Stop the ACLU writes,
Where was the ACLU on this one you may ask? Word has it that an ACLU-affiliated attorney represented the “offended” lesbians. “Foremost defender of the United States Constitution and the Bill of Rights” …. yeah right. More on that later.
From what I know of this case, I see no reason to fault the ACLU for it. Elane Photography’s lawyer tells me that Julie Sakura of Albuquerque was the lawyer on the other side; she is not an ACLU staffer, nor, to my knowledge, has the ACLU taken a stand on this, or had Sakura characterize herself as an ACLU representative. Sakura has worked with the ACLU as a cooperating attorney, but my sense is that this just means she sometimes takes cases for them. It certainly doesn’t mean that all her work is ACLU-sanctioned.
Nor do I see any reason to fault the ACLU for not representing Elane Photography here. Elane Photography has eminently capable counsel in the form of the Alliance Defense Fund; I don’t know that Elane Photography even sought the ACLU’s help. And while it might have been possible for the ACLU to file a friend-of-the-commission brief (though I’m not sure the commission’s rules allow it), it’s certainly sensible for an organization with limited resources to avoid spending effort on amicus work at such a stage, especially given that competent counsel are on the case.
I’ll be happy to condemn the ACLU for being on the wrong side here if they actually end up on the wrong side. But so far I see no evidence of this — please correct me if I’m mistaken.