DENVER – In a new strategic framework, The Road Ahead, released today, ACLU of Colorado has outlined a three-year roadmap to guide its efforts in advancing and protecting civil rights and liberties in Colorado.
For 70 years, the ACLU of Colorado has remained steadfast as the guardian of liberty for all Coloradans. The organization is fighting for a state and a nation where everyone’s fundamental rights are recognized and protected — where “We the People” means all of us.
That is why the ACLU of Colorado is engaged in an unprecedented initiative to create the strongest and most strategic organization in its history. While the ACLU will always stand at the ready to defend civil rights and civil liberties in moments of crises, it is now making a new multi-year commitment to focus proactively on three campaigns that will allow it to address the root causes of inequity and inequality.
- The Campaign for Smart Justice will build racially equitable alternatives to policing, prosecutions, and prisons that address the root causes of harm to communities of color and shrink the criminal legal system and immigration detention system.
- The Systemic Equality Agenda will repair the harms of systemic racism against BIPOC communities by increasing access to housing and economic opportunity and creating an inclusive democracy that protects and expands voting access.
- The Privacy and Liberty Project will protect and expand fundamental privacy and liberty rights under Colorado law regardless of what happens at the federal level, including protections against future U.S. Supreme Court decisions taking away fundamental rights, and government overreach and threats from advancing technology.
If, and when, the U.S. Supreme Court fails to protect fundamental rights — as it did when it overturned Roe v. Wade in June 2022 — the ACLU will continue to advocate for justice in the U.S. Supreme Court and on a local level to ensure protections remain in Colorado.
Its steadfast commitment to racial, immigrant and Indigenous Justice will be the guiding principles of the multi-year strategic roadmap.
The ACLU is committed to disrupting the deportation pipeline and ending cruel and inhumane practices at immigration detention facilities. This strategic framework will protect the rights and liberties of people who are immigrants, asylum seekers, refugees, and migrants and maximize their ability to fully participate in democratic, civil and social life in Colorado.
“With the full force of our organization, ACLU of Colorado will work relentlessly to expand personal privacy, protect our constitutional right to vote and defend all our civil liberties in the courts, in legislatures, and most importantly, in our communities,” said Deborah Richardson, ACLU of Colorado Executive Director. “Alongside our communities, we can build power to overcome fierce opposition, change hearts and minds, and maximize long-term impact through this coordinated and evidence-based effort.”
The Road Ahead is a product of an intensive, year-long strategic planning process that included multiple rounds of input from stakeholders all over the state, the Board of Directors, and ACLU staff.
Read ACLU of Colorado’s Strategic Framework here: https://www.aclu-co.org/en/publications/road-ahead-2023-2026-strategic-framework