The 29 foot high Latin cross atop Mt. Soledad in the San Diego suburbs has been under attack by the ACLU for 21 years now. But the cross still stands. The ACRU has joined in defense of the cross for the last 11 years. In 2005, the Congress took the cross and the land surrounding it by eminent domain, and registered it as an official federal veterans’ memorial. The ACLU sued again claiming that crosses even on federal veterans memorials are unconstitutional establishments of religion. The district court dismissed the suit, which has now been appealed to the 9th Circuit. On March 20, 2009, the ACRU filed […]

On January 14, 2009, the American Civil Rights Union filed an amicus curiae brief with the United States Supreme Court in favor of Citizens United v. Federal Elections Commission, arguing that prohibiting broadcast of the movie “Hillary: The Movie” violated the fundamental right of freedom of speech, not only for Citizens United and the individuals who contributed to produce the movie to advance their ideological viewpoint, but also for the viewers who would choose to watch the movie. The ACRU brief argues that these viewers “hold their own constitutionally protected, freedom of speech rights to watch and to listen to the movie and its speech.”