ACLU has role in good government

May 01, 2008 10:16 am

— The mere mention of the American Civil Liberties Union is enough to make public officials’ blood pressure rise. But this organization does perform a function important to good government.
Elected officials are not allowed to be complacent in their actions because they risk coming under scrutiny by lawyers with the ACLU.
The U.S. Supreme Court has ruled against recent lawsuits brought by the Indiana chapter of the ACLU. The cases involved a photo ID requirement for voters, Indiana’s “In God We Trust” license plates and a Bureau of Motor Vehicles policy to revoke driver’s licenses if information doesn’t match Social Security records.
These issues have been percolating in the courts, and it’s helpful to have a ruling from the nation’s highest court. This removes the legal ambiguity about the measures.
The negative rulings reflect a conservative bent on the high court, but Ken Falk, ACLU-Indiana’s legal director, said the philosophical leanings of justices don’t impact a decision to pursue cases. He said he files cases “because you think they’re meritorious and there’s a reason to do so.”
Falk noted a 2002 class action lawsuit regarding crowding at the Elkhart County Jail led to an agreement to build a new facility. Certainly this was pivotal in moving the project forward.
Elkhart County taxpayers have funded an expensive $97 million correctional facility, and construction is not done yet. Sheriff’s Department offices and a juvenile detention center are in the works.
The lawsuit was used by Elkhart County officials as a vehicle to prod taxpayers into agreeing that a new jail was needed. The ACLU case was the impetus for replacing the old 417-capacity jail with a new 936-bed facility.
So despite protestations to the contrary, the ACLU does serve a purpose.