COMMENTARY: Local ACLU sticking up for the voiceless

In a June 27 editorial, the Review Journal took issue with the ACLU’s new Rights for All campaign, our volunteer-driven effort to get candidates on the record about civil rights and civil liberties stances.

Unlike other individuals, entities and organizations, the ACLU doesn’t have a direct line to the president, donate or bundle money to candidates, or pick our positions based on the latest polls. Instead, we rely on People Power, our committed volunteers in Nevada, who are willing to show up to events across the state and engage candidates for office on civil rights and civil liberties issues.

Our volunteers speak to those seeking the country’s most powerful office about the issues that affect many of the most powerless people in our society: Citizens denied the right to vote and having a say in their government; the millions of Americans incarcerated in our broken and unfair criminal justice system, immigrants trying to build a better life for themselves and their families in the face of constant attacks; and women who cannot access health care simply because of their income.

The ACLU, of course, works on many other issues, from fighting for the LGBTQ community to defending victims of abusive police practices, seeking smart justice and reducing incarceration. We have always done this and will continue to do.

We always stand up for free speech, even in the most unpopular and unsavory cases. We fought back against attempts here in Nevada in 2017 to criminalize support for the Boycott, Divestment and Sanction (BDS) movement, because regardless of how you feel about BDS, in the United States all people’s political opinions should be protected. That is why we opposed the state’s anti-BDS requirements with government contractors; similar laws have been struck down in other states for violating the First Amendment. We hope the Review-Journal backs up its stated commitment to free speech and joins us in urging the state to end this unconstitutional law to regulate political speech.

By prioritizing certain issues for the 2020 election cycle, the ACLU highlights some specific initiatives for urgent consideration. The issues identified for the Rights for All campaign were chosen because of the direct threats being experienced by those affected communities. For those who are incarcerated because of racially discriminatory reasons, freedom cannot come fast enough. For those who know no country other than the United States, but are not documented, status cannot come fast enough. For those who need to make choices about their reproductive health, getting the government out of those decisions cannot come fast enough. For those who are qualified to vote but prevented from doing so because of unconstitutional laws and intimidation, their voting rights cannot come fast enough.

Far from diminishing our other work, the Rights for All campaign strengthens our efforts to make sure that civil liberties and civil rights issues get the attention they deserve and that the candidates running for president know that defending the Constitution means supporting the rights of all people.

Tod Story is the executive director of the ACLU of Nevada.