In Defense of American Liberties: A History of the ACLU by Samuel Walker

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Synopsis

This updated comprehensive history of the American Civil Liberties Union recounts the ACLU's stormy history since its founding in 1920 to fight for free speech and explores its involvement in some of the most famous causes in American history, including the Scopes "monkey trial," the internment of Japanese Americans during World War II, the Cold War anti-Communist witch hunts, and the civil rights movement. The new introduction covers the history of the organization and developments in civil liberties in the 1990s, including the U.S. Supreme Court's declaration of the Communications Decency Act as unconstitutional in ACLU v. Reno.

Biography

Samuel Walker is Kiewit Professor of Criminal Justice at the University of Nebraska at Omaha. He is the author of ten books, most recently The Rights Revolution: Community and Rights in America.