Issues

The ACLU defends the civil rights and freedoms granted to Coloradans by the Bill of Rights. Broadly defined, these include over a dozen issue areas, such as the First Amendment right to free speech, assembly and religious liberty, the Fourth Amendment right to privacy and to be free from unreasonable searches, and the Fourteenth Amendment right to equal protection under the law. We advocate for members of many disenfranchised communities, including people of color, LGBTQ persons, women, immigrants, low income people, homeless, prisoners, students and the elderly.

Due Process
Ensuring that every person in the United States receives due process of law, i.e. all of the legal rights granted to him or her by law, is one of the ACLU’s most important goals.
Equal Protection
The Constitution guarantees the fundamental rights and civil liberties of every person in this country.
First Amendment
Freedom of speech is protected in the First Amendment of the Bill of Rights and is guaranteed to all Americans.
LGBT Rights
The ACLU fights LGBT discrimination and moves public opinion through the courts, legislatures and public education.
Open Government
The more people know about how public servants make decisions and spend tax dollars, the less likely it is that those officials will break the law.
Police Practices
The conduct of any government’s law enforcement officers’ is a strong reflection of that institution’s respect for civil rights and civil liberties.
Privacy Rights
The ACLU fights the trend toward a surveillance society and works to guarantee that individuals, not governments or corporations, determine how and when others gain access to their personal information.
Religious Freedom
The right to practice religion, or no religion at all, is among the most fundamental of the freedoms guaranteed by the Bill of Rights.
Reproductive Freedom
The ACLU protects everyone's right to make informed decisions free from government interference about whether and when to become a parent.
Right to Petition the Government
The right to speak out about government’s abuse of power or its failure to act is at the crux of the First Amendment’s protections.
Rights of Immigrants
The Constitution guarantees the fundamental rights and civil liberties of every person in this country.
Rights of Prisoners
The ACLU is dedicated to ensuring that Colorado’s prisons, jails, juvenile facilities and immigration detention centers comply with the Constitution, state and federal law, and international human rights principles.
Rights of Women
Women have made great strides in the fight for equality, but gender bias continues to create huge barriers for many, especially poor women, women of color, and immigrant women.
Rights of Young People
The Constitution does not care how old you are. The Supreme Court famously found that students do not "shed their constitutional rights to freedom of speech or expression at the schoolhouse gate."
Security v. Civil Liberties
Illegal government spying, indefinite detention without charge or trial and government-sponsored torture programs after 9/11 transcended the bounds of law and our most treasured values in the name of national security.
Voting Rights & Elections
The ACLU has worked to protect the gains in political participation won by racial and language minorities since the passage of the historic Voting Rights Act (VRA) in 1965.