The American Civil Liberties Union is the nation's foremost advocate of individual rights -- litigating, legislating, and educating the public on a broad array of issues affecting individual freedom in the United States. This is a general introduction and history to the ACLU, the first in a series of briefing papers. Other briefing papers, produced by the ACLU Office of Public Education, explain the organization's position on a range of specific civil liberties issues. For local chapter website go to The ACLU of North Carolina.