Inside the ACLU’s Docket: Anthony Romero on the Front Lines of Civil Rights

Why It Matters

The ACLU’s effectiveness is critical to enforcing constitutional rights; reduced outside legal support, funding and membership at a time of escalating, multi‑front legal fights could weaken civil‑liberties defenses and prolong harm while cases wind through appeals.

Summary

Anthony Romero, who has led the ACLU since the week before 9/11, tells Stanford Legal that the organization’s workload has surged under the Trump administration to roughly 239 legal actions, including more than 130 federal class actions spanning immigration, LGBTQ, reproductive, voting and other civil‑rights issues. Romero says the scale and breadth of threats to civil liberties now eclipse the challenges of the post‑9/11 era, and that litigation will be protracted as courts respond slowly. He also reports emerging constraints on the ACLU’s capacity: some large law firms are reluctant to join high‑profile cases and some major donors and members have pulled back. Romero warned these trends complicate the ACLU’s ability to mount and sustain complex, high‑stakes litigation against government actions.

Original Description

In a timely conversation about the ACLU’s massive docket of cases, Pam Karlan speaks with Anthony Romero, JD ’90, executive director of the ACLU, about the surge of civil rights and civil liberties battles facing the country right now.

Romero discusses major pieces of litigation spanning immigration, free speech, voting rights, and government accountability. A key focus is the Supreme Court showdown over birthright citizenship, where the Trump administration is attempting to deny citizenship to certain children born in the U.S., a move Romero calls an attack on one of the core promises of the Fourteenth Amendment. They also explore what happens when the government pushes the boundaries of compliance with court rulings and what that means for the rule of law.

Tune in for a compelling conversation about the cases that could help define the next chapter of civil liberties law in the United States.

Links:

• Anthony Romero ＞＞＞ ACLU page (https://www.aclu.org/bio/anthony-d-romero)

Connect:

• Episode Transcripts ＞＞＞ Stanford Legal Podcast Website (https://law.stanford.edu/stanford-legal-podcast/)

• Stanford Legal Podcast ＞＞＞ LinkedIn Page (https://www.linkedin.com/showcase/stanfordlegal/)

• Rich Ford ＞＞＞  Twitter/X (https://twitter.com/our_ford)

• Pam Karlan ＞＞＞ Stanford Law School Page (https://law.stanford.edu/pamela-s-karlan/)

• Diego Zambrano ＞＞＞ Stanford Law School Page (https://law.stanford.edu/diego-a-zambrano/)

• Stanford Law School ＞＞＞ Twitter/X (https://twitter.com/stanfordlaw)

• Stanford Lawyer Magazine ＞＞＞ Twitter/X (https://twitter.com/@stanfordlawmag)

(00:00) Introduction and ACLU’s Rapidly Expanding Docket

(02:30) Small but Mighty—ACLU vs. Federal Power

(07:00) Inside a Burgeoning Docket

(11:30) Birthright Citizenship at the Supreme Court

(16:00) Enforcement at Scale and the Rule of Law

(21:00): An Inflection Point in Public Sentiment

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