News & Commentary

My name is Terri Ricks, I am a resident of Hartford and a Smart Justice Leader with the ACLU of Connecticut. I am a person who has been directly impacted by homelessness due to housing challenges. I am an individual who is here speaking and fighting for change even when I lived for three-and-a-half years in a hotel due to housing challenges. Every day has been a fight, but nothing has been a fight as tough as being freed from prison in 2005. After completing changing my life, housing has consistently been a problem that even eludes me to this day.

Housing is the most critical and fundamental part of reentry, but far too often the most difficult to achieve. The more I see it the more I understand why people go back to jail. HB 6948 is about giving people a fair opportunity to find a safe place to live.

We’re focused on another kind of big score: Getting voting rights properly funded by our state legislature and Governor Lamont.

Students deserve to learn in an environment free from harm.

We’ll need your help to get this work done this session – are you ready to join us?

ACLU of Connecticut debuts interactive legislative tracker for our 2025 priorities

Know the 15 new laws go into effect January 1st, 2025 in Connecticut.

Since its launch almost six years ago, ACLU Smart Justice Connecticut has been, and continues to be, a vital part of the ACLU of Connecticut’s success before, during, and after the legislative session. Thank you, Smart Justice!

The ACLU of Connecticut began the 2024 legislative session with a concrete vision and a formidable team.