Editing American Civil Liberties Union (section)

====Civil liberties revolution====
The 1960s was a tumultuous era in the United States, and public interest in civil liberties underwent explosive growth.<ref name="Walkerpp">Walker, pp. 257, 261–62.</ref> Civil liberties actions in the 1960s were often led by young people and often employed tactics such as [[sit in]]s and marches. Protests were often peaceful but sometimes employed militant tactics.<ref>Walker, pp. 262–64.</ref> The ACLU played a central role in all major civil liberties debates of the 1960s, including new fields such as [[gay rights]], [[prisoner's rights]], abortion, rights of the poor, and the death penalty.<ref name="Walkerpp" /> Membership in the ACLU increased from 52,000 at the beginning of the decade to 104,000 in 1970.<ref name=W262>Walker, p. 262</ref> In 1960, there were affiliates in seven states, and by 1974 there were affiliates in 46 states.<ref name=W262 /><ref>The count of affiliates is of affiliates with permanent staff.</ref> During the 1960s, the ACLU underwent a major transformation in tactics; it shifted emphasis from legal appeals (generally involving [[amicus briefs]] submitted to the Supreme Court) to direct representation of defendants when they were initially arrested.<ref name=W262 /> At the same time, the ACLU transformed its style from "disengaged and elitist" to "emotionally engaged".<ref>Walker, p. 263. Characterizations by Samuel Walker.</ref> The ACLU published a breakthrough document in 1963, titled ''How Americans Protest'', which was borne of frustration with the slow progress in battling racism, and which endorsed aggressive, even militant protest techniques.<ref>Walker, pp. 263–64.</ref>

After four African-American college students [[Greensboro sit-ins|staged a sit-in]] in a segregated North Carolina department store, the [[sit-in movement]] gained momentum across the United States.<ref>Walker, p. 261.</ref> During 1960–61, the ACLU defended black students arrested for demonstrating in North Carolina, Florida, and Louisiana.<ref name=W263 /> The ACLU also provided legal help for the [[Freedom Riders|Freedom Rides]] in 1961, the [[Civil rights movement#Integration of Mississippi universities, 1956–1965|integration of the University of Mississippi]], the [[Birmingham campaign]] in 1963, and the 1964 [[Freedom Summer]].<ref name=W263>Walker, p. 263.</ref> The NAACP was responsible for managing most sit-in related cases that made it to the Supreme Court, winning nearly every decision.<ref name=W264>Walker, p. 264.</ref> But it fell to the ACLU and other legal volunteer efforts to provide legal representation to hundreds of protestors{{spaced ndash}}white and black{{spaced ndash}}who were arrested while protesting in the South.<ref name=W264 /> The ACLU joined with other civil liberties groups to form the Lawyers Constitutional Defense Committee (LCDC), which provided legal representation to many protesters.<ref>Walker, pp. 264–65.</ref> The ACLU provided the majority of the funding for the LCDC.<ref>Walker, p. 266.</ref>

In 1964, the ACLU opened up a major office in Atlanta, Georgia, dedicated to serving Southern issues.<ref>Walker, p. 267.</ref> Much of the ACLU's progress in the South was due to [[Charles Morgan Jr.]], the charismatic leader of the Atlanta office. Morgan was responsible for desegregating juries (''[[Whitus v. Georgia]]''), desegregating prisons (''[[Lee v. Washington]]''), and [[Disenfranchisement after the Reconstruction era|reforming election laws]].<ref>Walker, pp. 268–69.</ref> In 1966, the southern office successfully represented African-American congressman [[Julian Bond]] in ''[[Bond v. Floyd]]'', after the [[Georgia House of Representatives]] refused to admit Bond into the legislature on the basis that he was an admitted pacifist opposed to the ongoing Vietnam War.<ref>Walker, pp. 270–71.</ref> Another widely publicized case defended by Morgan was that of Army doctor Howard Levy, who was convicted of refusing to train [[Green Berets]]. Despite raising the defense that the Green Berets were committing war crimes in Vietnam, Levy lost on appeal in ''Parker v. Levy'', 417 US 733 (1974).<ref>Walker, p. 271.</ref>

In 1969, the ACLU won a significant victory for free speech when it defended [[Dick Gregory]] after he was arrested for peacefully protesting against the mayor of Chicago. The court ruled in ''[[Gregory v. Chicago]]'' that a speaker cannot be arrested for disturbing the peace when hostility is initiated by someone in the audience, as that would amount to a "heckler's veto".<ref>[https://www.aclu.org/successes-american-civil-liberties-union ACLU list of successes]; the case was ''Gregory v. Chicago'', 394 US 111.</ref>