Religious freedom is one of our most treasured liberties, a fundamental and defining feature of our national character.
About one year ago, we filed Ball v. City of Lincoln to protect the rights of a Navy Veteran who was arrested for distributing religious materials outside of a public arena in Lincoln the year before.
That case is still working its way through the courts, but we’ve been proud to defend religious speech throughout our fifty years. Here’s just a small selection of items we found in our archives:
- 2006 | Wisner Defended the right of Jehovah’s Witnesses who were distributing religious information door-to-door.
- 2006 | Lancaster County Defended a Native American man’s right to have visits from his spiritual advisor while detained at the Lancaster County jail.
- 2005 | Omaha Defended a Muslim woman who wanted to take her children to a city pool without removing her hijab.
- 2005 | Omaha Defended a student whose religious beliefs prevented him from standing for the Pledge.
- 1982 | State of Nebraska Defended a woman who did not want to have her photo on her license because in her Biblical interpretation it was a graven image forbidden by the Second Commandment.
- 1981 | State of NebraskaSen. Ernie Chambers partnered with the ACLU to sue the State of Nebraska over taxpayer funds supporting a legislative Chaplain and the printing of prayers. This case made it all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court.
2016 is the 50th anniversary of the ACLU of Nebraska. We will feature several memories from our five decades of defending freedom in the Cornhusker state here. Do you have a favorite memory? Share it with us!
