Anthony Romero

Anthony D. Romero
Born	(1965-07-09) July 9, 1965 New York City
Occupation	Executive Director of the ACLU
Parent(s)	Demetrio Romero (father) Coralie Romero (mother)

Anthony D. Romero is the executive director of the American Civil Liberties Union.

Early life

Romero was born in New York City on July 9, 1965, to Puerto Rican parents Demetrio and Coralie Romero. He was raised in the Bronx.

Education

Romero was the first member of his family to graduate from high school. He graduated from Princeton University's Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs in 1987 and from Stanford University Law School, and is a member of the New York Bar. He was a Dinkelspiel Scholar at Stanford University, a Cane Scholar at Princeton, and a National Hispanic Scholar at both institutions.

American Civil Liberties Union

Anthony Romero became executive director in September 2001, just before the September 11, 2001 attacks. He is the first openly gay man and the first Hispanic director of the civil liberties institution.^[1] In his time as the executive director through 2007 he nearly doubled the organization's budget, as well as its staff size.^[2]

In his capacity as ACLU head, he has been involved in opposition to several policies taken under Bush administration's 'War on Terror'. Referring to the August 17, 2006, federal court declaration that the "Terrorist Surveillance Program" was unconstitutional, Romero called the court's opinion "another nail in the coffin in the Bush administration's legal strategy in the War on Terror".^[3]

Works authored by Romero

• In Defense of Our America: The Fight for Civil Liberties in the Age of Terror. William Morrow, 2007. ISBN 0-06-114256-5.

Recognition

In 2005, he was named one of Time Magazine's 25 Most Influential Hispanics.

He was featured in the HBO documentary, The Latino List.

References

External links

• ACLU Biography
• PBS Biography
• Time - Anthony Romero
• Hispanic Magazine - Driven By Liberties
• ACLU v. ACLU - The Nation, February 5, 2007