The $3m (£1.88m) outdoor campaign opposes Bush's plans and promotes the idea that an extension of government powers will trample on the Bill of Rights.
One of the ads features a picture of Stipe with the words: "I am not an American who wants to be shut up or have my neighbors be shut up". The phrase "I am not an American" appears in deliberately provocative bold capital letters and is play on the McCarthy Communist witchhunts of the 1950s, which saw Americans blacklisted by the House of Unamerican Activities.
Stipe, whose band REM is still enjoying success as one of the world's top rock acts 20 years after they released their first album 'Murmur', is joined by other stars, including movie actor Richard Dreyfuss, who appears in another poster.
The ads were created by Benenson Janson, which has been the ACLU's agency since July 2002. The cost of the campaign is understood to have taken up a large portion of the civil liberties organisation's $4.5m ad budget.
The ACLU hopes the campaign will also bring the organisation to new audiences.
Other stars supporting the campaign include Samuel L Jackson, Kristin Davies, who plays 'Sex & The City's' Charlotte, author Kurt Vonnegut,
Al Pacino and Martin Sheen, who spoke out and campaigned against the war in Iraq and who plays a Democrat president in the hit TV series 'The West Wing'
Each celebrity will appear in a different execution appealing to different audiences. Davies will feature in an ad in Vanity Fair, Vonnegut will appear in political title Atlantic Monthly, and Sheryl Crow will appear in Rolling Stone.
It is reported to the first time the ACLU has used celebrities to draw attention to a campaign, and will raise its profile by attracting media attention.
The organisation usually encourages members of the public to call members of Congress about specific issues, or it will buy space to try and force a subject on to a news agenda.
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