the lead of the manager of a local hotel, the president of an insurance company and a local merchant. To combat such attitudes, liberal organizations were formed that lifted their voices for everything from freedom of privacy to aliens’ and immigrants’ rights. One such organization that played an important part in bringing the Furman case to the Supreme Court was the ACLU (American Civil Liberties Union). ACLU is a non-profit-making litigation and lobbying organization founded in 1920. Originally established to defend conscientious objectors during World War I, the organization later expanded its activities to include defending “freedom of expression, privacy, due process, and equal protection—in a non-partisan fashion on behalf of anyone, irrespective of how unpopular the cause.” The ACLU is one of the most powerful minority rights organization. They offer alternatives and solutions to the utilization of capital punishment. Haines writes: “the organization has advocated alternatives to non-violent offenders; the decriminalization of drugs and greater resources for drug treatment and rehabilitation; community policing; more adequate victim services, including compensation, counseling, and the right to be kept informed about the prosecution of offenders, and the incapacitation of dangerous offenders through very long prison sentences as an alternative to the death penalty”. The politically charged climate of the late sixties was perfect for the ACLU to launch its attack against the Furman case and become instrumental in approaching the Supreme Court. Another prolific anti-death group to come out of the sixties was Amnesty International. They are absolutely against any form of capital punishment. It is a human rights organization that fights for the rights of oppressed people all over the world, including those on Death Row. It was established in 1961 to fight for the release of people imprisone...
