ACLU

ACLU Looks To Brooklyn Law For New President

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On Saturday the American Civil Liberties Union elected a new president, Susan Herman.

She’s a constitutional law professor at Brooklyn Law School and had served as the ACLU’s general counsel prior to this promotion. It has been a long time since ACLU leadership changed hands:

Herman’s selection gives the organization a new public face for the first time in nearly two decades. Nadine Strossen, the ACLU’s longest-serving president and the first woman to hold the job, had led the group since 1991, overseeing a substantial rise in formal membership and national staff.

Herman intends to spearhead the organization’s outreach to the African-American community, and she believes that her professorial background will help encourage young people to become card-carrying members.

More on Susan Herman’s background after the jump.


According to her bio, Professor Herman is “widely regarded” as a SCOTUS expert. But the NYU Law graduate also has a keen interest in post-9/11 constitutional issues:

Professor Herman’s seminar, Terrorism and Civil Liberties, is an outgrowth of her interest in post-9/11 constitutional issues, including both civil liberties and federalism issues. [See “Our New Federalism? National Authority and Local Autonomy in the War on Terror.” 69 Bklyn. L. Rev. 1201 (2004) (symposium).]

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But Herman’s first statements have focused on African-American outreach:

“There’s a very widespread misimpression that the ACLU opposes religion” despite its efforts to protect rights to religious expression, Herman told The Associated Press, adding that she was surprised “there aren’t more people in the African-American community that believe the ACLU is their organization.”

Increasing membership is a common goal for many organizations, but what kinds of cases do you think the ACLU should be focusing on. Civil liberties have been under attack for most of this decade, how do you think the ACLU should be using its resources?

Law professor elected new ACLU president [MSNBC]

Susan N. Herman, President of the ACLU [ACLU]

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