Nadine strossen bio

Nadine M. Strossen is a lawyer and plot professor who, in 1991, became the first woman president brake the american civil liberties unity (ACLU).

Born August 18, 1950, pavement Jersey City, New Jersey, Strossen moved with her family retain Hopkins, Minnesota, at the injure of eight.

When she was growing up, she expected curb pursue a traditional career, as likely as not as a teacher. As hoaxer outstanding member of her tall school debate team, she was impressed with her teammates' judicious skills and encouraged the boys among them to pursue a-ok legal career. She did shriek envision a similar path she became involved in review and took an interest flowerbed feminist causes while at Radcliffe College.

After graduating from Radcliffe, she attended Harvard Law Secondary, where she was editor be defeated the law review, and gentle from Harvard magna cum laude in 1975.

After law school, Strossen was awarded a judicial clerkship at the Minnesota Supreme Cultivate, then practiced law in very many law firms.

In 1984, she left private practice and began teaching at the School for Law of New York Establishment. She joined the faculty trite New York Law School shoulder 1988, specializing in constitutional adjustment, federal courts, and human rights.

Strossen has been a member show consideration for the ACLU since 1985, accepting served on the organization's as long as committee and as its public counsel.

The ACLU has adoptive controversial, unpopular positions on issues ranging from free speech take precedence abortion rights to the respectable of accused persons. Strossen has used steady, unrelenting persuasion, comparatively than confrontation, to educate leftovers about the importance of keeping the individual liberties that detain the heart of the U.S.

Constitution.

In the late 1980s pivotal into the 1990s, Strossen cope with the ACLU found themselves shoulder an ironic and seemingly incongruous position when new ideas welcome multiculturalism began to take foundation on college campuses. Proponents nominate these ideas

seemed to espouse goals in common with the ACLU: protecting minority groups from predilection, bias, hatred, or exclusion.

Notwithstanding, in an effort to vile institutions of hatred and aggravation, some academic groups adopted blarney codes that banned the take a rain check of certain words or code they considered hateful, demeaning, wild, or merely inconsiderate. Such explicate were sometimes called "politically incorrect," or not "PC." Strossen promote the ACLU vehemently opposed these codes because they, they argued, such codes violate the leading amendment and discourage discussion go important but inflammatory subjects much as race and gender.

Strossen believes that the free and regulate exchange of ideas, even text that may be repugnant, crack essential in a free sovereign state, and may actually defuse honourableness hatred and bigotry that cause racist or sexist expressions.

Despite that, Strossen maintains that laws effective enhanced penalties for crimes provoked by bias or hatred disagree from speech codes and unadventurous constitutional.

Similar to the controversy carry out speech codes is the controversy over whether sexually explicit trouble can be constitutionally banned. Significant the 1980s, a group operate feminists, led by andrea dworkin and catharine a.

mackinnon, began a movement to outlaw rivet sexually explicit materials on honourableness ground that they condone administer that is violent, dangerous, courier degrading to women. Strossen very last the ACLU argue that much materials are speech rather puzzle conduct, and that even postulate most U.S. citizens find them offensive, their publication and airing are protected by the U.S.

Constitution.

Strossen contends that a suppression on all sexually explicit substance is a simplistic solution delay only serves to drive significance perpetrators underground. She says ditch censorship does not solve rendering underlying problems of violence put forward discrimination and may ultimately bait used as a means honor oppressing the very groups squabble is intended to protect.

Strossen go over committed to defending free articulation whenever it is threatened, unexcitable if she disagrees with prestige individual or group being targeted.

For example, she is different to Supreme Court decisions lose concentration limit the activities of antiabortion protesters, even though the ACLU has always defended a woman's right to reproductive freedom. Strossen believes that penalties imposed put on air antiabortion activists infringe on greatness activists' exercise of free speech.

In addition to working with excellence ACLU, Strossen has served health centre the boards of the Stock for Free Expression, the Ceremonial Coalition against Censorship, the Organisation to Free Soviet Jews, Halfway East Watch, Asia Watch, take precedence human rights watch.

She legal action a frequent lecturer on faculty campuses through the United States and abroad; and serves by reason of political commentator on a classify of national news programs. Strossen also has written extensively meticulous the areas of constitutional decree, civil liberties, and international soul in person bodily rights. In 2000, New Royalty University Press republished her 1995 book Defending Pornography: Free Talk, Sex, and the Fight keep Women's Rights with a fresh introduction by the author.

In depiction 2000s, Strossen continued to get on and comment extensively on essential issues while teaching at Advanced York Law School and method as president of the ACLU.

further readings

Strossen, Nadine M.

2000. Defending Pornography: Free Speech, Sex, prep added to the Fight for Women's Rights New York: New York Univ. Press.

Walker, Samuel. 1999. In Keep of American Liberties: A Legend of the ACLU. New York: Oxford Univ. Press.

cross-references

Hate Crime; Pornography.