George C. Landrith
June 08, 2006

The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) – famous (or infamous) for using the legal system to attack the Boy Scouts and Christmas – is now protecting the “right” of convicted child molesters and sexual predators to lurk near playgrounds and other places where children gather. Simply put, the ACLU, once famous for defending the rights of free speech, now attacks the Boy Scouts and argues in favor of giving child sexual predators easy access to our children and grandchildren. To add insult to injury, the ACLU uses our tax dollars to help fund these lawsuits.

In May, the City of Indianapolis passed an ordinance that fines convicted child molesters, predators and rapists $600 if they are found within 1000 feet of playgrounds, swimming pools, recreation centers, or sports fields when children are present. The ordinance provides for a number of exceptions – including if the sex offender is accompanied by an adult who is not a sex offender. Amazingly, this past week, the ACLU filed a lawsuit claiming that this ordinance violates the constitutional rights of child molesters and child predators. And you and I are helping to fund this lawsuit with our tax dollars.

The ACLU argues that the lives of pedophiles and child molesters will be made difficult and inconvenient by the 1000 foot requirement. For example, a child rapist might have to move if he lived near a children’s playground or might have to vote via absentee ballot rather than voting in a school. The ACLU hopes we will swoon at the inconvenience this ordinance would place on convicted child predators. However, I’m at least one American who is unmoved.

The ACLU tells us that they support the rights of everyone and that they are not politically motivated. Surely this is a joke! Why is it that the ACLU is habitually suing the Boy Scouts because of their Scout Oath to “do my best to do my duty, to God and my Country?” Why does the ACLU attack the Boy Scouts for not permitting homosexual Scout Masters? Why is it that the ACLU fights to make sure that no one sees or hears any mention of Christmas or Christianity? Why is it that the ACLU demands that crosses be removed from military cemeteries? Or that cities in California which bear names relating to their long historical heritage as a Catholic mission must remove any related symbol from the city seal?

More than 40 of the 50 states have laws prohibiting law-abiding citizens from having a gun within 1000 feet of a school. There was also a federal law with the same prohibitions. I happen to live within 1000 feet of a school. Where was the ACLU to defend my rights? Unlike a child molester or predator, I’ve never committed a crime or shown any propensity towards violence. Yet, the ACLU evidently wasn’t troubled that these sorts of laws would require me to sacrifice my right to own or responsibly use a gun. And I’ve never used a gun for any illegal purpose, but still the ACLU doesn’t think my right is worth defending. But somehow pedophiles and child molesters deserve the ACLU’s active support.

This proves that the ACLU is not simply an honest defender of constitutional rights for those who may not be popular. Sadly, the ACLU is an out-of-control, extremist organization dedicated to tearing down the society most of us wish to uphold and strengthen. The ACLU seeks to tear down society and rebuild a very different culture – one where the Boy Scouts are outlawed and are more feared than criminals, one where religion and faith are taboo topics and believers are forced underground, one where the rights of convicted pedophiles and child molesters are more important than the rights of children and law-abiding citizens.

The ACLU’s vision for society is a nightmare. That nightmare will become reality if Americans don’t wake up and stand up to the ACLU.

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Mr. Landrith is a graduate of the University of Virginia School of Law, where he was Business Editor of the Virginia Journal of Law and Politics. He had a successful law practice in business and litigation. In 1994 and 1996, Mr. Landrith was a candidate for the U.S. House of Representatives from Virginia's Fifth Congressional District. He served on the Albemarle County School Board. Mr. Landrith is an adjunct professor at the George Mason School of Law. He is recognized as an authority on constitutional law and jurisprudence, federalism, global warming, and property rights.