News & Commentary

Tasers are powerful electric shock weapons, and they can be lethal. For years, the American Civil Liberties Union of Connecticut (ACLU-CT) has called for Connecticut to ensure that police only use Tasers fairly, justly, and wisely. In 2014, the ACLU-CT helped to pass the first law in the nation requiring police to provide information about how and when they use Tasers. As a result of that law, in 2016, Connecticut released the first statewide report in the country regarding police Taser use. That report shows troubling racial disparities in how police used Tasers, and that an inordinate number of police Taser incidents involved people who were experiencing mental health crises or under the influence of drugs or alcohol. According to ACLU-CT research, at least 18 people have died after being tased by police in Connecticut. Of those 18 people, at least 12 were Black or Latino. 

The ACLU of Connecticut spoke out in support of liberty, justice, and equality during the 2016 legislative session. In the end, the legislature passed--and Governor Malloy signed--seven new bills into law. These new laws to advance civil liberties would: spearhead a study to improve police training; prevent the state from detaining juveniles for more than seven days without a hearing and require closure of two juvenile detention facilities; require the Department of Correction to create a plan to reduce negative mental health effects on youth in correctional facilities; create fair chances at employment for people with criminal records; add protections for religion, national origin, sex, sexual orientation, and gender identity or expression for people who serve in Connecticut's military departments, such as the National Guard; protect student privacy by preventing people from tracking students' data and limiting how school-contracted groups can collect or share students' information; and increase cellphone privacy protections.

By giving people who have made mistakes a fairer chance to earn a job, the Connecticut Fair Chance Employment Act takes steps to make our state more just and equal. As the ACLU of Connecticut has testified, it has the potential to change lives. Advocates like Rafael, Nelson, Anderson, and Jonathan are speaking out to share their stories. They are people of faith, fathers, grandfathers, neighbors, business owners, and friends. We sat down to ask them for their "six word memoirs" about what "justice" and Fair Chance Employment mean to them. Here is what they had to say:

Have you seen our billboards in New Haven? They are telling the truth.

In October 2015, a slew of new laws to advance civil liberties took effect, including laws to protect transgender rights, increase police accountability, and improve social media privacy.

Hartford Public Library is celebrating Banned Books Week from September 28 – October 3. Banned Books Week is the national book community's annual celebration of the freedom to read. Hundreds of libraries and bookstores around the country draw attention to the problem of censorship by mounting displays of challenged books and hosting a kick-off event.Banned Books Week was launched in 1982 in response to a sudden surge in the number of challenges to books in schools, bookstores and libraries. More than 11,300 books have been challenged since 1982 according to the American Library Association. There were 311 challenges reported to the Office of Intellectual Freedom in 2014, and many more go unreported.This year the Library, in partnership once again with the American Civil Liberties Union of Connecticut, will kick off the celebration with an interactive panel discussion called Banned Theater! featuring three plays that were challenged or banned in the United States at one time. The plays are Blues for Mr. Charlie by James Baldwin, My Name is Rachel Corrie edited by Alan Rickman and Katharine Viner, and Sister Mary Ignatius Explains It All For You by Christopher Durang. The Banned Theater discussion begins at 6:00 PM in the downtown library’s Center for Contemporary Culture at 500 Main Street.The panel will feature Rob Ruggiero, Producing Artistic Director at TheaterWorks; Rachel Alderman, Artistic Associate at Hartford Stage Company; Jacques LaMarre, local playwright and Director of Communications & Special Programs at The Mark Twain House & Museum; and David McGuire, Legislative and Policy Director at the ACLU of Connecticut.  Dr. Lois Brown, Director of the Center for African American Studies at Wesleyan University, will serve as moderator.“This year, we celebrate the 90th birthday of James Baldwin, who was no stranger to the censorship of his work.  It is in his honor that we look at his and other banned plays,” said Hartford Public Library’s chief executive officer Matt Poland. “The history of censorship in the theater mirrors the censorship of literature, and it is only thanks to the dedication of libraries, teachers, and communities that we can still access works that have been suppressed over the centuries. During Banned Books Week we lean into controversy with the hope of better understanding what could make a work of art so objectionable that it should be entirely hidden from view.”Stephen Glassman, Executive Director of the ACLU of Connecticut, said, “Attempting to control what we read has always been one of the most odious forms of censorship.  We must continue to protect our right to say, think, read, and write whatever we want without fear of government reprisal.  We’re proud to work with the Hartford Public Library, which puts these rights into action, to celebrate Banned Books Week.”

The city of Hartford could introduce a diversion program to steer low level drug offenders and people involved in sex work into supportive services instead of jail, according to leading mayoral candidates.On Tuesday, September 8, the American Civil Liberties Union of Connecticut—with the Law and Government Academy at Hartford High School and the League of Women Voters Greater Hartford—organized a debate among the candidates for mayor of our capital city.Legendary news anchor Al Terzi moderated the debate, which drew almost 120 people.Nearly all the candidates backed some criminal justice reforms including a proposal to divert low-level drug activity and sex work to case managers and other supportive services instead of jail. One municipal model can be found in the Law Enforcement Assisted Diversion [LEAD] program in Seattle. In that city, people who received services through this initiative were 60 percent less likely to be arrested within the first six months of the evaluation, compared to those who went through the ‘system-as-usual.’Democrat Luke Bronin said, “I am 100 percent in favor of a program like LEAD [Law Enforcement Assisted Diversion]. It’s based on the fundamental judgement that we cannot punish our way out of a drug problem. We have tried for decades in declaring war on drugs to solve the problem of addiction through jail time. It was misguided then and it’s misguided now.”Mayor Pedro Segarra (D) also voiced support for diversion programs and said, “We are currently working with our chief and the state to create a program that would divert people who are accused of prostitution, prior to an arrest. In other words, no arrest, but try to connect these individuals with services.”Republican Ted Cannon, said of the Seattle program, “It truly is a second chance. There are several other cities, Santa Fe being one, that have initiated programs like this. This has been going on in the United Kingdom for years and it is working incredibly well. So my point is, if it is working, then why not pursue it?”While unaffiliated candidate Joel Cruz did not specifically address diversion programs, he called for better services for people in contact with the criminal justice system. He said, “As a city I would love to see us ban-the-box and expand that to other entities within the city and employers, rather than just have the city of Hartford not asking people if they’ve committed a crime in the past. But go even further than that … What about those who already have a record and expanding services so they can get help.”The first-of-its-kind forum questioned candidates on key civil liberties issues in the city. Students from the Law and Government Academy at Hartford High School asked the candidates about police acquisition of military equipment, which has occurred with little or no public oversight. Since 2009, state and local police in Connecticut have acquired $12.9 million worth of military equipment, including military vehicles, automatic weapons and even a grenade launcher.Segarra raised concerns about the militarization of police forces and said that as mayor “any acquisition of military equipment needs to be cleared through me.” He added, “We’ve been over-militarizing our police forces for way too long. We need to bring better community relations as the alternative.”Bronin argued that most military equipment would be prohibited under a recent ban by President Obama. However, he raised concerns about the issue and said, “For a police department to be legitimate, for it to be respected, for it to have the trust of the community, it cannot feel like an occupying force. It has to be a part of the community. It goes beyond just the equipment to making sure we are getting our officers out of their cars and they are walking a beat and engaging person-to-person, face-to-face.”On the question of police militarization, Cannon did not oppose acquisition per se but argued for greater transparency. Cannon said, “I don’t think we have a militaristic police department here in the city of Hartford but I do think there should be some citizen control or review board and that inventories should be made known, at least on a semi-annual basis.”Cruz, said,  “I would love for civilian complaint review board to make sure that we are not purchasing grenade launchers because … I don’t think we need that in the city of Hartford. We can put a lot more resources into better equipment for our police department like body cameras and cameras on police cruisers.”A state proposal that would have required police departments to provide a detailed inventory of stockpiled military equipment failed to pass the legislature this year.The ACLU of Connecticut thanks the Mark Twain House and Museum for hosting the event, Al Terzi for moderating and the candidates for participating in this forum.The entire debate can be viewed at CT-N.

Connecticut schools are becoming more integrated in contrast to a regional trend that is actually seeing more racial segregation, according to a new report from the Civil Rights Project at UCLA.One reason for the Constitution State’s success is the landmark Connecticut school desegregation case Sheff v. O’Neill.The case was launched by a group of courageous families and their attorneys, which resulted in an agreement with the state to foster significant integration across school district lines.This legal victory charted a course for Hartford students to get a high-quality education in integrated public schools. This was to be accomplished through a voluntary two-way integration program of inter-district magnet schools and suburban Open Choice placements that enable Hartford students to study with their suburban counterparts.The report’s author, Gary Orfield, said, “Thanks to creative educators, a path-making State Supreme Court, and determined civil rights advocacy, Connecticut is building a new model of educational opportunity though the creation of highly desirable and integrated schools of choice.”Click here to read the report.

Around 150 people representing the American Civil Liberties Union of Connecticut took action at the Capitol in defense of civil liberties.The ACLU teamed up with Compassion and Choices Connecticut, the Connecticut Immigrant Rights Alliance, Hartford Rising and the NAACP Connecticut State Conference to advance important civil liberties in the state.Stephen Glassman, Executive Director of the ACLU of Connecticut, said, “Our numbers reflect the enthusiasm that people feel for protecting individual privacy, autonomy, due process and equality under the law. People are motivated to defend the Constitution and the Bill of Rights in our state.”Activists met with elected officials and urged them to support priority areas for legislative advocacy, which include: