This week our fantastic summer legal intern, Cristen Thayer, talks about why she supports the ACLU. There are many reasons to support the ACLU - this is Cristen's reason. 

I have always found it disheartening that the people with the least amount of power in this country are often abused by the system, which is exactly what the Bill of Rights was intended to curtail. My undergraduate degree was in criminal justice, and ever since I was introduced to all the inherent problems with the criminal justice system, I have been interested in how one can combat these dysfunctions given that they are so thoroughly disregarded by much of society. When it comes to crime control in this country, most turn a blind eye based on the assumption that as long as the government is “tough on crime” and hell-bent on getting all the “bad guys” off our streets then there is nothing more to worry about.

Another in an ongoing series where we ask ACLU friends and volunteers: there are many reasons to support the ACLU--what's your reason?  This week we hear from one of our excellent summer interns, Ilan Acherman.

But a Constitution of Government once changed from Freedom, can never be restored. Liberty, once lost, is lost forever. -- John Adams, letter to Abigail Adams, July 17, 1775

I have always been a proud civil libertarian. Whether I was born with such a mindset or whether it was my parent’s insistence on reason rather than impulse, my civil libertarian roots are deeply grounded. I also know how easily those liberties we now hold can be lost and how easily freedoms are eroded—not by evil men, but by those too weak or too lazy to think before acting on emotion. It is easy to react, easy to be angry, easy to say it is ‘them’ against ‘us.’ But it takes strength to stop and think, just for a moment, to see past the smoke of current events and take the long view.

Here are some thoughts from ACLU of Nevada friend and client Emmily Bristol, who participated in our recent lawsuit challenging the "personhood" ballot initiative in Nevada:

Why do I support the ACLU?

I keep a post card above my desk that has a picture of a pencil on it and reads, “This machine kills fascists.” Indeed, I can’t think of a more important freedom than that of free speech. The free exchange of ideas – even when we disagree – is the backbone of America.

This week we're bidding farewell to a fabulous volunteer in the Las Vegas office, Bryn Esplin. Before she departs, we asked Bryn to tell us: what's your reason for supporting the ACLU? 

As an ACLU volunteer, I have a confession: My motive is purely egotistical. I find myself a member of many disparate groups, each with precarious associations, but discrimination and civil liberty infringement affects everyone, directly or indirectly.

I’m also a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints and a devout liberal, which means, amongst other things, I’m well versed at reckoning seemingly opposed positions.

The first in a series where we'll ask ACLU of Nevada clients, friends, and volunteers: "There are many reasons to support the ACLU; what's your reason?"

My first exposure to the ACLU came in the wake of the Patriot Act. I was furious at the open compromise of my rights. I tried to write my Congressman and had another powerful moment of political disillusionment. At that point, I was happy that some organization was working to protect my civil liberties when my representative was happy to trade my freedom away. The ACLU was a forceful voice of reason, and I felt like it was my advocate when I didn’t have a voice that could be heard.