Each year at the Colorado legislature, the ACLU of Colorado takes positions on any and all legislation that affects the civil rights and civil liberties of Coloradans. To find our position on a piece of legislation, please check our legislative database.
Check here throughout the session for updates on our top priority bills.
HB22-1131: Reduce Justice-involvement For Young Children
Protects at-risk children, increases the chances for them to succeed, and addresses longstanding racial inequities by prioritizing rehabilitation over incarceration and punishment:
- Raises the age at which children can be charged in juvenile court to 13
- Raises the age of transfer to adult court to 14
- Invests in more effective alternatives-to-incarceration for children.
Read more about the issue here.
Over the next decade this legislation will prevent hundreds of children, who are disproportionately Black, from being needlessly separated from their families.
Reproductive Health Equity Act
Protects reproductive health access for Coloradans, including abortion access, by establishing that:
- Every individual has the fundamental right to choose or refuse contraception
- Every individual who becomes pregnant has a fundamental right to choose to continue a pregnancy and give birth or have an abortion
- A fertilized egg, embryo, or fetus does not have independent rights under the laws of the state
Read more about the issue here.
SB22-099: Sealing Criminal Records
- Removes barriers to obtaining housing, jobs, and other benefits for returning citizens by
- Automatically sealing and expunging eligible records of people convicted of non-drug misdemeanors and low-level felonies
- Removing restrictions on professional licenses for people with these criminal records
- Requiring third-parties to update private databases removing criminal history
Over 2 million Coloradans currently have criminal records and only 5% of those eligible for sealing have navigated the laborious process for doing so.