* ON CAMPUS ISSUES - STUDENTS RIGHTS
Violations of constitutional rights are far too common in public schools across the country. Articles about controversial subjects written for student newspapers are censored. Lockers and backpacks are searched without reasonable suspicion. Minority students are disproportionately shunted in to lower track programs. Majoritarian religious practices are officially sanctioned by teachers and school administrators. Female students are excluded from certain extracurricular activities. And gay students are intimidated into silence.

* SAFE AND FREE - THE USA PATRIOT ACT
Just 45 days after the September 11 attacks, with virtually no debate, Congress passed the USA PATRIOT Act. Many parts of this sweeping legislation take away checks on law enforcement and threaten the very rights and freedoms that we are struggling to protect. For example, without a warrant and without probable cause, the FBI now has the power to access your private medical records, your library records, and your student records... and can prevent anyone from telling you it was done. The Department of Justice is expected to introduce a sequel, dubbed PATRIOT II, which would further erode the key freedoms and liberties of every American.

* FREE SPEECH
It is not an accident that freedom of speech is mentioned in the First Amendment: "Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances." The Constitution’s framers believed that freedom of inquiry and liberty of expression were the hallmarks of a democratic society. But historically, at times of national stress -- real or imagined -- First Amendment rights come under enormous pressure. The First Amendment exists precisely to protect the most offensive and controversial speech from government suppression. The best way to counter obnoxious or unwanted speech is with more speech. Persuasion, not coercion, is the solution.

* WOMEN'S/ REPRODUCTIVE RIGHTS
ACLU has a commitment to ensure that women are free to live and work as equals, with full personal control over their reproductive destinies.

* DRUG POLICY
The "War on Drugs" is not working. After decades of criminal prohibition and intensive law enforcement efforts to rid the country of illegal drugs, violent traffickers still endanger lives in our cities and tons of cocaine, heroin, and marijuana still cross our borders unimpeded. For the first time in history, the number of inmates in American prisons and jails has exceeded 2 million people, a rate of incarceration that is the highest in the world! This has happened despite the fact that violent crime has fallen to its lowest levels since 1974, when data was first collected nationally. Drug offenses account for nearly 60% of the federal prison population and more than 20% of the state inmate population.

* CIVIL RIGHTS - RACIAL EQUALITY
The ACLU actively supports affirmative action as a remedy for discrimination in employment and education. Although much progress has been made since the Civil Rights Movement, avenues of opportunity for those previously excluded still remain far too narrow. The organization has also initiated a series of groundbreaking lawsuits to establish the right to "educational equity" for poor children and children of color. These suits confront the issue of how states fund their public education systems and argue that students are entitled to equal and adequate educational opportunities regardless of the wealth of the communities in which they live.

* LESBIAN/GAY RIGHTS
The struggle of LGBT (lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender) people for equal rights has moved to center stage. LGBT people are battling for their civil rights in Congress, in courtrooms, and in the streets. Well-known figures are discussing their sexual orientation in public. LGBT people are featured in movies and on television — not as novelty characters, but as full participants in society. The course of these lawsuits will determine whether LGBT people will be allowed to have the same legal status and rights as all other Americans.

* RELIGIOUS LIBERTY
The right of each and every American to practice his or her own religion, or no religion at all, is among the most fundamental of the freedoms guaranteed by the Bill of Rights. The Constitution's framers understood very well that religious liberty can flourish only if the government leaves religion alone. The free exercise clause of the First Amendment guarantees the right to practice one's religion free of government interference. The establishment clause requires the separation of church and state. Combined, they ensure religious liberty. Yet assaults on this freedom continue, both in Washington and in state legislatures around the country.

* DEATH PENALTY
Capital punishment is the ultimate denial of civil liberties. The ACLU opposes capital punishment under all circumstances because it violates the constitutional ban on cruel and unusual punishment, is administered arbitrarily and unfairly, and fails as a deterrent against future criminal acts. In 1976, the ACLU launched its Capital Punishment Project, a public education and advocacy program that seeks to bring about the abolition of the death penalty.