Blog Post 1.1 - "Interest Groups - ACLU"

1. The ACLU advocates for first amendment rights, specifically the right to free speech, regardless of what the content of this speech. 
2. The ACLU came to the legal defense of Jason Kessler, one of the organizers of the rally last weekend, when the city of Charlottesville attempted to revoke his protest permit. The ACLU felt that this violated his first amendment rights, especially since the counter-protesters still held their permit. 
3. Liberals tend to back the ACLU because of its vow to hold Trump's administration legally accountable for its actions following his inauguration. 
4. The ACLU says that it is important to protect free speech for everyone because it prevents the government from choosing to suppress whatever it disagrees with. Decades ago, the government sought to prevent the public protest of civil rights activists, and protecting first amendment rights regardless of the speech itself is necessary to preclude this happening to speech that is necessary for positive social change similar to that of previous years. 
5. The article raises concerns that allowing free speech for these groups would legitimize their views, letting them grow stronger and spread their ideology. Eventually, these groups may call for a restriction of free speech, and the public will let them do it. 
6. The first instance was when the KKK wanted to rally in Skokie, Illinois. The town was mostly Jewish, and the town and lower courts tried to stop the event from happening. The ACLU, however, defended the KKK's first amendment rights to rally. Luckily, the KKK did not go to Skokie.
7. The ACLU itself disagrees with Yiannopoulos's views, but since they contend it is his first amendment right to speak them they have to defend them. Some people say that his language is so hateful and is placed in a context of an accepting world that it reaches the level of incitement, if not a higher level of criminality. Although his speech is awful to just about everybody, the ACLU still fights for his right to say it, which can be seen as harmful to the groups Yiannopoulos attacks.