The ACLU was founded in 1920 and is dedicated to protecting the freedoms guaranteed by the Bill of Rights. Its uncompromising stands in favor of these freedoms, even when exercised by people considered objectionable by the mainstream, has earned them a great deal of enmity.
The ACLU has been ambiguous on the question of the Communist Party in the United States and during the Cold War purged communist sympathizers from its leadership ranks.
Controversial positions have included defending the right of Neo-Nazis to mark through the heavily Jewish community of Skokie, Illinois. A constant source of friction between the ACLU and many Christian churches has been the organization`s insistence that the doctrine of Separation of Church and State forbids any religious display on public property.