Name	American Civil Liberties Union
Slogan	Because Freedom Can't Protect Itself
Membership	500,000 members
Leader title	President
Leader name	Susan Herman
Headquarters	New York City
Formation	1920
Website	aclu.org }}

The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) is a U.S. non-profit organization whose stated mission is "to defend and preserve the individual rights and liberties guaranteed to every person in this country by the Constitution and laws of the United States." (''see also civil liberties'') It works through litigation, legislation, and community education.. The ACLU consists of two separate non-profits: the ACLU Foundation, a 501(c)(3) organization which focuses on litigation and communication efforts, and the American Civil Liberties Union, a 501(c)(4) organization which focuses on legislative lobbying. Founded in 1920 by Crystal Eastman, Roger Baldwin and Walter Nelles, the ACLU was the successor organization to the earlier National Civil Liberties Bureau founded during World War I. The ACLU reported over 500,000 members in 2010.

Lawsuits brought by the ACLU have been influential in the evolution of Constitutional law. The ACLU provides legal assistance in cases in which it considers civil liberties to be at risk. Even when the ACLU does not provide direct legal representation, it often submits ''amicus curiae'' briefs. The organization's present aims include getting the U.S. government to disclose the legal standard it uses to place U.S. citizens on government assassination lists.

Outside of its legal work, the organization has also engaged in lobbying of elected officials and political activism. The ACLU has been critical of elected officials and policies of both Democrats and Republicans.

History

Roger Nash Baldwin became head of the National Civil Liberties Bureau (NCLB) in 1917. An independent outgrowth of the American Union Against Militarism, the Bureau opposed American intervention in World War I. The NCLB provided legal advice and aid for conscientious objectors and those being prosecuted under the Espionage Act of 1917 or the Sedition Act of 1918. In 1920, the NCLB changed its name to the American Civil Liberties Union, with Baldwin continuing as its director and Walter Nelles as chief counsel. Jeannette Rankin, Jane Addams, Crystal Eastman, Albert DeSilver, Helen Keller, along with other former members of the NCLB, assisted Baldwin with the founding of the ACLU. Among the founding members was Felix Frankfurter, who later became an Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States. DeSilver and Nelles were Baldwin's closest associates.

The ACLU was formed to protect aliens threatened with deportation, along with U.S. nationals threatened with criminal charges by U.S. Attorney General Alexander Mitchell Palmer for their communist or socialist activities and agendas (see Palmer Raids). It also opposed attacks on the rights of the Industrial Workers of the World (IWW) and other labor unions to meet and organize.

In 1940, the ACLU formally barred communists from leadership or staff positions, and would take the position that it did not want communists as members either. The board declared that it was "inappropriate for any person to serve on the governing committees of the Union or its staff, who is a member of any political organization which supports totalitarianism in any country, or who by his public declarations indicates his support of such a principle." The purge, which was led by Baldwin, himself a former supporter of communism, began with the ouster of Elizabeth Gurley Flynn, a member of both the Communist Party USA and the Industrial Workers of the World. The ACLU's chairman since its founding, Harry F. Ward, resigned in protest of the decision. But, the resolution was rescinded in 1967, allowing Communist Party members to rejoin the ACLU and in 1976, the ACLU restored Elizabeth Gurley Flynn's membership posthumously.

Conservatives and Republican have frequently criticized the ACLU. One well-known example occurred during the 1988 presidential election: then-Vice President George H. W. Bush noted that his opponent Michael Dukakis had described himself as a "card-carrying member of the ACLU" and used that as evidence that Dukakis was "a strong, passionate liberal" and "out of the mainstream." The phrase subsequently was used by the organization in an advertising campaign.

After the September 11, 2001 attacks and the ensuing debate regarding the proper balance of civil liberties and security, including the passage of the USA PATRIOT Act, the membership of the ACLU increased by 20%, bringing the group's total enrollment to 330,000. The growth continued, and by August 2008 ACLU membership was greater than 500,000. It remained at that level in 2010.

Leadership, funding and organizational structure

Leadership

Currently, the leadership of the ACLU includes Executive Director Anthony Romero and President Susan Herman. The national board of directors consists of representatives elected by each state affiliate as well as at-large delegates elected by boards of each affiliate. Each state affiliate has an Executive Director and Board of Directors.

Notably, Ruth Bader Ginsburg, a current Justice of the Supreme Court, was the first director of the ACLU's Women's Rights Project. Judith Krug, Director of the American Library Association Office for Intellectual Freedom since 1967, was for three years concurrently on the Board of Directors of the Illinois Division of the ACLU.

In 2005, in response to increasing internal strife, the ACLU national board attempted to impose what many critics labeled a "gag rule" on its employees. The proposal included the rule that "a board member may publicly disagree with an ACLU policy position, but may not criticize the ACLU Board or staff." The measures proved highly unpopular with free speech advocates within the ACLU, and were eventually shelved.

Funding

The ACLU receives funding from a large number of sources. For example, in 2004, the ACLU and its affiliate, the American Civil Liberties Union Foundation reported revenues totaling $85,559,887. Of that total, 87% was from donations and dues from the public, 1.8% from program services, including awards of legal fees, royalty income, and literature sales, and the remainder from investment income and income from sale of assets. The distribution and amount of funding for state affiliates varies from state to state. For example, the ACLU of New Jersey reported $1.2 million in income to both the ACLU-NJ and its affiliated tax-exempt foundation in the 2005 fiscal year. Of that income, 46% came from contributions, 19% came from membership dues, 18% came from court awarded attorney fees, 12% came from grants, 4% came from investment income and the remainder from other sources. Its expenses in the same period were $800,000, of which 12% went to administration and management. Smaller affiliates with fewer resources, such as that in Nebraska, receive subsidies from the national ACLU.

Foundations

In October 2004, the ACLU rejected $1.5 million from both the Ford and Rockefeller Foundations because the Foundations had adopted language from the USA PATRIOT Act in their donation agreements, including a clause stipulating that none of the money would go to "underwriting terrorism or other unacceptable activities." The ACLU views this clause, both in Federal law and in the donors' agreements, as a threat to civil liberties, saying it is overly broad and ambiguous.

Court-awarded damages and attorney's fees

In 2004, court-awarded damages and attorney fees comprised 3% (net) of ACLU Foundation funding; state affiliates also receive money from such fees, although the national headquarters does not.

Recovery of attorney's' fees by non-profit legal advocacy organizations is common practice. The pro-life Thomas More Law Center, for example, generally seeks, and is successful in, recovery of attorney's fees in the same manner as the ACLU. In 2005, the Thomas More law center derived 4.8% of its funding from court-awarded legal fees in this manner.

Due to the nature of its legal work, the ACLU is often involved in litigation against governmental bodies, which are generally protected from adverse monetary judgments: a town, state or federal agency may be required to change its laws or behave differently, but not to pay monetary damages except by an explicit statutory waiver.

In some cases, the law permits plaintiffs who successfully sue government agencies to collect money damages or other monetary relief. In particular, the Civil Rights Attorney's Fees Award Act of 1976 leaves the government liable in some civil rights cases. Fee awards under this civil rights statute are considered "equitable relief" rather than damages, and government entities are not immune from equitable relief. Under laws such as this, the ACLU and its state affiliates sometimes share in monetary judgments against government agencies.

The ACLU has received court awarded fees in numerous church-state cases. The Georgia affiliate was awarded $150,000 in fees after suing a county demanding the removal of a Ten Commandments display from its courthouse; a second Ten Commandments case in the State, in a different county, led to a $74,462 judgment. Meanwhile, the State of Tennessee was required to pay $50,000, the State of Alabama $175,000, and the State of Kentucky $121,500, in similar Ten Commandments cases. The Public Expression of Religion Act of 2005, introduced by Representative John Hostettler, sought to alter the rules put in place by the Civil Rights Attorney's Fees Award Act of 1976 to prevent monetary judgments in the particular case of violations of church-state separation. Also, groups such as the American Legion have taken stances opposing the ACLU's right to collect fees under such legislation.

Organizational structure

The national headquarters of the ACLU is located in New York City. The organization does most of its work through 54 locally based affiliates and associated chapters, each of which have staff and a board of directors. The affiliates generally correspond to state (or equivalent) lines; Washington, D.C. and Puerto Rico each have an affiliate and California has three affiliates (Missouri has two, with Western Missouri combined with Kansas). These affiliates maintain a certain amount of governing autonomy from the national organization, and are able to work independently from each other, if they choose to do so. Many of the ACLU's cases originate or are handled from the local level and are also handled by local lawyers from the individual affiliates.

Affiliates (the state organizations) are the basic unit of the ACLU's organization and engage in litigation, lobbying, and public education. For example, in a twenty-month period beginning January 2004, the ACLU's New Jersey chapter was involved in fifty-one cases according to their annual report—thirty-five cases in state courts, and sixteen in federal court. They provided legal representation in thirty-three of those cases, and served as amicus in the remaining eighteen. They listed forty-four volunteer attorneys who assisted them in those cases.

Each legal foundation and political affiliate is registered as a 501(c)(3) and 501(c)(4) entity, respectively.

Positions

While the bulk of the ACLU's cases involve the First Amendment, Equal Protection, due process, and the right to privacy, the organization has taken positions on a wide range of issues. According to the ACLU, it supports: Religious liberty: Defends the individual rights of Americans of all religions to practice and/or display affirmations of their faith in public, but not on public property with government sponsorship or endorsement. Drug policy reform to reduce harm and promote sustainable health and well-being by bringing about a just, effective and humane system to regulate and control drugs.

Separation of church and state; under this mandate, the ACLU:

*Opposes the government-sponsored display of religious symbols on public property.

Opposes official prayers, religious ceremonies, and some kinds of "moments of silence" in public schools or schools funded with public money.

Almost full freedom of speech and of the press, including school newspapers and points of view even most ACLU members disagree with. The ACLU said to a House Subcommittee:: :The ACLU accepts reasonable freedom of expression limits. These include restrictions on intimidation, Libel, and information related to National Security if it would result in "direct, immediate, and irreparable" harm to the nation. Abolition of capital punishment.

Reproductive rights, including access to contraception and abortion.

Full civil rights for LGBT (lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender) people, including government benefits for same-sex couples equal to those provided for heterosexual ones.

Affirmative action as a means of redressing past discrimination and achieving a racially diverse student body.

The rights of defendants and suspects against unconstitutional police practices.

Privacy as it "works to preserve the American tradition that the government not track individuals or violate privacy unless it has evidence of wrongdoing." Immigrants' rights by "challenging unconstitutional laws and practices, countering the myths upon which many of these laws are based." Concerning the Second Amendment, specifically gun control, "the ACLU interprets the Second Amendment as a collective right. Therefore, we disagree with the Supreme Court’s decision in D.C. v. Heller. ''Heller'' takes a different approach than the ACLU has advocated. At the same time, it leaves many unresolved questions, including what firearms are protected by the Second Amendment, what regulations (short of an outright ban) may be upheld, and how that determination will be made." However, state level ACLU affiliates are free to take positions differing from the national organization's; in 2008, the Nevada ACLU announced that they were changing their position to support "the individual’s right to bear arms subject to constitutionally permissible regulations." The ACLU has opposed some campaign finance reform laws such as the Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act, which it considers an inappropriate restriction upon freedom of expression. It does not have a policy of blanket opposition to all laws on campaign finance.

While the ACLU does oppose the use of crosses in public monuments, there have been false allegations that the ACLU has urged the removal of cross-shaped headstones from federal cemeteries and has opposed prayer by soldiers; such charges have been deemed to be urban legends.

Controversial stances

The ACLU has for years been a controversial organization. The reasons for opposition are varied, although conservatives often view the ACLU stance of separation of church and state as anti-religious, and their defense of both accused and convicted criminals as undermining law and order. Furthermore, the nature of the ACLU is that they defend even the most unpopular forms of speech and expression, notably those with which most other organizations would not wish to associate themselves. Often, its clients are notoriously unpopular such as Neo-Nazi organizations and the North American Man/Boy Love Association (NAMBLA), a group which supports lifting all age restrictions on pederasty. In the case of NAMBLA, the ACLU's Massachusetts affiliate represented the organization, on first amendment grounds, in a wrongful death civil suit that was based solely on the fact that a man who raped and murdered a child had visited the NAMBLA website. Although the ACLU does not endorse NAMBLA's message, its defense of the group has been widely criticized. Additionally, the ACLU has joined several court cases against government funding of organizations that discriminate against homosexuals and atheists, prominently including the Boy Scouts of America.

Among the most notable controversial cases which involved the ACLU are the following: The ACLU currently opposes, under the ex post facto clause of the Constitution, the retroactive application of Megan’s Law (which requires law enforcement authorities to identify convicted sex offenders to the public at large through various media outlets) to persons convicted before the law was passed. The ACLU initially opposed the bill in its entirety, considering it "misguided political posturing that [would] do nothing to reduce sex crimes". The ACLU also defended Lieutenant Colonel Oliver North, whose conviction was tainted by coerced testimony — a violation of his fifth amendment rights. The ACLU fought for the Westboro Baptist Church and Shirley Phelps-Roper after legislation prevented the group from picketing outside of veterans' funerals. The Westboro Baptist Church is infamous for their picket signs that contain messages such as, "God Hates Fags," "Thank God for Dead Soldiers" and "Thank God for 9/11." The ACLU issued a statement calling the legislation a "law that infringes on Shirley Phelps-Roper's rights to religious liberty and free speech." The suit was successful. The ACLU has filed 6 lawsuits against the Tangipahoa Parish, Louisiana school board over what the group sees as teacher-led prayer in school activities. The ACLU is also defending Christian athletes posting the ten commandments on their lockers, over the objections of their Virginia high school. The ACLU defended Frank Snepp, formerly of the Central Intelligence Agency, from an attempt by the government agency to enforce a gag order against him.

The ACLU has aided the Florida Justice Institute and WriteAPrisoner.com in supporting prisoner's rights, especially what the ACLU sees as the First Amendment right to post online profiles seeking pen pals during their incarceration and jobs upon their release.

In 2006, the ACLU of Washington State and the Second Amendment Foundation jointly filed a lawsuit against the North Central Regional Library District (NCRL) in Washington for its policy of refusing to disable restrictions upon an adult patron's request. Library patrons attempting to access pro-gun web sites were blocked, and the library refused to remove the blocks.

Much ACLU work is done in the political arena where it faces frequent controversy as well.

The ACLU has been a vocal opponent of the USA PATRIOT Act of 2001, the PATRIOT 2 Act of 2003, and associated legislation made in response to the threat of domestic terrorism. The ACLU believes such legislation violates either the letter or the spirit of the U.S. Bill of Rights. In response to a requirement of the USA PATRIOT Act, the ACLU withdrew from the Combined Federal Campaign. The requirement was that ACLU employees must be checked against a federal anti-terrorism watch list. The ACLU has stated that it would "reject $500,000 in contributions from private individuals rather than submit to a government 'blacklist' policy."

''See also: American Civil Liberties Union v. Ashcroft (2004)''

The ACLU opposes the use of capital punishment, calling it "the ultimate denial of civil liberties." The ACLU claims that the death penalty is unfairly applied to racial minorities and the poor, and considers it "cruel and unusual" punishment. The organization often opposes executions on the grounds that the present method of lethal injection sometimes goes awry.

The ACLU's position on spam is considered controversial by a broad cross-section of political points of view. In 2000, Marvin Johnson, a legislative counsel for the ACLU, stated that proposed anti-spam legislation infringed on free speech by denying anonymity and by forcing spam to be labeled as such: "Standardized labeling is compelled speech." He also stated, "It's relatively simple to click and delete." The debate found the ACLU joining with the Direct Marketing Association and the Center for Democracy and Technology in criticizing a bipartisan bill in the House of Representatives in 2000. As early as 1997 the ACLU had taken a strong position that nearly all spam legislation was improper, although it has supported "opt-out" requirements in some cases. The ACLU opposed the 2003 CAN-SPAM act suggesting that it could have a chilling effect on speech in cyberspace.

Notable historical cases

Since its founding, the ACLU has been involved in many cases. A few of the most significant are discussed here.

1920–1960

In 1925, the ACLU persuaded John T. Scopes to defy Tennessee's anti-evolution law in a court test. Clarence Darrow, a member of the ACLU National Committee, headed Scopes' legal team. The prosecution, led by William Jennings Bryan, contended that the Bible should be interpreted literally in teaching creationism in school. The ACLU lost the case and Scopes was fined $100. The Tennessee Supreme Court later upheld the law but overturned the conviction on a technicality.

In 1954, the ACLU filed an amicus brief in the case of ''Brown v. Board of Education'', which led to the ban on racial segregation in U.S. public schools.

1960–2000

In 1967, the ACLU successfully argued against state bans on interracial marriage, in the case of ''Loving v. Virginia''.

In 1973, the ACLU was the first major national organization to call for the impeachment of President Richard Nixon, giving as reasons the Nixon administration's violations of civil liberties. That same year, the ACLU was involved in the cases of ''Roe v. Wade'' and ''Doe v. Bolton'', in which the Supreme Court held that the constitutional right of privacy extended to women seeking abortions.

In 1977, the ACLU filed suit against the Village of Skokie, Illinois, seeking an injunction against the enforcement of three town ordinances outlawing Neo-Nazi parades and demonstrations. Skokie, Illinois at the time had a majority population of Jews, totaling 40,000 of 70,000 citizens. A federal district court struck down the ordinances in a decision eventually affirmed by the Supreme Court. According to David Hamlin, executive director of the Illinois ACLU, "...the Chicago office which chose to provide legal counsel to neo-Nazis who have been planning to march in Skokie, has lost about 25% of its membership and nearly one-third of its budget." 30,000 ACLU members resigned in protest. The financial strain from the controversy lead to layoffs at local chapters. In his February 23, 1978 decision overturning the town ordinances, US District Court Judge Bernard M. Decker described the principle involved in the case as follows: "It is better to allow those who preach racial hatred to expend their venom in rhetoric rather than to be panicked into embarking on the dangerous course of permitting the government to decide what its citizens may say and hear ... The ability of American society to tolerate the advocacy of even hateful doctrines ... is perhaps the best protection we have against the establishment of any Nazi-type regime in this country." The neo-Nazis declined to march in Skokie.

In the 1980s, the ACLU filed suit to challenge the Arkansas 1981 creationism statute, which required the teaching in public schools of the biblical account of creation as a scientific alternative to evolution. The law was declared unconstitutional by a Federal District Court.

In 1982, the ACLU became involved in a case involving the distribution of child pornography (''New York v. Ferber''). In an amicus brief, the ACLU argued that the law in question "has criminalized the dissemination, sale or display of constitutionally protected non-obscene materials which portray juveniles in sexually related roles," while arguing that child pornography deemed obscene under the Miller test deserved no constitutional protection and could be banned.

2000–present

In November 2000, 15 African American residents of Hearne, Texas were indicted on drug charges after being arrested in a series of "drug sweeps". The ACLU filed a class action lawsuit, ''Kelly v. Paschall'', on their behalf, alleging that the arrests were unlawful. The ACLU contended that 15 percent of Hearne's male African American population aged 18 to 34 were arrested based on the "uncorroborated word of a single unreliable confidential informant coerced by police to make cases." On May 11, 2005, the ACLU and Robertson County announced a confidential settlement of the lawsuit, an outcome which "both sides stated that they were satisfied with." The District Attorney dismissed the charges against the plaintiffs of the suit. The 2009 film American Violet depicts this case.

In a 2002 letter, the ACLU stated that it "opposes child pornography that uses real children in its depictions", but that material "which is produced without using real children, and is not otherwise obscene, is protected under the First Amendment".

In March 2004, the ACLU, along with Lambda Legal and the National Center for Lesbian Rights, sued the state of California on behalf of 6 same-sex couples who were denied marriage licenses. That case, ''Woo v. Lockyer'', was eventually consolidated into ''In re Marriage Cases'', the California Supreme Court case which led to same-sex marriage being available in that state from June 16, 2008 until Proposition 8 was passed on November 4, 2008.

During the 2004 trial regarding allegations of Rush Limbaugh's drug abuse, the ACLU argued that his privacy should not have been compromised by allowing law enforcement examination of his medical records.

In June 2004, the ACLU received numerous phone calls from angry parents after the Dover Area School District in Dover, Pennsylvania passed a curriculum change requiring that its high school biology students be read a one-minute statement saying that the theory of evolution is not fact and mentioning intelligent design as an alternative theory. Believing that the school was promoting a religious idea in the classroom and violating the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment, several Dover parents called the ACLU to discuss a possible lawsuit against the school. The ACLU, along with Americans United for Separation of Church and State and Pepper Hamilton, LLP, went on to represent the parents, the plaintiffs, in ''Kitzmiller v. Dover Area School District''. After a more than 40-day trial, Judge John E. Jones III ruled in favor of the plaintiffs, finding that intelligent design is not science and permanently forbidding the Dover school system from teaching intelligent design in science classes.

In January 2006, the ACLU filed a lawsuit, ''ACLU v. NSA'', in a federal district court in Michigan, challenging government spying in the NSA warrantless surveillance controversy. On August 17, 2006, that court ruled that the warrantless wiretapping program is unconstitutional and ordered it ended immediately. However, the order was stayed pending an appeal. The Bush administration did suspend the program while the appeal was being heard. In February 2008, the U.S. Supreme Court "turned down an appeal from the [ACLU] to let it pursue a lawsuit against the program that began shortly after the Sept. 11 terror attacks".

The ACLU and other organizations also filed separate lawsuits around the country against telecommunications companies. The ACLU filed a lawsuit in Illinois (''Terkel v. AT&T;'') which was dismissed because of the State Secrets Privilege and two others in California requesting injunctions against AT&T; and Verizon. On August 10, 2006, the lawsuits against the telecommunications companies were transferred to a federal judge in San Francisco.

After the town of Hazleton, Pennsylvania passed an ordinance to punish landlords who rented to illegal immigrants and businesses who hired illegal immigrants, the ACLU and the Puerto Rican Legal Defense and Education Fund sued Hazleton, saying the ordinance was unconstitutional. On July 26, 2007, a federal court agreed and struck down the Hazleton ordinance; Hazleton's mayor promised to appeal the decision.

In 2008, the ACLU stated that it would represent defendants arrested in Flint, Michigan for disorderly conduct when sagging (wearing pants low enough to show underwear), partly on the basis of unconstitutional racial profiling.

After the City of Indianapolis, Indiana, began cracking down on when, where and how homeless persons can solicit donations, the ACLU sued Indianapolis, claiming the city's police unconstitutionally forced homeless persons to produce identification without probable cause.

In January 2010, the American military released the names of 645 detainees held at the Bagram Theater Internment Facility in Afghanistan, modifying its long-held position against publicizing such information. This list was prompted by a Freedom of Information Act lawsuit filed in September 2009 by the ACLU, whose lawyers had also requested detailed information about conditions, rules and regulations.

The ACLU represents a Muslim-American who was detained but never accused of a crime in ''Al-Kidd v Ashcroft'', a civil suit against the former Attorney General.

See also

American Civil Rights Union

Association for Civil Rights in Israel

British Columbia Civil Liberties Association

Canadian Civil Liberties Association

Freedom (political)

Liberty (pressure group)

National Emergency Civil Liberties Committee

New York Civil Liberties Union

Southern Poverty Law Center

Footnotes

References

William A. Donohue, ''The Politics of the American Civil Liberties Union'' (New Brunswick, NJ: Transaction Books, 1985) ISBN 0-88738-021-2

Peggy Lamson, ''Roger Baldwin: Founder of the American Civil Liberties Union'' (Boston: Houghton Mifflin Company, 1976) ISBN 0-395-24761-6

Samuel Walker, ''In Defense of American Liberties: A History of the ACLU'' (New York and Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1990) ISBN 0-19-504539-4

External links

ACLU official site

American Civil LIberties Union on twitter

''The ACLU Freedom Files'' TV series

Debs Pamphlet Collection, Indiana State University Library. – an array of annual ACLU reports in pdf format.

Category:501(c)(4) nonprofit organizations Category:Civil liberties advocacy groups in the United States Category:Government watchdog groups in the United States Category:Immigration political advocacy groups in the United States Category:Legal defense organizations in the United States Category:LGBT political advocacy groups in the United States Category:Non-profit organizations based in New York Category:Organizations established in 1917 Category:Privacy organizations

de:American Civil Liberties Union es:Unión Estadounidense por las Libertades Civiles fa:اتحادیه آزادی‌های شهروندی آمریکا fr:Union américaine pour les libertés civiles it:American Civil Liberties Union he:האיגוד האמריקאי לחירויות אזרחיות nl:American Civil Liberties Union ja:アメリカ自由人権協会 no:American Civil Liberties Union pt:União Americana pelas Liberdades Civis ru:Американский союз защиты гражданских свобод fi:American Civil Liberties Union th:สหภาพเสรีภาพพลเมืองอเมริกัน zh:美國公民自由聯盟

name	Lou Dobbs |
birthname	Louis Carl Dobbs |
birth date	September 24, 1945 |
birth place	Childress, Texas, U.S. |
death date	|
death place	|
spouse	Debi Lee Roth-Segura |
occupation	Talk radio hostCurrent Fox Business Network News Anchor Former CNN News AnchorFormer Managing editor|
salary	|
networth	|
website	http://www.foxbusiness.com/on-air/lou-dobbs-tonight/index.html |
footnotes	|
credits	Lou Dobbs Tonight|
website	http://loudobbs.com/| }}

Louis Carl "Lou" Dobbs (born September 24, 1945) is an American journalist, radio host, television host on the Fox Business Network, and author. He anchored CNN's ''Lou Dobbs Tonight'' until November 2009 when he announced on the air that he would leave the 24-hour cable news television network.

He was born in Texas and lived there and in Idaho during his childhood. After graduating from Harvard University, Dobbs worked in government and banking before becoming a news reporter for several local media outlets. He had worked with CNN since its founding in 1980, serving as a reporter and vice president. He was the host and managing editor for CNN's ''Moneyline'', which premiered in 1980 and was renamed ''Lou Dobbs Tonight'' in 2003. Dobbs resigned from CNN in 1999, rejoined in 2000, and resigned again in November 2009. He also hosts a syndicated radio show, ''Lou Dobbs Radio'' and has written several books since 2001.

Dobbs describes himself as an "independent populist" and is known for his opposition to NAFTA and support for immigration enforcement. For his reporting, he has won Emmy, Peabody, and Cable ACE awards.

After Dobbs left CNN in 2009, he gave an interview where he did not rule out the possibility of running for President of the United States in 2012, saying the final decision would rest with his wife, although former Senator Dean Barkley has encouraged Dobbs to run. Dobbs also acknowledged, via a spokesperson, that he is also considering a run for the United States Senate in New Jersey in 2012.

Background and family life

Born in Childress County, Texas, Dobbs is the son of Frank Dobbs, a co-owner of a propane business, and Lydia Mae (née Hensley), a bookkeeper. When Dobbs was 12, his father's propane business failed and the family moved to Rupert, Idaho. He attended Minico High School in Minidoka County, where he played tackle on the football team and served as student body president. Although accepted at the University of Idaho and Idaho State University, he was persuaded by the staff at Minico High to apply to Harvard University, where he was accepted and later graduated from with a Bachelor of Arts degree in economics in 1967.

After graduating, Dobbs worked for federal anti-poverty programs in Boston and Washington, D.C. He briefly attended law school at the University of Idaho in Moscow, then worked as a cash-management specialist for Union Bank in Los Angeles. He married his high school sweetheart in 1969, and in 1970 their first son was born. Dobbs moved to Yuma, Arizona and got a job as a police and fire reporter for KBLU-AM. By the mid-1970s he was a television anchor and reporter in Phoenix, and he later joined Seattle's KING-TV. In 1979, he was contacted by a recruiter for Ted Turner, who was in the process of forming CNN. He is married to his second wife, Debi Lee Segura, a Mexican-American who was, at one time, a CNN sports anchor. The couple has had four children together. Dobbs resides on a horse farm in Sussex County, New Jersey.

Career

CNN

Dobbs joined CNN when it launched in 1980, serving as its chief economics correspondent and as host of the business news program ''Moneyline'' on CNN. Dobbs also served as a corporate executive for CNN, as its executive vice president and as a member of CNN's executive committee. He founded CNN fn (CNN financial news), serving as its president and anchoring the program ''Business Unusual'', which examined business creativity and leadership.

Departure and founding of Space.com

Dobbs repeatedly clashed with Rick Kaplan, who became president of CNN in 1997. Dobbs said Kaplan, noted friend of then president Bill Clinton, was "clearly partisan" and "was pushing Clinton stories," while Kaplan said Dobbs was "a very difficult person to work with."

On April 20, 1999, CNN was covering Clinton's speech in Littleton, Colorado, following the Columbine High School massacre. Dobbs ordered the producer to cut away from the speech and return to broadcast ''Moneyline''. Dobbs was countermanded by Kaplan, who ordered CNN to return to the speech. Kaplan later said, "Tell me what journalistic reason there was not to cover the president at Columbine soon after the shootings? Everyone else was doing it." Dobbs announced on the air that "CNN President Rick Kaplan wants us to return to Littleton." A few days later, Dobbs announced that he was leaving the network to start Space.com, a website devoted to astronautical news. Dobbs was subsequently replaced as host of ''Moneyline'' by Willow Bay and Stuart Varney.

Return to CNN

Kaplan left CNN in August 2000, and Dobbs returned the following year, at the behest of his friend and CNN founder Ted Turner, becoming host and managing editor of the new and initially more general news program ''Lou Dobbs Reporting'', which later became ''CNN News Sunday Morning''. He also regained the helm of the newly renamed ''Lou Dobbs Moneyline'' (which became ''Lou Dobbs Tonight'' in June 2003).

Radio

, Dobbs hosts ''Lou Dobbs Radio'' on United Stations Radio Networks. The three hour daily show has been working on lining up affiliates in major markets, including its flagship station (WOR) in New York City, Washington D.C. (WHFS), Miami (WZAB-AM) and the San Francisco Bay Area (KDOW), as well as stations such as WGNY-AM in Newburgh, New York. The show is guest-centered and features political discussion and listener calls. It airs from 2 to 5 p.m. Eastern, directly competing with ''The Sean Hannity Show'' and ''Dr. Laura''. Dobbs also hosts the financially themed ''Lou Dobbs Minute'' on the same network.

In June 2008, Dobbs reached an agreement with Business TalkRadio Network to carry a rebroadcast of the show from 7 p.m. to 10 p.m. Eastern, displacing Bruce Williams. Dobbs's show is also carried live on CRN Digital Talk Radio Networks, on CRN4.

Dobbs was among the hosts who tried out for the position vacated by the cancellation of ''Imus in the Morning'' on WFAN, a position that was eventually filled by ''Boomer and Carton in the Morning''. Dobbs mentioned on his radio show that he is currently seeking a position in the US Department of Treasury during the economic crisis. He stated that he believed he could "do more good than the clowns currently in position."

Dobbs also hosts a nationally syndicated radio show, ''The Lou Dobbs Financial Report'', and is a regular columnist in ''Money'' magazine, ''U.S. News & World Report'', and the ''New York Daily News''.

Exit from CNN

On the November 11, 2009 edition of his nightly broadcast ''Lou Dobbs Tonight'', Dobbs announced his immediate departure from CNN, ending a nearly thirty year career at the network, citing plans to "'pursue new opportunities'". His departure came less than two weeks after an incident in which a shot was fired at his home.

In July 2009, controversy around Dobbs began when he was the only mainstream news anchor to give airtime to the birther conspiracy theory. Several liberal advocacy groups, including Media Matters, and the Southern Poverty Law Center criticized Dobbs for his reporting. The controversy eventually caused CNN President Jon Klein to rein Dobbs in via an internal memorandum. In September, advocates challenged Dobbs for appearing at a FAIR conference (Federation for American Immigration Reform), a leading anti-illegal immigration group. Multiple campaigns were launched, including Drop Dobbs (NDN, Media Matters), and Basta Dobbs (Presente.org).

The campaigns also attacked CNN for alleged hypocrisy towards Latinos, citing CNN's "Latino in America" special as incompatible with their continued support of Dobbs. The campaigns generated considerable anti-Dobbs press, and are credited by some as pushing Dobbs out.

Dobbs was reportedly paid $8 million in severance pay when he left CNN prior to his contract being due for renewal.

Since his resignation from CNN, Dobbs has made regular appearances to discuss issues on other news network programs including CNBC's The Kudlow Report and Fox News Channel's The O'Reilly Factor. Dobbs continues to broadcast his American radio show and publish his syndicated column.

Current show on Fox Business Network

On November 10, 2010, Fox Business Network announced that Dobbs will host a show on the channel. The network announced on March 3, 2011 the start date, show title, and time slot of Dobbs' new show. The show will be titled ''Lou Dobbs Tonight'', it would begin on March 14, 2011, and will air at 7 PM Eastern. That is the same title and time slot that Dobbs' old CNN show had.

Political views

In his early career Dobbs was known as a fiscal conservative. He is a critic of the "excesses of capitalism," which he identifies as globalization, offshore outsourcing, runaway film production (the outsourcing of Hollywood jobs), illegal immigration, free trade deals, corporate/big business influence in government and the Bush administration's tax cuts. He describes himself as an advocate of economic populism, warning that outsourcing and the U.S. trade and budget deficits threaten the American middle class. Dobbs tends to oppose long-run trade deficits and outsourcing for the sake of labor arbitrage to obtain cheap labor.

In the 2000s, Dobbs has used CNN programs and columns to express his personal views on several subjects. He has become particularly noted for two positions: Dobbs is a critic of American immigration policy and expanded international trade. He is particularly wary of outsourcing and off-shoring, especially with China. He was a known political figure in New Jersey, with a Fairleigh Dickinson University PublicMind poll finding that he had a 70% name recognition among New Jersey voters in January 2010. Among these voters, 22% had a favorable view of Dobbs while 22% had an unfavorable view.

Illegal immigration and border security

Dobbs has been strongly opposed to both illegal immigration and such labor-outsourcing and foreign worker programs as the H-1B visa program and guest-worker programs. He has been a critic of the Mexican government's poverty programs, and of church leaders in Mexico for not criticizing the Mexican government's policies on border security and illegal immigration.

''Lou Dobbs Tonight'' frequently featured themes of "Exporting America," "Broken Borders," and "War on the Middle Class". The newscast often described illegal immigration as an "invasion." Dobbs dismissed concerns about his rhetoric as "political correctness" in the segment billboarded "P.C. Nation".

In his "Broken Borders" segments, Dobbs focused primarily on the southern border with Mexico and the drugs and the people who cross it. Dobbs has lauded the Canadian government for cooperation in securing the border with their American counterparts.

In an interview with Lesley Stahl, Dobbs spoke about his meeting with the Congressional Hispanic Caucus, saying they implied that he was anti-Hispanic by asking him, "if [he had] ever eaten a taco before, for God's sake". Representative Joe Baca, chairman of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus, later wrote to CBS insisting that the group did not meet with Dobbs to discuss whether he'd eaten Hispanic food, "but to respectfully recommend that he cease the negative portrayal of Hispanics...and treat the issue of immigration in a responsible manner."

Some of the reporting on the show has been criticized including a claim that illegal aliens were responsible for bringing 7,000 new cases of leprosy to the United States in a three year period, but the actual timeframe was over the last thirty years, according to James L. Krahenbuhl, the director of the National Hansen’s Disease Program.

Dobbs has criticized local officials for their approach to border security. In October 2007 he labeled then New York Governor Eliot Spitzer an "idiot" for advocating the issuance of driver's licenses to illegal immigrants. Hillary Clinton labeled Dobbs' illegal immigration segments as having "all that hot air."

On October 5, 2009, a bullet struck Dobbs's home as Dobbs and his wife stood outside it. The bullet struck the vinyl siding of their attic and fell to the ground without penetrating the vinyl. Dobbs attributed the incident to his stance against amnesty for illegal immigrants. The New Jersey State Troopers' account of the incident attributed to a stray bullet from a hunter in the vicinity. The shot near Dobbs and his wife occurred around 10:30 in the morning.

In December 2009, Dobbs stated in an interview with Telemundo that he now supports a plan to legalize undocumented workers.

Other views

Lou Dobbs is a registered Republican. Though he made a donation of $1,000 to the Bush-Cheney campaign in January 2001, he often has described the Bush administration and the then Republican-controlled Congress as "disgraceful." He has also argued that both parties are controlled by corporate interests. Dobbs faulted Bush's 2004 presidential election opponent, Democrat John Kerry, for first criticizing outsourcing and then backing off.

Lou Dobbs is pro-choice, opposes gun control and, though he is a fiscal conservative, supports some government regulations, as revealed in a ''60 Minutes'' interview. He has been critical of trade policies that he says encourage "sending jobs overseas".

Dobbs' stance on trade has earned plaudits from some trade union activists on the traditional political left, while his stance on immigration tends to appeal to the right. In an interview with Larry King, Dobbs revealed that he is now "an unaffiliated independent" owing to dissatisfaction with both the Republican and Democratic parties.

Dobbs has been consistently supportive of LGBT rights in the United States. In June 2006, as the U.S. Senate debated the Federal Marriage Amendment, Dobbs was critical of the action. He asserted that marriage was threatened more by financial crises perpetuated by Bush administration economic policy than by same-sex marriage.

Dobbs is the author of ''War on the Middle Class'', in which he claims that both Democrats and Republicans are harming the middle class. In it, he comes out strongly against the Bush tax cuts, which he argues favor the wealthy, and argued for raising the U.S. minimum wage from what was then $5.15 an hour.

Dobbs criticized the Emergency Economic Stabilization Act of 2008 begun by President George W. Bush and later continued by President Barack Obama. He called it originally a "Wall Street bailout", a term which became common. Dobbs described the program as the way for U.S. Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson to help corporate interests instead of helping average Americans. He expresses many of his views in the documentary ''Generation Zero''.

Controversies

Dobbs' critics, including columnist James K. Glassman, author of ''Dow 36,000'' and member of the American Enterprise Institute think tank, have accused him of inciting xenophobia. Others have accused him of Hispanophobia, a charge he denies and one which he has said offends him deeply, as his wife Debi Segura is a Mexican-American.

Dobbs has also been criticized for his journalistic ethics by liberal news journalist Amy Goodman. She accused him of flagrant errors in his reporting and his staff's association with disreputable sources, complaining that "he has a special responsibility to rely on facts and to correct misstatements of fact." According to her, he entered the undocumented immigration debate "invoking populist rhetoric and championing the cause of the middle class", a stance opposed by her ''Democracy Now!'' co-host Juan Gonzalez.

A CNN report, filed by Christine Romans for Dobbs's April 14, 2005 program, reported on the carrying of diseases across the border by illegal immigrants. Romans' report cited an article in the spring 2005 issue of the non-indexed ''Journal of American Physicians and Surgeons'', written by Madeleine Cosman, which made the statement that 7,000 cases of leprosy had emerged in the United States within the previous three years (2002–2005), an increase attributed mostly to an influx of immigrants into the country. Critics of the program argued that, in fact, the actual number of leprosy cases had reached 7,000 in the registry over 30 years, not the previous three years, with 137 cases reported in 2006. In addressing the leprosy issue, Dobbs in May 2007 compared his critics from the left and right political spectrums to "commies" and "fascists." On December 4, 2007, Dobbs rejected Cosman's claims as unsubstantiated, calling her "a wackjob".

On the May 23, 2006 edition of ''Lou Dobbs Tonight'', Dobbs's program displayed a map of Aztlán sourced to the controversial Council of Conservative Citizens. CNN spokeswoman Christa Robinson apologized for the graphic's use, saying: "A freelance field producer in Los Angeles searched the web for Aztlan maps and grabbed the Council of Conservative Citizens map without knowing the nature of the organization. The graphic was a late inclusion in the script and, regrettably, was missed in the vetting process." In March 2009, Dobbs thought that there shouldn't be a St. Patricks Day In mid-2009, Dobbs was criticized by some in the media for invoking "conspiracy theories" by questioning the constitutionality of Barack Obama's presidency due to his supposedly ambiguous citizenship. His willingness to raise the "birther" issue repeatedly even though CNN itself considered it a "discredited rumor", led the ''Washington Post'''s TV critic to remark that this "explains their upcoming documentary: 'The World: Flat. We Report -- You Decide.'" The issue had come up in 2008 during the Presidential campaign, and had largely disappeared from the media spotlight until Dobbs picked up the issue again. His statements in support of these investigations were dubbed "racist" and "defamatory" by the Southern Poverty Law Center. The controversy led to Media Matters airing ads critical of Dobbs and of CNN, and to Jon Stewart mocking Dobbs on the satirical ''The Daily Show''. ''The New York Times'' said that Dobbs had "become a publicity nightmare for CNN, embarrassed his boss and hosted a show that seemed to contradict the network's 'no bias' brand." As a result, he became a frequent target of MSNBC commentator Keith Olbermann's Worst person in the World.

Shortly afterwards, Dobbs announced that he would broadcast two episodes of ''Lou Dobbs Tonight'' from the "Hold Their Feet to the Fire" conference in Washington, D.C., organized by the Federation for American Immigration Reform (FAIR), an anti-illegal immigration advocacy group. Media Matters also criticized this move, citing FAIR founder John Tanton's history of making racist remarks and supporting white supremacist organizations. Media Matters president Eric Burns issued an open letter to CNN vice president Jonathan Klein, asking that the network take action against Dobbs. "Mr. Dobbs represents an ongoing threat to CNN's credibility as a serious news organization, in no small part because of his polemical coverage of immigration issues and his continued use of his CNN show to lend prominence to groups such as FAIR", wrote Burns. "The attention and legitimacy he gave to the 'birther' movement — and CNN's condoning of his actions — did real damage to that credibility. His participation in the upcoming FAIR rally would do further, serious damage. We urge you to finally acknowledge that Mr. Dobbs' actions in this and other contexts are inconsistent with the reputation that CNN strives to maintain."

In October 2010, ''The Nation'' published the results of a yearlong investigation detailing undocumented workers who had worked on Dobbs' personal properties. The labor involved upkeep of Dobbs' multimillion-dollar estates in New Jersey and Florida, including the horses belonging to his daughter, Hillary, a champion show jumper. The article featured interviews with five immigrants who had worked without papers on Dobbs' properties. Dobbs and his daughter had declined to comment to ''The Nation'' as part of the story. Speaking to the Associated Press, Dobbs referred to the article as "a political assault," claiming it's a lie that he hired illegal immigrants. He said: "I have never, do not now, and never will."

Awards

Dobbs has won numerous major awards for his television journalism, most notably a Lifetime Achievement Emmy Award and a Cable Ace Award. He received the George Foster Peabody Award for his coverage of the 1987 stock market crash. He also has received the Luminary Award of the Business Journalism Review in 1990, the Horatio Alger Association Award for Distinguished Americans in 1999 and the National Space Club Media Award in 2000. ''The Wall Street Journal'' has named Dobbs "TV's Premier Business News Anchorman". In 2004, Dobbs was awarded the Eugene Katz Award For Excellence in the Coverage of Immigration by the Center for Immigration Studies and in 2005 he received the Alexis de Tocqueville Institution's Statesmanship Award. Dobbs was named "Father of the Year" by the National Father's Day Committee in 1993.

Books

Lou Dobbs, ''Independents Day: Awakening The American Spirit'' (2007). ISBN 978-0-670-01836-9.

Lou Dobbs, ''Exporting America: Why Corporate Greed Is Shipping American Jobs Overseas'' (2004). ISBN 0-446-57744-8.

Lou Dobbs, ''Space: The Next Business Frontier'' with HP Newquist (2001). ISBN 0-7434-2389-5

Lou Dobbs, ''War on the Middle Class: How the Government, Big Business, and Special Interest Groups Are Waging War on the American Dream and How to Fight Back'' (2006). ISBN 0-670-03792-3.

Ron Hira and Anil Hira, with foreword by Lou Dobbs, ''Outsourcing America: What's behind Our National Crisis and how we can reclaim American Jobs.'' (AMACOM), American Management Association, (May 2005). ISBN 0-8144-0868-0.

References

External links

Lou Dobbs Tonight website

Official website

Category:American anti–illegal immigration activists Category:Anti-globalist activists Category:American columnists Category:American political pundits Category:American political writers Category:American talk radio hosts Category:Harvard University alumni Category:People from Childress County, Texas Category:People from Sussex County, New Jersey Category:Seattle, Washington television anchors Category:American broadcast news analysts Category:1945 births Category:Living people Category:People from Minidoka County, Idaho

de:Lou Dobbs et:Lou Dobbs fr:Lou Dobbs it:Lou Dobbs pt:Lou Dobbs sh:Lou Dobbs uk:Лу Доббс

Elon James White (Born October 16, 1978 in Brooklyn, NY) is a New York City-based stand-up comedian.

White is the founder of the Brooklyn Comedy Company and the Black Comedy Experiment. White is the host of the web series "This Week In Blackness" which has been featured on Crooks and Liars, Daily Kos, and Jack & Jill Politics. White is a contributor to the Huffington Post, Salon.com, The Root, and is a part of the comedy troupe Laughing Liberally, the comedic arm of Living Liberally.

White has appeared as a featured commentator on the VH1 series Black to the Future and The Great Debate as well as Countdown With Keith Olbermann and The Joy Behar Show. White was the recipient of four 2009 Black Weblog Awards including Best Humor Blog, Best MicroBlog (Twitter), Best Video Blog and Blog of the Year. White was also listed by Princeton Professor & Author Melissa Harris-Perry as being a part of the "Top 50 Politcos to Watch"

External links

Official Website

This Week in Blackness

The Black Comedy Experiment

References

Category:1978 births Category:Living people Category:African American comedians Category:American comedians

name	The Courage
background	group_or_band
origin	Seattle, Washington
genre	Folk rockAmericana Acoustic Indie
years active	Circa 2005-present
label	Independent
associated acts	Garage Voice Tom Rorem Paper Mache Karli Fairbanks Ben Blood (Photographer) National Theatre Project
website	http://thecourageband.com
current members	Noah Gundersen Abby Gundersen Ivan Gunderson Travis Ehrentrom Michael Porter Chris Judd Michael Rabb Drew Konzelman
past members	}}

The Courage (formerly known as "Noah Gundersen & the Courage") is an indie band initially started in Centralia, Washington by siblings Abby & Noah Gundersen and expanded to Travis Ehrenstrom and Ivan Gunderson. The group has two EPs, a live CD, and a studio album. Before the removal of Noah Gundersen's name from the title and the incorporation of the entire band, a majority of the songs were written and recorded by Noah and Abby.

Biography

Noah Gundersen began playing music when he was 10 or 11 years old when his parents had him take piano lessons. Later he taught himself to play the guitar and recorded songs with his father's recording equipment. Around the age of 16, Noah was performing solo in local cafes. His sister Abby began to accompany him with violin and harmonies in 2006 . Noah Gundersen & the Courage began in 2006 in Centralia, Washington. They began playing shows throughout the Washington/Oregon region, and quickly gained a fan base there. Noah's first CD, "Brand New World" (recorded by himself, Abby Gundersen, and Michael Porter) was recorded in Eugene, Oregon in a home studio. It began to be sold on the internet in 2008. That summer, an internet hacker named "andrewlandon" discovered Noah Gundersen's music and stole his song "Winter" (as well has three songs by a neighboring musician, Jacob White, and several other artists) and put it on his own MySpace.

In mid 2008, ''Live at the Triple Door'', the band's first live CD was released independently as they toured throughout the west coast. In May, Noah and Abby made another western tour with Garage Voice and Tom Rorem, an ensuing two month tour alongside Chelsea Seth of Paper Mache occurred that August. On October 9, The Courage played a show at The Q Cafe to release Noah's newest album, "Saints & Liars". Paige Richmond, a Seattle Weekly reporter attending the show gave the band's performance and new CD an outstanding review, titling the review "Noah Gundersen Brings Q Cafe Crowd to Its Feet" As winter set in, the band became stationary while Abby began to pursue her college education and the other three set out finding other jobs. Noah Gundersen & the Courage continues to rehearse and play shows in the WA/OR area at venues such as The Round and the Triple Door, while staying less active.

On December 10 at midnight, The Courage released a new song on their myspace, "Moles", which is the only studio recording of The Courage. The song was only on their music page for a few days but physical CDs were released when they performed at the Triple Door on December 29. In the following February, the track "Middle of June", off of Saints & Liars, appeared on an episode of One Tree Hill.

The band announced through their new website, as well as with an interview with Seattle Weekly, that their first full-length album would be released in the summer of 2010. The album, according to Seattle Weekly, marks a transition in the band as the group moved from a singer/song-writer led band fronted by Noah Gundersen—one that frequented solo acoustic songs—to a functioning unit that creates songs that incorporate the entire band. Noah Gundersen has even considered removing his name from the band's title.

Recording for The Courage's studio album began on March 16 of 2010. The band announced their progress with several updates through their Twitter account revealing that on the 27th of March, they had finished recording the album and in early July, they had started mixing the album. The album is the first full-length recording to be released by The Courage.

Fearful Bones and name change (2010-present)

By the beginning of August 2010, recording, production, and mixing for the new album had been completed in a barn in Sisters, Oregon. On August 3, the band announced the change of their title as well as the name of their debut album via their Twitter page, A new song, "Frequency," was streamed for free off of their official website in the beginning of September. On September 11, The Courage played a release show for Fearful Bones and followed up with a three week tour of the West Coast with the album's producer, Matt Lee, playing lead guitar.

The Local Lounge

On January 11, 2009, Noah Gundersen played live for 45 minutes on KCDA during the "Local Lounge". He performed the songs "Poor Man's Son", "The Ocean", and "No Fairness" and aired the songs "America", "Nine Pound Hammer", "Current State of Things", and "Oh, Momma".

Live performances

The Courage's live performances vary greatly from Noah's studio recordings: while the studio recordings are usually only Noah and Abby Gundersen, the entire band takes part in performing live. The line-up is also constantly changing, guests may appear at shows with additional guitars, saxophones, and other instruments.

Members

The core of The Courage is

Noah Gundersen- Guitarist/Songwriter/Singer

Abby Gundersen- Violin/Backing vocals

Travis Ehrenstrom- Bass guitar

Ivan Gunderson- Drums But additional artist play varying roles in the Courage, often playing with the band live

Michael Porter - Electric Guitar, additional guitar on "Brand New World"

Chris Judd - Bass guitar, Vocals

Michael Rabb - Keys, Tambourine, Vocals (appears on ''Live at the Triple Door'')

Drew Konzelman - Mandolin, Violin, Octave Violin, Electric Guitar

Matt Lee - guitar (Fearful Bones tour in September 2010)

Discography

The first two studio albums from The Courage are credited mainly to Noah Gundersen as the singer/songwriter with accompaniment from Abby Gundersen with vocals and violin.

Albums

Brand New World

Brand New World is Noah's first CD, it features Abby singing backup vocals and playing the violin, and Michael Porter playing an additional guitar.

# "Brand New World" - 4:48 # "Moss On A Rolling Stone" - 4:53 # "Burning Fences" - 5:03 # "The First Song" - 4:53 # "Winter"* - 6:18 # "The Current State Of Things" - 5:11

The song "Winter" was hacked and made to look like the creation of a notorious Internet hacker, "andrewlandon".

''Live at the Triple Door''

''Live at the Triple Door'' is the first CD by The Courage to include the entire group, and is Noah's second recording released. The album was recorded at the The Triple Door venue in Seattle, Washington. The Triple Door has had several artists and groups record live albums in its lounge and The Courage is one of the more recent bands to do so.

Saints & Liars

''Saints & Liars'' was released by Noah Gundersen on October 9, 2009; although tracks 2, 3, 5 and 6 were already on the bands myspace. The album was released at a show in The Q Cafe and was sold digitally later that month. The CD/show received an outstanding review from the Seattle Weekly saying "Noah Gundersen Brings Q Cafe Crowd to Its Feet". The EP has been compared to Damien Rice, Jeff Buckley, and Ryan Adams. In February 2010, the song "Middle of June" appeared on the television series One Tree Hill.

Fearful Bones

Fearful Bones is The Courage's debut album, sold on September 11, 2010 at the Crocodile Cafe for the audience, and recorded in a barn in Sisters, Oregon. The album is seen as a turning point in the band's direction, aside from dropping Noah Gundersen's name from the title and sharing song-writing among all members, the album is described as "less folky, more country-rock.

Compilations

We Love This Comp. Vol. I

The Courage's song, "All You Know," was released on Building Burning Record's 16-track compilation called We Love This Comp. Vol I on March 29, 2011. The album features several Oregon based folk and indie bands.

Associated acts

National Theatre Project

Bassist Travis Ehrenstrom leads an acoustic Oregon based band, National Theatre Project.

Travis Ehrenstrom - Vocals, Guitar

Seth Rodriguez - Saxophone

Matt Cartmill - Drums

Patrick Pearsall - Bass

Beneath Oceans

Noah Gundersen was frontman and singer for a post-hardcore group called Beneath Oceans. While the group was active, the band played shows throughout the West Coast, and recorded an unreleased EP. At the end of 2008, with the departure of Keelan O'Hara, Gundersen announced that the band was done. Beneath Oceans Myspace profile

References

External links

Noah Gundersen's myspace profile

The Triple Door website

Interview with Noah Gundersen

Concert review by The Falcon online

The Courage twitter page

Category:American folk rock groups Category:Musical groups from Seattle, Washington Category:Centralia, Washington