American Civil Liberties Union  

The ACLU was founded in 1920 by Roger Baldwin with the help of prominent figures such as Helen Keller and Jane Addams.  Its mission is to defend the Bill of Rights and to make real Bill of Rights protections for everyone in the country. The ACLU has participated directly or indirectly in almost every major civil liberties case contested in American courts over the last 85 years. It has been in the forefront of the struggle for civil rights, women's rights, the rights of gays and lesbians, and the rights of students.  In addition to taking cases to court, it educates the public about individual freedoms and works against the passage of laws that undermine rights.  Today, the ACLU is a nonprofit, nonpartisan, 500,000-member strong organization with national offices in New York City and Washington DC , and affiliates in every state. 

Visit its websites: http://www.aclu.org and http://www.aclum.org