ACLU Foundation of Colorado

The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) Foundation is a national organization dedicated to protecting and defending the individual rights guaranteed by the Constitution of the United States through education, litigation, and legislation. Statewide efforts to defend civil liberties for Coloradans began in the 1930's. The ACLU Foundation of Colorado became an affiliate of the national organization in 1952, as the seventeenth official national affiliate to be formed. Today, we are a statewide organization of 5,000 members. As an incorporated 501(c)(3) not-for-profit organization, we are supported solely through individual donations, including private grants, proceeds from events, and attorneys' fees when we prevail in court. The authors of the United States Constitution believed that all people have certain inalienable, fundamental rights. They also believed that our government has basic responsibilities to us, its people. The body of the Constitution spells out the powers of our government. The Constitutional amendments, beginning with the Bill of Rights, spell out the powers of the people, our individual rights, and the limits on government. Central to our mission is the notion that the Bill of Rights is not self-enforcing. Although our Constitutional rights are guaranteed, these valuable and essential rights are by no means automatic. The ACLU Foundation of Colorado receives more than 10,000 requests for assistance annually from throughout our state. The ACLU Foundation of Colorado provides free legal representation to all of our clients. In fulfilling this part of our mission, we maintain a legal of docket of over 100 cases in active litigation every year. Through the work of our legal staff and our many Cooperating Attorneys, we continue to protect all of our freedoms from encroachment. The importance of civil liberty education cannot be overstated. The ACLU Foundation of Colorado provides educational programming for the people of Colorado designed to motivate deep and critical thinking about the Constitution and our Bill of Rights.

"Eternal vigilance is the price of liberty." - Thomas Jefferson