Summary:
Friedman began working with the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) of Kentucky in 1983 as a volunteer cooperating attorney. A year later (1984), Friedman became the group’s general counsel and served in that position for 25 years often taking the lead on cases that dealt with reproductive freedom, separation of church and state, freedom of speech and other civil liberties issues. In 2005, he successfully argued before the U.S. Supreme Court on behalf of the ACLU of Kentucky that the display of the Ten Commandments in a courthouse violated constitutional principles. Friedman talks about his great pride in the ACLU’s mission, a genuine and personal passion for the legal work, the importance of educating the public on civil liberties and how media relations played a role in that work. He also discusses how Kentucky’s politics and culture have placed it on front line of efforts to protect reproductive freedom and the separation of church and state.
