Headquartered in New York, the ACLU is the largest public-interest legal organization in the United States, with over 60 staff attorneys, 2,000 volunteer lawyers and 275,000 members. The ACLU was founded by Roger Baldwin in 1920 in the wake of America’s Red Scare, when the Supreme Court upheld the criminal convictions of prominent American leftists who expressed unpopular political views. It is dedicated to the preservation of individual rights through litigation, legislation and public education, and also fought the mistreatment of women, gays and lesbians, racial minorities, political dissidents and prisoners. The ACLU has opposed the death penalty, loyalty oaths for government employees, state restrictions on free expression and abortion, and government entanglement with religion. Despite its defense of extreme right groups as well, “card-carrying members of the ACLU” have become standard targets for conservative attacks.