American Libraries Association v. Pataki - Ralph Nader

Born in 1934 in Winsted, Connecticut, Ralph Nader is an attorney and consumer rights advocate who is considered to be the founding father of the consumer rights movement. In the 1980s Nader campaigned against car insurance rates in California and a 50 percent wage increase for members of Congress. His success with these two high profile issues stand as vivid illustrations of the consumer rights movement which Nader is associated. Nader is the founder of the Center for Responsive Law, Public Interest Research Group, Center for Auto safety, Clean Water Action Project, the Disability Rights Center, and the Project for Corporate Responsibility.

Nader has been most influential in the area of public safety. He has written numerous books on the subject of consumer protection the most notable of which is Unsafe at Any Speed in 1965. The book resulted in the discontinuation of GM's Corvair which Nader reported was dangerous in high speed turns. He was also instrumental in the formation of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) (1970), the Freedom of Information Act (1974), and the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) (1976). During the deregulating Reagan era the term "Naderism" was coined to characterize the consumer rights movement as an extreme.