5. Civil Liberties Organizations



5.1. Civil Liberties Groups

American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU)
Aggressively defends equal rights under the law and our constitutionally guaranteed civil liberties including challenging government surveillance, opposing voter suppression laws, championing reproductive justice and marriage equality.
People for the American Way (PFAW)
An advocate for the values and institutions that sustain a diverse democratic society and that are threatened by the radical right.
National Coalition Against Censorship (NCAC)
An alliance of 50 national non-profit organizations, including literary, artistic, religious, educational, professional, labor, and civil liberties groups that are united by a conviction that freedom of thought, inquiry, and expression must be defended.
Defending Rights and Dissent
Protects the right of political expression to strengthen participatory democracy, and to fulfill the promise of the Bill of Rights for everyone.
Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press (RCFP)
Dedicated to providing free legal assistance to journalists since 1970.
National Freedom of Information Coalition (NFOIC)
Protects the public’s right to oversee its government by offering grants to help foster the creation and growth of state FOI coalitions and works to start up and support citizen-driven state FOI and First Amendment organizations.
American Booksellers for Free Expression (ABFE)
The independently-owned bookseller’s voice in the fight against censorship, working to promote and protect the free exchange of ideas, particularly those contained in books, by opposing restrictions on the freedom of speech; issuing statements on significant free expression controversies; participating in legal cases involving First Amendment rights; collaborating with other groups with an interest in free speech; and providing education about the importance of free expression to booksellers, other members of the book industry, politicians, the press and the public.

Drug Policy Alliance
An organization working to end the war on drugs and promote new drug policies based on science, common sense, compassion, public health, and human rights.

5.2. Electronic Privacy Groups

Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF)
Fighting for freedom, primarily in the courts, and working to ensure that the principles embodied in the U.S. Constitution and Bill of Rights (and the UN Universal Declaration of Human Rights) are protected as new communications technologies emerge.
Center for Democracy & Technology (CDT)
Dedicated to promoting the democratic potential of today’s open, decentralized global Internet by conceptualizing, developing, and implementing public policies to preserve and enhance free expression, privacy, open access, and other democratic values in the new and increasingly integrated communications medium.
Electronic Privacy Information Center (EPIC)
Promotes oversight, accountability and public debate around the issues of government secrecy and civil liberties in relation to the Internet.
Privacy Rights Clearinghouse (PRC)
Works to raise consumers’ awareness of how technology affects personal privacy, responds to specific privacy-related complaints from consumers, and advocates for consumers’ privacy rights in local, state, and federal public policy proceedings.

5.3. Freedom of Religion Groups

Americans United for Separation of Church and State (AU)
A non-sectarian, non-partisan organization working since 1947 to defend the separation of church and state, the cornerstone of religious liberty in America.
National Center for Science Education (NCSE)
Devoted to defending the teaching of evolution, primarily against attacks by religiously motivated anti-evolution groups.
Appignani Humanist Legal Center (AHLC)
Provides legal assistance to defend the constitutional rights of religious and secular minorities by directly challenging clear violations of the law where it relates to First Amendment/Establishment Clause concerns.
Freedom From Religion Foundation (FFRF)
Works to educate the public on matters relating to nontheism, and to promote the constitutional principle of separation of state and church, and to educate the public on matters relating to nontheism.
Military Religious Freedom Foundation (MRFF)
Dedicated to ensuring that all members of the United States Armed Forces fully receive the Constitutional guarantee of religious freedom to which they and all Americans are entitled by virtue of the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment.