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ACLU Affiliate Directors
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version of this letter
October 12,
2006
Nadine Strossen, President
American Civil Liberties Union
125 Broad Street
New York, New York 10004
Dear Nadine and Members of the Board of
Directors,
The signers of this letter are long-term
affiliate directors. Some of us have served for
as long as 25 years or more. We have spent much
of our lives working to strengthen the ACLU's
work to defend and extend civil liberties.
All of us have worked closely with Anthony
Romero, as well as with Ira Glasser. Some of us
have even served long enough to have worked with
Aryeh Neier when he was Executive Director.
We write to ensure that you know of our
appreciation for the leadership that Anthony
Romero and you, Nadine, have brought to the
ACLU.
Our organization has never been better
organized, better professionally managed and
better focused on its principles than at this
moment in our 86-year history. From our vantage
points around the country, we have great
confidence in your and Anthony's leadership,
with regard to both the historically important
civil liberties issues facing this nation and
the significant managerial improvements that
have strengthened our organization.
We strongly reject the insinuation that fidelity
to the organization's principles, on the part of
national or affiliate staff throughout the
country has in any way diminished, and we are
more committed than ever to the principled and
aggressive defense of civil liberties values.
As for Anthony Romero’s leadership, from the
very start of his tenure, he exercised
impressive leadership. He rallied both the
national and affiliates staff in the wake of the
terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001. He
brought together all the elements of our
organization - legal, legislative,
communications, membership activism, and
fundraising, both national and affiliate -- to
work more effectively. His leadership on these
matters is an important part of the history of
how the ACLU responded to the attack on our
constitutional values in post- 9/11 America, and
it is a model for how the organization should
respond to future civil liberties crises.
As a result of the organizational reforms
spearheaded by Anthony, we are a far more
effective force for the defense of civil
liberties. As he promised when he was appointed
Executive Director, Anthony has impressively
strengthened the affiliates so that we are
better able to defend civil liberties across the
country. We are certain that Board members who
are affiliate representatives or who are
otherwise active in their affiliates can clearly
see the results. Under Anthony's leadership,
virtually all affiliates finally have staff
attorneys, and civil liberties advocacy
throughout the nation is stronger than ever
before.
October 12, 2006
National Board of Directors
Page 2
We are enormously proud of the tremendous work
of the ACLU staff as well as the national and
affiliate boards of directors. We have never
been more focused, collaborative, strategic and
principled as we have under the current
leadership. Not only has the ACLU engaged in
vast amounts of civil liberties work, the ACLU
has also undergone enormous improvements in
organization and management since Anthony became
Executive Director.
Those individuals who have organized to force a
change in the administration of our organization
have a right to pursue that crusade. We note,
however, that the persistent repetition of a
point of view does not turn that viewpoint into
fact.
We ask that you keep the ACLU focused on our
agenda and resist being distracted by the
repetition of criticisms that have already been
addressed. We all know that the Bush
Administration has run roughshod over the
Constitution in response to the terrorist
attacks of 9/11. The civil liberties issues
before us are monumental, and no one could have
led us through them more effectively than you
and Anthony.
Sincerely,
Kathleen Taylor
Washington
Deborah Jacobs
New Jersey
Dorothy Ehrlich
Northern California
Ramona Ripston
Southern California
Olivia Turner
Alabama
Joann Bell
Oklahoma
Chris Ahmuty
Wisconsin
Susan Goering
Maryland
Kary Moss
Michigan
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Howard Simon
Florida
Rita Sklar
Arkansas
Charles Samuelson
Minnesota
Ben Stone
Iowa
Hedy Weinberg
Tennessee
Deborah Seagraves
Georgia
Dave Fidanque
Oregon
Jack Van Valkenburg
Idaho
Scott Crichton
Montana
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cc: Anthony Romero
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