Eleven reasons you should make a last-minute donation to the ACLU

Click here to make a tax-deductible gift to the ACLU Foundation.


11. Because you like to swear.
Admit it.  You do.  We all do.  There's nothing quite as cathartic as unleashing a few choice words when a day isn't going your way.  Even certain mayors know the value of a well-timed dirty word.  Trouble is, some people in authority seem to think there's a "no dirty words" exception to the First Amendment.

In the past few years, we've represented a woman arrested for swearing at an inanimate bathroom fixture, a man who was told that calling his business "I Choose Hell" was illegal for being 'blasphemous,' and a whole slew of people who used words that police officers didn't like.  

So if you enjoy the right to legally use every word in the lexicon, or if your family swear jar is filled to the brim, maybe toss a few dollars our way.  Who knows?  We may someday keep you out of prison.

10. Because you own a cell phone.

...and you'd rather the government didn't use it to track your every movement, or go through it when you aren't looking, or charge you as a child pornographer because you took a naked (or near-naked) photo of yourself.  Cell phones are fast becoming a new front in the fight for civil liberties, and the ACLU is working hard to remind the government that you don't waive your right to privacy when you buy a cell phone.

9. Because criticizing the government does not make you a terrorist.
Nor does protesting against natural gas extraction or attending a vegan block party, and yet people engaged in these very activities ended up in intelligence bulletins distributed to the State Police to warn them of potential terrorist activity.  The ACLU has been helping activists from around the state obtain information as to whether they or their organizations were listed, and has called for an investigation into the matter from an independent party.

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