Jose Bucksbaum, who was president of the local ACLU chapter, came on as an officer for the new group. He declined to be interviewed for this story.

Previously, Bucksbaum said the suspension of the ACLU chapter was “without notice, without a hearing and most importantly, without cause.”

Stone said the state affiliate worked with the chapter for nearly six months trying to reach a mutual understanding.

“All efforts to get them to understand their proper role were fruitless,” he said.

When there was a Quad-Cities ACLU, Stanley said, all the group did was refer any civil liberties issues to the state affiliate and were not allowed by the state office to tackle issues themselves.

“We could not take a stand on our own,” he said, citing one example when local members wanted to get behind a Davenport family facing eviction. “We were forbidden to take a stand.”

He said local members were “cheerleaders” for the ACLU and served only to “hand out phone numbers” and “provide publicity for ACLU.”

Meanwhile, a committee has been established at the state affiliate to discuss restarting the Quad-City chapter possibly next year, Stone said.