Editing American Civil Liberties Union (section)

====Free speech expansion====
Leaders of the ACLU were divided on the best tactics to use to promote civil liberties. Felix Frankfurter felt that legislation was the best long-term solution because the Supreme Court could not mandate liberal interpretations of the Bill of Rights. But [[Walter Pollak]], [[Morris Ernst]], and other leaders felt that Supreme Court decisions were the best path to guarantee civil liberties.<ref>Walker, p. 81</ref> A series of Supreme Court decisions in the 1920s foretold a changing national atmosphere; anti-radical emotions were diminishing, and there was a growing willingness to protect freedom of speech and assembly via court decisions.<ref>Walker, p. 82. The cases included Gitlow (1925), Whitney (1927), Powell (1932), and Patterson (1935).</ref>

[[File:H l mencken.jpg|thumb|The ACLU defended [[H. L. Mencken]] when he was arrested for distributing banned literature.]]

Starting in 1926, the ACLU expanded its free speech activities to encompass censorship of art and literature.<ref name=W82>Walker, p. 82.</ref> In that year, [[H. L. Mencken]] deliberately broke Boston law by distributing copies of his banned ''[[American Mercury]]'' magazine; the ACLU defended him and won an acquittal.<ref name=W82/> The ACLU went on to win additional victories, including the landmark case ''[[United States v. One Book Called Ulysses]]'' in 1933, which reversed a ban by the Customs Department against the book ''[[Ulysses (novel)|Ulysses]]'' by [[James Joyce]].<ref name=W86>Walker, p. 86.</ref> The ACLU only achieved mixed results in the early years, and it was not until 1966 that the Supreme Court finally clarified the obscenity laws in the ''[[Roth v. United States]]'' and ''[[Memoirs v. Massachusetts]]'' cases.

The [[Comstock laws]] banned the distribution of sex education information based on the premise that it was obscene and led to promiscuous behavior.<ref name=W85>Walker, p. 85.</ref> [[Mary Ware Dennett]] was fined $300 in 1928 for distributing a pamphlet containing sex education material. The ACLU, led by Morris Ernst, appealed her conviction and won a reversal, in which judge [[Learned Hand]] ruled that the pamphlet's primary purpose was to "promote understanding".<ref name=W85/> The success prompted the ACLU to broaden their freedom of speech efforts beyond labor and political speech to encompass movies, press, radio, and literature.<ref name=W85/> The ACLU formed the National Committee on Freedom from Censorship in 1931 to coordinate this effort.<ref name=W85/> By the early 1930s, [[censorship in the United States]] was diminishing.<ref name=W86/>

Two major victories in the 1930s cemented the ACLU's campaign to promote free speech. In ''[[Stromberg v. California]]'', decided in 1931, the Supreme Court sided with the ACLU and affirmed the right of a communist party member to salute a communist flag. The result was the first time the Supreme Court used the [[Due Process Clause]] of the [[Fourteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution|14th amendment]] to subject states to the requirements of the [[First Amendment to the United States Constitution|First Amendment]].<ref>Walker, p. 90</ref> In ''[[Near v. Minnesota]]'', also decided in 1931, the Supreme Court ruled that states may not exercise [[prior restraint]] and prevent a newspaper from publishing, simply because the newspaper had a reputation for being scandalous.<ref>Walker, p. 91.</ref>