The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) is a private nonprofit organization devoted to the defense of civil liberties. Civil liberties are those rights enjoyed by individuals over and against the power of government. The civil liberties agenda of the ACLU includes First Amendment rights, including freedom of speech, the press, and assembly, the free exercise of religion, and the prohibition of governmental establishment of religion; equal protection under the laws, including equality for racial and ethnic minorities, women, and other groups that have experienced discrimination; due process of law, including protection against unreasonable searches and seizures and protection against self-incrimination; and the right to privacy, including a woman's right to an abortion.

The ACLU was founded in January 1920. It was an outgrowth of the National Civil Liberties Bureau (NCLB), which was created in 1917 to protect freedom of speech during World War I...