Libertarian Lobby

More often than not, crusaders for causes try to rally support by glooming over the darkness of their situation. So why is this man smiling? Sitting in his pine-paneled office at the mid-Manhattan headquarters of the American Civil Liberties Union, Executive Director Aryeh Neier, 37, is saying happily these days, "This is the best single moment for civil liberties in the past dozen years." The statement may be impolitic, but Neier has a point.

Lately, the A.C.L.U. has been running up a remarkable record. When impeachment of Richard Nixon still seemed improbable, the organization was providing Congress and the public with extensive arguments for it. It successfully lobbied for strengthening the Freedom of Information Act and is behind a new law that will allow citizens to challenge most personal data in Government computers. The A.C.L.U. also has a major case on the rights of mental patients now before the Supreme Court. On top of all that, there is the $12 million it won last month for 1,200 May Day antiwar demonstrators--the largest civil liberty damage award ever.

Last week volunteers and staffers were sorting through the 1,200 pieces of mail that have swamped the A.C.L.U. Washington office, seeking, in the words of one May Day participant, "a share of this delicious windfall." The A.C.L.U. is checking claims against a court computer list of those arrested at or near the Capitol on May 5, 1971. So far, 400 to 500 applicants appear to qualify.

No Lawyer. The shy overseer of all this success came to the A.C.L.U. from Hitler's Germany. Born in Berlin in 1937, Aryeh (Hebrew for lion and pronounced Ar-eeay) Neier (rhymes with higher) was taken to London at the age of two to escape the Nazis; after the war, he moved with his family to New York City. Young Aryeh went through the city's public school system and on to Cornell, where he organized a speakers' group that made a show of inviting a Daily Worker editor to lecture when the City College of New York refused to let him speak. After graduation, Neier worked for Socialist Norman Thomas, then succeeded him as director of the League for Industrial Democracy, a union lobbying group. From lobbying, he switched to editing Current magazine before joining the A.C.L.U. as a field-development officer in 1962.

Neier, who is not a lawyer, was picked to lead the A.C.L.U. in 1970, following a six-year stint as head of the New York affiliate. By then, the 55-year-old civil liberties group had already begun to move away from its strictly legal approach. In the past, the A.C.L.U. had generally entered a civil liberties case by filing a brief as amicus curiae (friend of the court). In 1968 the organization turned to more direct action; its attorneys served as defense lawyers in the Spock conspiracy trial. In the face of internal disagreement, A.C.L.U. activists convinced colleagues that the new course was the only realistic response to a prosecution that attacked free speech.

Since then, Neier has taken that aggressive stance even further. "In the past," he says, "we spent most of our lobbying time trying to stop bad bills." Now there is also active prodding and proposing of new laws: Neier wrote his just-published book Dossier to "help quicken the movement" for legal curbs on both private and Government information gatherers. The chubby young executive director has also developed specialists who push for the rights of such groups as homosexuals, minors and servicemen--sometimes even before they organize in their own behalf.

Critics complain that the union has grown too cause-oriented. "The A.C.L.U. preserves its integrity when it sticks to fundamental civil liberties views," says sometime dissenting Board Member Alan Dershowitz. "I do not think the A.C.L.U. should be involved in movements. It should be there to protect victims of movements." One unresolved current debate illustrates the problem. A women's rights faction recommends making rape prosecutions easier, but that would inevitably collide with the traditional civil libertarian concern for the rights of defendants. Furthermore, the recent activism seems to reflect what even many members agree is an increasingly liberal tilt. In any case, dues-paying members appear to approve the new direction; the rolls have gone from 140,000 in 1970 to 275,000 currently.

Inflation, recession and a recent slowing of membership growth have forced "significant cuts in A.C.L.U. operations." But Neier remains optimistic and determined "to press awfully hard just to get what we can this year. We are not likely to have such a good shot for a long, long time." His uncommon confidence is only partly based on past success. Neier believes that one central fact brightens the short-term prospect. Richard Nixon's resignation, says the organization's new annual report, shifts the balance in favor of civil liberties.

This file is automatically generated by a robot program, so viewer discretion is required.