Heads of Organizations or Founders
A. Mitchell Palmer directed the “Palmer raids,” a series of roundups of
thousands of radicals suspected of communist subversion. The raids violated
First Amendment liberties.
Greg Lukianoff is the president of the Foundation for Individual Rights in
Education (FIRE) and one of the country’s most passionate defenders of free
expression.
J. Edgar Hoover was director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation for 48
years. His critics accused him violating individuals’ First Amendment
rights.
Joseph Ignatius Breen, one of the most powerful people in Hollywood,
developed the moral guidelines that shaped the content of the films shown
in America for twenty years.
Madalyn Murray O’Hair, an atheist, filed several lawsuits that dealt with
First Amendment separation of church and state issues, including prayer in
public schools.
Robert Shibley is a leading advocate for First Amendment rights on college
campuses and the executive director of Foundation for Individual Rights in
Education.
Roger Baldwin formed the ACLU in 1920. During his 30-year tenure there, the
organization spurred many landmark cases upholding First Amendment freedoms.
Theodore Schroeder a lawyer and prolific writer on free expression rights
granted by the First Amendment, was one of the founders and long-time
secretary of the Free Speech League.