ACLU Ethical Issues

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Recommended: Significance of Brown Vs. Board of Education

The purpose of this paper is to examine the non-profit organization American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), and to provide a synopsis of the ethical and social injustice issues which are faced by the organization. When evaluating the ACLU, ethical issues which will be discussed including freedom and equality. Research proves that the ACLU upholds a firm organizational structure which allows operations at the national, state, and local level with thousands of affiliates and partners in the United States. Internal ethical issues which will be address include the decision making process of the ACLU, when choosing their stance on a particular ethical issue to campaign for or against. Decisions are currently made at the national level, but by implementing …show more content…

One of the landmark cases that the ACLU partnered with the NAACP on is Brown v. Board of Education (ACLU). Within this victory, the Supreme Court ruled that racially segregating schools were against the fourteenth amendments. Another victory in Roe v. Wade, the Supreme Court ruled that the constitutional right to privacy includes a woman's choice if she will terminate or continue her pregnancy (ACLU). Today this issue is still being battled politically by our lawmakers today. Protecting the right to privacy through the court case of Safford Unified School District v. Redding the court ruled that school officials violated the constitutional rights of a 13-year-old Arizona girl when they strip searched her based on a classmate's uncorroborated accusation (ACLU). The five year legal battle which have taken place from 2003 - 2009 the ACLU's Freedom of Information Act lawsuit compelled the release of critical documents detailing the extent of the Bush torture program, including long-secret legal memos justifying water boarding and other abuses and an Inspector General's report highlighting CIA abuses. The ACLU is leading the demand for full accountability for those who authorized or condoned torture …show more content…

• Your right to privacy - freedom from unwarranted government intrusion into your personal and private affairs. (ACLU).
With an outstanding number of employees, members, and volunteers; the ACLU faces a number of key issues within America which attacks freedom, equality, and human rights. When taking a stand on many of the ethical issues which are in question, many people take a strong stance in their beliefs based upon their morals and values which are instilled within them through their upbringing or religious beliefs (Cooper, 2012).
There are two different approaches to ethical decision making which may be utilized separately or sometimes cohesively. The first approach of reviewing an ethical question is from a deontological approach. A deontological approach to ethics, focuses on the individual's responsibility to factors such as justice and freedom without the regard for consequences (Cooper, 2012). A teleological approach to ethics, places the focus upon the end result and the greater good which benefits the most within the ethical situation (Cooper, 2012). The ACLU utilizes both approaches when reviewing ethical

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