Mission & History

The ACLU of Colorado is a nonpartisan, nonprofit organization dedicated to fulfilling the promise of equal justice under the law for all Coloradans. Our scope of work is fundamentally defined by one document, the Bill of Rights. The rights and freedoms contained within impact a wide range of issues, including free speech, freedom of religion, due process, privacy and equality for all people under the law. We advocate for members of disenfranchised communities, including people of color, LGBT persons, women, immigrants, low income people, homeless, prisoners, students and the elderly. While we are incorporated as an independent entity, we are also an affiliate of the national American Civil Liberties Union.

Our Mission

Our mission is to protect, defend and extend the civil rights and civil liberties of all people in Colorado through litigation, education and advocacy.

Our History

The first coordinated state efforts to defend Coloradans’ civil liberties began in the 1930’s and the ACLU of Colorado was incorporated as an affiliate of the national organization in 1952. For several years, staff included only an Executive Director and a part-time clerical assistant. In the 80’s, we added our first Legal Director, and through the support of members, foundations, and individuals we have grown to an organization with a $900,000 budget and many loyal staff and volunteers. Major achievements include:

• Achieving massive prison and jail condition reforms, particularly in the area of inmate health care, by winning the Ramos v. Lamm, the 1980 landmark case that led to the restructuring of the Colorado prison system and led to the closure of “Old Max,” Colorado’s original maximum security prison.
• Winning, as part of a coalition of attorneys, Romer v. Evans at the U.S. Supreme Court, the 1996 case which overturned Amendment 2, an unprecedented and unconstitutional attack on the civil rights of LGBT Coloradans.
• Our successful settlement of the “Spy-Files” litigation, American Friends Service Committee v. Denver, exposed and ended the Denver Police Department’s unlawful surveillance of political activity and maintenance of files on people engaged in that activity. This litigation also led to the discovery that the FBI’s Joint Terrorism Task Force was also conducting surveillance of non-violent, peaceful protests, a revelation that drew considerable national media attention.
• Conducting a proactive approach to holding Denver and the U.S. Secret Service accountable not only for security arrangements, but for the protection of the public’s right to free speech, to dissent, and to assemble at the 2008 Democratic National Convention.

Staff History

The first Executive Director of the ACLU was Glenn Gregory, who worked as a volunteer from January to July, 1954. In December of 1954 the Colorado ACLU hired Harold Knight, an experienced journalist, as the first salaried Executive Director, at an annual salary of $1,800. Knight remained in this position until June of 1963.

Ruth Gurley served as interim director until May of 1964, when the Board appointed Dorothy Davidson, editor of The Aurora Times, a suburban weekly. Davidson directed the Colorado affiliate for almost 10 years, until May of 1974 when she resigned to become the Director of the Mountain States Regional Office of the ACLU. During this period the ACLU litigation docket jumped from three to 43 cases in a year. Edward Sherman and William Reynard were considered the "work-horses" of the legal panel. Ten years later there were approximately 40 attorneys cooperating with the ACLU.

In 1970 Board of Directors Chair Edward Kahn began pushing for a stronger public education program. Jerry Ahlberg, an active board member, lobbied for expanded efforts in civil liberties education and legislative lobbying.

Davidson’s immediate replacement was Elizabeth Gibson, who served one year. On May 5, 1975 the Board of Directors appointed James H. Joy, the first full-time Executive Director of the ACLU of Utah, to serve as the Executive Director of the Colorado affiliate. In 1983 Joy hired the ACLU of Colorado’s first Legal Director, David Miller, a young attorney a few years out of law school. Miller served in that capacity for 13 years, when he left to form his own law firm.

In April 1996 Mark Silverstein took over the legal department of the Colorado affiliate after seven years on the legal staff of the Southern California ACLU. In July 1998 Joy stepped down to take Executive Director Emeritus status, and Michele Parish was appointed acting Executive Director.

On September 1, 1999 the Board hired a new Executive Director, Sue Armstrong, to take the affiliate into the new century and our 50th anniversary in 2002. Sue Armstrong served as the Executive Director for the Colorado Affiliate until she resigned in May of 2003, after having established a solid infrastructure.

Katherine Pease, former Executive Director of the Gill Foundation, was hired as Interim Executive Director to serve during the national search for a permanent Executive Director. Katherine brought a new energy to fundraising, public education and legislative activities, as well as a strong focus on the importance of board, staff and volunteer diversity and community collaborations.

In December 2003 Cathryn L. Hazouri, an attorney and community activist, joined the Colorado ACLU Affiliate as only the sixth full-time Executive Director in our 50 + year history. She brought renewed enthusiasm to legislative endeavors and grassroots activism. She remained until September of 2009.

Longtime board member Bruce Sattler served as Temporary Executive Director from October 2009 until March 2010. Current Executive Director C. Ray Drew began March 1, 2010.