banned Books Week 2001 (02/15/2002)
Allen Ginsberg's revolutionary poem Howl and Henry Miller's erotic masterpiece Tropic of Cancer are landmark works that reflect the power, pleasure, creativity, and challenge of great American literature. Yet both have been pulled from library and bookstore shelves, condemned as obscene, and otherwise suppressed and censored. In 1950 the United States government sought to bar the entry of Tropic of Cancer through customs.

All Dressed Up and Nowhere to Go: Students and Their Parents Fight School Uniform Policies (11/04/1999)