This page includes websites that defend individual rights and freedoms. The American people have a long tradition of cherishing their individual freedoms, and many of the first migrants to the early colonies came to escape from various types of persecution in their home conutries. Later, the first amendment to the U.S. Constitution guaranteed such rights as freedom of speech and freedom to hold one's own religious beliefs.
Some conservative politicians in the United States claim to be strong defenders of personal freedoms, but they try to pass legislation that actually restricts many of these same freedoms. Examples include laws that limit a woman's right to choose and attempts to use government money to support Christian schools. Some conservatives have also tried to impose oppressive restrictions on certain cultural and religious minorities.
Privacilla - This organization works to protect the privacy of individuals from government and corporate intrusions. Its members believe that society functions best when the role of government is limited. To this end, it provides publicly-accessible information about privacy laws and personal liberties. Special areas of interest include online privacy, financial confidentiality, and access to personal medical records.
FindHabeas.com - This organization strives to protect Americans from unlawful and indefinite detention. It members believe that the federal government is attempting to undermine the ancient protections against unreasonable detention, and that this threatens the U.S. constitution and the most basic of human rights. The website monitors the numerous court cases that have arisen as a result of this threat.
ACLU - This organization is one of the oldest protectors of American civil liberties. Over the years it has taken an active role in defending numerous individuals and groups from threats to their basic rights and freedoms. To many people, those threats seem to have become ever more menacing in recent years, so that the protections provided by the ACLU and similar organizations are even more important now than in the past.
The Freedom Forum - The Freedom Forum is a non-political foundation dedicated to free press, free speech and free spirit for all people. The foundation focuses on three priorities: the Newseum, the First Amendment and newsroom diversity.
http://www.infowars.com - This site reports on the growing efforts of governments and large corporations to control access to the internet, and to make it more difficult and expensive for individuals and small companies to operate websites. There are also reports on internet censorship and anti-competitive practices.
Americans United for Separation of Church and State - This non-profit organization, which was founded in 1947, is dedicated to preserving the principle of church-state separation as set forth in the First Amendment of the United States constitution. Its members believe that this is an essential requirement for protecting the religious freedom of all Americans. Its activities include court actions, lobbying of government officials, and educating the general public. It has involved itself in issues such as public funding of private religious schools, mandatory prayer in public schools, and church participation in political campaigns. The organization is funded by donations from members and supporters who believe in church-state separation.
U.S. Freedom Index - Because each state has its own laws and policies, personal rights and freedoms vary from place to place within the United States. This website provides results of an ongoing study of the individual liberties enjoyed by the citizens of each state. To obtain their results, the participants in the study examine more than two hundred current policies of each state in areas such as taxes, spending, campaign finances, voting rights, and abortion choices. An overall score is given to every state to indicate the degree of freedom allowed to its residents. This score is updated periodically as laws and policies change.
Progressive States Network - Members of this organization work to promote democracy within the United States by helping people register to vote. They believe that this will lead to a better society in which everyone has a chance to share in the overall economic prosperity of the country. The organization also combats efforts to prevent members of minority groups from voting.