Some of my friends are great fans of the ACLU of Minnesota and others are loyal critics. Both groups share two qualities: they are curious about how we decide to start a lawsuit and they generally assume that the ACLU-MN works from a hidden liberal agenda. They couldn't be more wrong.
Close readers of our annual report know that our lawsuit initiation process and standards are quite selective. In a typical year about 1500 individuals ask us to take on their case. Our professional staff and law student interns conduct an initial screening to determine whether the disputes meet our minimum standards. Approximately 100 cases every year go to the investigative level, where we actually gather facts, do legal research and work up a case assessment. From this refined group, our legal director and executive director make recommendations in about 10-20 cases to our legal committee as to whether a recommendation should be made to the Board to approve the case. If the Board approves and the matter does not require an emergency lawsuit, the ACLU-MN routinely communicates with the governmental entity involved and requests that it cease its unconstitutional conduct. These requests are always accompanied by a detailed explanation of precisely why the conduct is unlawful. A significant percentage of the violators comply with our request. As a result, we bring about 10 lawsuits per year.
Of course the numbers don't explain the actual standards that are applied in determining which cases we pursue. The answer to this question if found in two separate processes. In formulating their recommendations to the Board, our Legal Director Terri Nelson and Executive Director Chuck Samuelson consider the technical merits of each case; the strength of the civil liberties issues involved; the resources required to pursue the case; and whether this is the right case in which to put a particular civil liberties issue before a court. The Board exercises its collective judgment to weigh these same general factors, drawing on the experience of its members as professionals, businesspeople, volunteers, attorneys, and law school faculty.
I have participated in nearly one hundred discussions regarding which cases the ACLU-MN should pursue and have never heard a board member or staff person seriously suggest that we should pursue a case because it promotes a partisan agenda, because it is consistent with non-civil liberties causes, or because it promotes a secular agenda. We go after both Democratic and Republican administrations when they violate civil liberties. In the past year we sued a public charter school for promoting Islam and, at the request of a Bishop, took on the representation of a protestant church whose rights were being violated by a municipality. To the surprise of my conservative friends, we are actively pursuing cases involving the unconstitutional taking of property.
Ultimately, you don't have to look beyond our name to find the overriding standard by which we litigate: the ACLU-MN exists to protect civil liberties.
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