ACLU Of Texas Moving Its Headquarters To Houston, Because This Is Where Civil Rights Get Trampled

ACLU of Texas, coming to town

"A city as dynamic and diverse as Houston is truly the face of the new Texas and the right setting for our dedicated staff to write the newest chapter in the storied history of the ACLU of Texas," Terri Burke, executive director of the group, said in making the announcement.

"The Houston area has been where some of our more important cases originated. Houston has presented the ACLU of Texas with some of its greatest challenges as well as major, impactful opportunities," she added, which (we guess?) is a compliment.

The group will still maintain offices in Austin, but the main headquarters will be here beginning in July. Within the next five years satellite offices are expected to open in Dallas and West Texas.

"This is an important step in the growth of an organization that, in the past five years, has grown supporters to more than 20,000 and tripled its annual revenue," said Board President Paul Asofsky. Much of that growth occurred since 2006 when the ACLU made the Texas affiliate part of the Strategic Affiliate Initiative (SAI). As one of five initial SAI affiliates, the ACLU of Texas received additional resources to expand its legal, legislative, public education, development and local advocacy programs. Since 2000, the staff has grown from one fulltime employee to a team of 17, which includes attorneys, policy analysts, communications and philanthropy specialists.

The "Abortion SuperCenter," the headquarters of the state's ACLU -- what's next, a designation as Sanctuary City USA?