News & Commentary

Smart Justice is calling on everyone applying to become Connecticut’s next Chief State’s Attorney to answer these questions about racial justice and decarceration.

In Connecticut, elected and unelected public officials – including Democrats and Republicans – have blocked critics and journalists on social media. Recent court decisions should make them think twice.

Smart Justice had a rule on the gubernatorial campaign trail in 2018: “document everything.” And we had.

Kelly Moore is the ACLU of Connecticut’s new policy counsel. In this interview, she talks about her long history of loving the ACLU, the somewhat behind-the-scenes role that she will play at the ACLU of Connecticut, and her not-so-behind-the-scenes appearance on a TV show.

The Chief State’s Attorney could work to create a state where prosecutors’ budgets, policies, and lobbying align to prioritize strong communities and racial justice instead of incarceration and the status quo.

This summer, West Haven student Rowanne Mustafa was one of several Connecticut youth to attend the national ACLU's Advocacy Institute Summer Advocacy Program. We recently caught up with Rowanne to find out what she has been up to since attending the Summer Advocacy Program.

With Connecticut poised to choose a new Chief State's Attorney, the state should appoint someone who will prioritize decarceration, racial justice, and holding police accountable.

Laws regarding prosecutorial transparency, transparency about police violence, limiting local cooperation with ICE, changes to special parole, jailhouse witnesses, and information for people who are incarcerated and their families go into effect on October 1, 2019.

Elana Bildner has spent her career advocating and litigating for justice for immigrants, people who are or were incarcerated, and families. Now, she has joined the ACLU of Connecticut as staff attorney.Most recently, Elana was a senior clinical fellow with the Civil Justice Clinic at Quinnipiac University School of Law, where she worked on cases focused on ending long prison sentences imposed on children and guided law students who were representing young adults in parole hearings and civil rights lawsuits challenging mistreatment of people who were incarcerated. Prior to her time at Quinnipiac, Elana spent six years as a civil litigator in New York and Connecticut. A former executive editor of Columbia Law School’s Jailhouse Lawyers’ Manual, Elana also previously worked with anti-poverty organizations in New York through AmeriCorps.