Saint Louis, Mo. — Last year, the American Civil Liberties Union realigned two of its affiliates and the ACLU of Eastern Missouri took responsibility for the entire state under a new executive director, Jeffrey Mittman.
Since Mittman assumed the role of head honcho in May 2013, the organization seems to be perpetually in the news. They filed a smattering of sunshine law requests last winter when the source of Missouri’s execution drugs were a source of mystery, and are now weighing deeper challenges to Missouri’s prison system.
They’ve advocated against new voter ID laws, they were successful in getting Missouri to recognize legal same-sex marriages performed in other states, they backed the wildly successful privacy amendment during the August primary, and advocated for Gov. Jay Nixon to veto the 72-hour abortion bill. And that’s just in the past year.
“The ACLU in the last 25 years has gotten much more sophisticated in how we do what we do,” Mittman told The Missouri Times. “The focus is very much on having a strong national office with good resources that can reach out and work with state affiliates in every single state.”
Mittman took over just as Missouri’s ACLU operations came in under one shop, though he credits his predecessors for organizing the shift. The ACLU of Missouri is keeping plenty busy.
Earlier this month they successfully sued to have a preliminary injunction granted against enforcement of the infamous “5-second” rule in Ferguson, Missouri, and two months before Michael Brown was shot and killed by Officer Darren Wilson, the ACLU National office released a detailed report on police militarization.
“What people are seeing is the longstanding commitment our organization has to constitutional principles,” Mittman said. “Police have a very tough job and most of them want to do it and do it well, but government policies have gone adrift. Police across the country are now getting access to materials or resources that have nothing to do with serving and protecting citizens. In reality, the result is [the police] are seeing the citizens as the enemy.”
Some have branded the ACLU as a liberal organization, but Mittman says the organization doesn’t see itself that way.
“We’re the largest public interest law firm in the country and what I tell people is this: we have one client, and it’s the founding documents of our country,” Mittman said. “You cannot get much more conservative than defending the first piece of paper that created the country.”
Mittman pointed to Amendment 9 from the August primary. The amendment — which added digital communications and information to the state’s search-and-seizure laws — was championed by Republican Sen. Rob Schaaf. Mittman said he approached Schaaf about supporting the amendment only to have Schaaf welcome the organization into the campaign.
“Not only was he open to it, but he said ‘I want to work with you,’” Mittman said. “He sees that as a conservative principles. So do we. The 4th Amendment protects a citizen against unreasonable government search and seizure and we agree with the senator that it should include electronic documents and communications as well.”
Working on issues where there is some bi-partisan agreement is critical to Mittman, who says the ACLU can’t serve its purpose as an advocate for constitutional rights if it plays partisan politics. Mittman points to his work in Alaska, where he backed a pro-life group whose rally had been interfered with by a government worker.
“I got a call from the single most conservative member of the senate in Alaska,” Mittman said. “And I asked if he wanted me to reach out to [the pro-life group] and see if they needed representation and he said he knew he could count on the ACLU. And that’s what’s important: for people to know our mission and that we’re committed to it.”
Last week, the ACLU watched with anticipation as proceedings began in a direct court challenge to Missouri’s constitutional same-sex marriage ban. Circuit Court Judge Rex Burlison of the 22nd heard arguments from representatives from the state’s attorney general office and Winston Calvert, City Counselor for the City of St. Louis. Earlier this year, city officials issued marriage licenses to a few gay couples in order to trigger a legal challenge to the state’s ban. Mittman and City officials remain optimistic that Missouri will soon join the ranks of more than a dozen other states with same-sex bans tossed out by the courts.
“When you have [appellate] Judge Richard Posner, one of the leading lights of conservative judicial thinking, write a scathing opinion that serious people cannot make arguments to promote discrimination against gay and lesbian couples, it’s clear where the public is, where the constitution is, and where the courts are,” Mittman said.
Mittman’s life was not always that of the constitutional lawyer. During his undergraduate studies at Yale, he took a year off to intern with then-congressman Lee Hamilton, D-Indiana. He then went to work for a Brooklyn City Councilman before joining the Army. Mittman started as an enlisted officer in Fort Benning before completing Officer Candidate School, Jump School and the Ranger program. Mittman served with the infantry in Frankfurt, Germany and was in the country when the Berlin Wall came down.
Mittman credits his military service for providing him with a “phenomenal” education in more than one way.
“It’s a phenomenal education not just in books, but there’s such an education about integrity, service to country, duty,” Mittman said. “I had the opportunity to meet people who came from different backgrounds and open my eyes to different opinions. We have such a diversity and the military really instilled that in me.”
Finally, Mittman exited the military and went back to California – his roots – to attend the University of California – Hastings College of Law. Soon after, he began volunteering for the ACLU of Northern California before finally being hired to work with the Northern California congressional delegation to work to change the vote on the PATRIOT ACT reauthorization vote. Mittman and the ACLU successfully flipped the vote of the delegation.
Soon after, Mittman was sent to run the ACLU operation in Alaska for a few years before being given a chance to come to Missouri and interview for the executive director job. Since then, Mittman’s Missouri ACLU has been engaged in dozens of issues. From capital punishment to same-sex marriage to abortion and voter’s rights, Mittman’s small but formidable staff is far from finished making headlines. In the coming months and years, Mittman says the group will redouble efforts to beat back voter ID laws and place new emphasis on the “school-to-prison pipeline” in the state.
Mittman says that it may be cliché, but that his organization represents the ideals of the founders.
“We want to make personal decisions free from government interference, and we want to have our basic rights upheld and protected,” Mittman said. “There’s a fundamental desire to be free in this country, and that’s what [the ACLU] wants to support. It’s a fulfilling way to make progress toward making the world a better place.”
Collin Reischman was the Managing Editor for The Missouri Times, and a graduate of Webster University with a Bachelor of Arts in Journalism.
