Is There Anyone Left Who Thinks the ACLU Cares About the Bill of Rights ?
Not that any rational person still harbored delusions that the American Civil Liberties Union actually cared about defending American’s civil liberties, but in case there existed a poor sap who might think that way, the organization has gone out of its way recently to demonstrate what it really is: the legal arm for the advancement of progressive politics.
Exhibit one:
University of Michigan-Dearborn wrestler Marina Goocher has won two National Collegiate Wrestling Association women’s championships. Now, she wants to take her shot at the men’s title. But NCWA policy clearly forbids women from practicing or competing against men. So, the American Civil Liberties Union, the National Women’s Law Center and the Women’s Sports Foundation are fighting to change the policy.
Of course they are. Because dudes in spandex, rolling around sweaty with a chick on a mat is obviously one of the more prominent liberties enshrined in the Bill of Rights, far more than say, the rights of religious conscience.
Exhibit two:
The American Civil Liberties Union told the Supreme Court on Monday the First Amendment doesn’t give a Christian baker the right to discriminate against a same-sex couple by refusing to bake them a wedding cake. The ACLU is representing Charlie Craig and Dave Mullins, a same-sex couple, who brought a civil rights complaint against Jack Phillips, a Christian baker, who refused to bake them a wedding cake due to his religious beliefs.
When viewed together, these cases are a stinging indictment of the lack of Constitutional fidelity maintained by the ACLU. Whatever it once was, this is clearly no longer an organization interested in defending the Bill of Rights or the civil liberties of citizens. It is a legal advocacy group for left-wing political causes.
Commandeering the use of government force to compel private citizens into participation in private commercial activities they find morally imprudent is about as open-and-shut a case for conscience rights violation as you can imagine. But because the ACLU has sworn allegiance to progressivism as their first love, they not only demur at the opportunity to defend the First Amendment from government assault, but they have shockingly joined the side of the government in legal action against the private citizen involved.
Meanwhile, in the case of the female wrestler, the ACLU legally assails the National Collegiate Wrestling Association for its “Best Practices” guide that explicitly forbids male vs. female competition. The guide reads,
The rule is simple. Women wrestle women, men wrestle men in practice and competition. Period. Our rules and insurance coverages do not permit male vs. female practice or competition. This type of combative activity is not covered under your NCWA provided insurance.
But the ACLU has found this case right up their alley, not because the NCWA has violated any constitutional principle with its rules, but because they have offended 21st century progressive ideals:
“NCWA’s rule is based on antiquated gender stereotypes, including assumptions about differences in strength between male and female athletes and outdated notions about the propriety of physical contact between men and women,” said Galen Sherwin, senior staff attorney with the ACLU’s Women’s Rights Project.
Rather than a guardian, they have willfully for the sake of politics, taken up the cause of the progressive faction and have declared legal war on anything that stands in their way – including the Constitution, the Bill of Rights, and the private citizens those documents were written to protect.
Source: The Resurgent