Legislation

As introduced, this bill requires amendments if it is to truly help Connecticut to step away from harmful policing.

While no one wants to see any animal injured or killed at the hands of a human, doubling the potential penalty for this category of offense is not the answer.

To balance between unnecessarily excluding people with a criminal record from suitable jobs and the need to ensure pyrotechnic safety, the ACLU-CT proposes that DESPP utilize a balancing test like the one in Section 46a-80 of the general statutes.

The ACLU-CT asks this Committee to expand absentee voting during times of general illness, through the November 2022 election and beyond, and keep in place essential emergency provisions allowing voters to vote safely during the pandemic.

Militarized policing harms communities and people. They should be defunded, not prioritized through sweetheart immunity deals for collaborators.

The ACLU-CT firmly opposes increasing to police funding, and as a result must oppose Section 6 of Senate Bill 241. This part of the bill unnecessarily appropriates five million dollars to fund additional environmental conservation police officers in order to increase aquatic policing efforts.

The ACLU-CT strongly supports House Bill 5254 as an essential measure to confronting a deep history of racial discrimination in Connecticut’s public spaces. Access to the shoreline by Connecticut residents should not be determined by zip code, and instead should be open to all.

House Bill 5349 is a good initial step toward police accountability by requiring the timely reporting of a death to the next of kin by police officers—a measure that should have already been in place.

We cannot have full and equitable participation in society by women and other people who menstruate unless we ensure safe and affordable access to menstrual products to everyone who needs them.