1932 April 17

Kentucky Prosecutor: Suppress ACLU Like a “Mad Dog”

 

In an anti-Communist slur, a Kentucky prosecutor called the ACLU “Communistic,” with no constitutional rights anyone in the county “is bound to respect.” The ACLU, he added, should be suppressed like a “mad dog.”

The ACLU was attacked many times in its long history. On May 21, 1926 it was banned from speaking in the New York City Schools; on October 12, 1926 an Army general called the ACLU “the most radical organization in the country;” on December 15, 1930 the Fish Committee in the House of Representatives targeted the ACLU in its investigation of communist propaganda; on January 3, 1939 a HUAC report labelled the ACLU a communist “front organization;” the National Police Association on July 25, 1961 warned that the ACLU was engaged in “subversive activities;” the American Legion on October 11, 1962 called for an investigation of the ACLU; on October 13, 1970 police blamed the ACLU and the Supreme Court for the rise in crime; on on January 30, 1984 President Ronald Reagan, responding the ACLU criticisms, said “I wear their indictment like a badge of honor.”

On the history of the ACLU and its relationship to communism, read: Samuel Walker, In Defense of American Liberties: A History of the ACLU (1990)

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