Founded in 1965, MCLI has become part of the infrastructure of the peace and justice community, empowering people to protect and expand their rights under law. Meiklejohn is a center for peace law, an organizer for the right to education, an information clearinghouse on social change, an advocate of government accountability, a training center, and repository of history. It has been called a "Civil Liberties Church" and a think tank combining archives and ongoing research. In 1995, the Institute's Human Rights Reporting Project began using new U.S. treaties as new tools to work for human rights, full employment, economic conversion, and saving the environment. Since 1984, the Institute's Peace Law and Education Project has been using peace law and history to work on these issues. The Institute joins networks and provides speakers. The Institute publishes and distributes the Human Rights Organizations and Periodicals Directory, Peace Law Packets and the Human Rights Now! quarterly newsletter. The Institute's highly regarded Studies in Law and Social Change include Alexander Meiklejohn: Teacher of Freedom, The Cold War Against Labor, and The Ford Hunger March. The Institute's survival depends on the support of those who share its goals and values. MCLI is a registered 501(c)3 organization.