Legislation

The ACLU-CT is dedicated to ending mass incarceration. That effort includes examining all aspects of the criminal and civil legal systems, including fees and fines. Fines and fees in the criminal justice system are a practice that traps people into cycles of debt.

No animal should be abused or harmed for human entertainment. But rather than create a new misdemeanor, members of the Enviroment Committee should consider enforcement mechanisms that focus on penalizing the corporations and businesses behind the traveling animal acts.

The ACLU-CT believes all people deserve equal access to quality end of life care. Every person should have access to hospice and palliative care, regardless of income.

The ACLU-CT believes that everyone should be paid a fair wage for their labor, including people who are incarcerated. Justice-impacted families are bled dry by the criminal legal system.

One of the biggest injustices faced by people living with a criminal record are the myriad of collateral consequences flowing from that criminal record. By mandating background checks for security officer licenses, SB 968 creates another collateral consequence.

Contact between community members and police can have tragic consequences for people experiencing mental health crises. We have significant concerns with Senate Bill 972 because of its failure to reduce the role of policing in our communities.

At the ACLU-CT, we believe in the complete decriminalization of cannabis—from cultivation to sale and delivery to possession and use. House Bill 5434 is an attempt to repeal key aspects of cannabis legalization in Connecticut.

Improving voting rights and voting access strengthens democracy, since voting is a cornerstone of democracy itself.

The ACLU-CT strongly supports measures that improve access to quality healthcare for people incarcerated in Connecticut’s prisons. Given the DOC’s failure to provide adequate care, both during and before the pandemic, Senate Bill 957 is vital in this effort.