Why we launched Voices for the ACLU

We are former leaders of the American Civil Liberties Union who admire the vigor and effectiveness of this vital institution in the last five years under the leadership of Anthony Romero, supported by the Board of Directors led by Nadine Strossen. We have been dismayed by the ongoing attacks on the ACLU and its leadership by a handful of former staff and former board members and over the disproportionate and distorted coverage they have received in some quarters of the press.

Most recently, a small group of the ACLU's critics launched a website, savetheaclu.org, to air their concerns in an attempt to drive out the organization's top leaders. We believe this effort is utterly unjustified, and it prompted us to come together to speak out and answer these critics. We believe that the ACLU has never been stronger or more important. Others have added their voices of support for the ACLU at a critical time for the defense of civil liberties.

On this site you will find letters of support from former ACLU leaders, the entire ACLU executive committee and General Counsel, the entire senior staff, senior managers, a number of long-serving affiliate directors, and more than fifty prominent leaders in the civil rights and civil liberties community of which the ACLU is a central part.

The ACLU needs no saving. It needs our support, and we are proud to give it.

Norman Dorsen, ACLU President, 1976-1991
Gara LaMarche, Executive Director, Texas CLU, 1984-1988; ACLU Board and Executive Committee Member 1990-1997
Laura Murphy, ACLU Legislative Director, Washington Office, 1993-2005
Aryeh Neier, Executive Director of NYCLU 1965-1970; ACLU Executive Director, 1970-1978

Signed on Monday, October 16, 2006.