Newsletter

As we are well into our three-year strategic framework, The Road Ahead continues to guide our efforts. In this impact report, you will get an inside look at our work in the courts, at the capitol, and in our communities. In this impact report you will read more about our continued work in our issue areas of Privacy and Liberty, where we worked to enhance biometric data privacy laws and uphold reproductive rights in Colorado and Systemic Equality, where we helped to strengthen renter’s rights and ensure equitable education for children across the state. 

In this edition:

Ms. Johnson had been subjected to a Denver Police Department (DPD) SWAT team raid of her home without probable cause or proper investigation. The ACLU of Colorado filed the lawsuit in late 2022 under a new state law allowing civil enforcement for the violation of people’s rights under the Colorado Constitution.

Privacy and Liberty:

Enhancing Your Biometric Data Privacy

Biometric identifiers are a person’s most sensitive data. People’s fingerprints, DNA, facial mapping, the way we walk, and the way we think all make up who we are.

Protecting Reproductive Freedom

COLOR is proud to co-chair the Coloradans for Protecting Reproductive Freedom campaign. Abortion rights are essential to democracy. Guaranteeing equitable access to reproductive healthcare such as abortion, is necessary to ensure the well-being of our communities across our state — and our country.

Upholding Anti-Discrimination Laws

In February of this year, we filed a lawsuit against Children’s Hospital Colorado (CHCO), alleging that the hospital violated the Colorado Anti-Discrimination Act when it stopped providing medically necessary surgeries to transgender patients over the age of 18.

Systemic Equality:

Colorado has an affordable housing crisis — and the heaviest burden falls on renters. In 2023, eviction filings in Colorado were at their highest level since 2008.

Keeping Brown's Promise Alive

In 1954, the U.S. Supreme Court issued an historic decision in Brown v. Board of Education, ruling that placing children in separate public schools based on race was unconstitutional. This was a landmark case that would forever change education — or so we thought.

Smart Justice:

Late last year, Aurora City Council issued a Request for Proposals (RFP) for a private law firm to replace the APDO. It did so despite objections from the ACLU of Colorado, which urged the city not to eliminate the public defender’s office on constitutional grounds, statutory grounds, and because of the financial hardship it would pose to taxpayers.

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• Read more about 2024 Spring/Summer Impact Report

It has been one year since the launch of our three-year strategic framework, The Road Ahead. Since our launch, the ACLU of Colorado has worked diligently within our three core issue areas to make sure that Colorado can be the most just and equitable state in the country. In this newsletter, you will learn more about how we protected Coloradans’ right to freedom of expression after holding the Woodland Park School District accountable for violating the Constitutional rights of a resident whose speech district leadership didn’t agree with, how we are fighting to protect the First Amendment rights of activists who were unlawfully targeted by police in Colorado Springs in our Armendariz v. City of Colorado Springs case and how we put an end racial gerrymandering in El Paso County as part of our efforts for systemic equality in Colorado. This is only the beginning of our work on The Road Ahead.

In this edition:

As I look ahead to my third year serving as Executive Director of the ACLU of Colorado, I reflect on our many accomplishments during my tenure.

Privacy and Liberty:

Colorado’s school boards’ decisions on policy, curriculum and budget have crucial impacts on students’ abilities to learn, grow, and flourish. With this power comes the ability to cause students harm.

Look Ahead: FIGHTING FOR OUR RIGHTS TO PRIVACY

Biometric data is our most personal — and vulnerable — data. We use it to open our phones, pay for our groceries, monitor our heart rates and learn more about our ancestry and familial connections. This technology has made our lives easier, but without proper regulation, this convenience comes at a severe cost.

Smart Justice:

In August 2023, the ACLU of Colorado sued the CSPD and the FBI on behalf of the Chinook Center, a non-profit organization that serves as a hub for progressive activism in Colorado Springs, and Jacqueline “Jax” Armendariz Unzueta, an activist and Chinook Center volunteer.

Look Ahead: Efforts in Durango

Building on our Expanding the Table for Justice listening tour, we are diligently working to build connections with and increase our presence in Durango and La Plata County.

Systemic Equality:

Ending Racial Gerrymandering in El Paso County

Colorado’s reputation as having some of the strongest voting laws in the country is well-deserved. However, this reputation can obscure the barriers and threats that historically disenfranchised voters continue to face.

Look Ahead: PEAK Week

As the 2024 legislative session draws near, we are gearing up for our biggest community event of the year: PEAK Week.

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• Read more about 2023 Fall/Winter Newsletter

Only a few months after launching The Road Ahead, our new three-year strategic framework, ACLU of Colorado has already started work within our three core issue areas to expand and protect civil rights and civil liberties for all Coloradans. In this newsletter, you will read more about how The Road Ahead has guided our efforts at the 2023 legislative session, in hiring new staff, and how our new legal director will use it to transform future litigation.

In this edition:

Our Journey Toward The Road Ahead

I recently reached a milestone — completing my second year serving as Executive Director of ACLU of Colorado. During my tenure, we conducted a statewide listening tour to hear what issues matter to Coloradans and adopted a new three-year strategic framework, The Road Ahead, which will leverage our tools of litigation, legislation and advocacy.

What is LIFT?  Lobbying is for The People (LIFT) is the ACLU of Colorado’s annual education, training and mobilization program that gives new and established activists from across the state the tools they need to influence state legislation.

Priorities of the People

ACLU of Colorado is honored to welcome Tim Macdonald as our new Legal Director.  Tim was brought on as the Legal Director of the ACLU of Colorado in March 2023.

ACLU of Colorado Appeals Nash v. Mikesell Ruling

The ACLU of Colorado is taking its lawsuit, Nash v. Mikesell — which challenges the Teller County Sheriff’s 287(g) agreement with the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) — to the Colorado Court of Appeals.

Meet our New Staff

We are pleased to welcome new staff to the ACLU of Colorado team! These positions are essential to continue our organization in The Road Ahead, our years-long strategic roadmap to protect and expand civil rights and civil liberties for all Coloradans with a focus on immigrant, Indigenous, and racial justice.

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• Read more about 2023 Spring/Summer Newsletter