Pending changes
on the U.S. Supreme Court threaten to undo decades of
civil rights legislation and court rulings, the national
president of the American Civil Liberties Union said.
Nadine Strossen, speaking in Louisville,
Ky., on Saturday at the annual Bill of Rights
Dinner, said the Bush administration could replace the
high court's moderate swing voter Sandra Day O'Connor with
someone more conservative. That shows that the ACLU's
legal victories never stay won, Strossen said as the
Kentucky ACLU celebrated its 50th anniversary. "With
[O'Connor's] departure, [abortion rights] are yet again
imperiled," Strossen said. "The Supreme Court has already
agreed to hear an abortion case during its next term."
Strossen, a law professor at New York Law
School, also said ACLU court victories banning state
sponsorship of religion could be in danger. "These
issues...have something in common with each other and also
something in common with other current civil-liberties
controversies: freedom of speech, to death with
dignity, to gay rights," Strossen said. "They reflect
concerted efforts by certain citizens' groups and
certain politicians to impose their own religious beliefs on
the rest of us."
Strossen has written, lectured, and practiced
extensively in the areas of constitutional law, civil
liberties, and international human rights. (AP)