The American Civil Liberties Union of Connecticut on Tuesday laid out its priorities for the General Assembly session that starts Jan. 4, focusing in a half-hour webinar on its goals around voting rights and criminal justice.

Some of the organization’s work revolves around expanding on the November referendum that passed with 60.2% of the vote, which asked, “Should the Constitution of the State be amended to permit the General Assembly to provide for early voting?”

“It was an important vote for racial justice, for women’s rights, for disability justice, and for families to make sure voting isn’t just a luxury for people with more time on a Tuesday in November,” said Gus Marks-Hamilton, a campaign manager at the ACLU of Connecticut.

Policy counsel Jess Zaccagnino said since voters didn’t approve a specific early voting plan, “it’s up to us to keep the pressure on” the state legislature.

She noted that the Brennan City for Justice at New York University School of Law found that having about 14 days of early voting is the best amount of time to increase early voting. That was the recommendation in a 2013 report from the center.

Zaccagnino also highlighted the importance of weekend and nighttime early voting options. She said Sundays are particularly important because of the Souls to the Polls movement, in which Black faith leaders coordinate transportation to the polls after worship.

Connecticut is one of four states without in-person early voting and one of 15 that does not allow no-excuse absentee voting.

If a simple majority of legislators next year approve a resolution authorizing a referendum, no-excuse absentee voting will be on the ballot in 2024. The ACLU is also advocating for this.

The ACLU is also pushing for passage of the Connecticut Voting Rights Act, which would codify into state law several parts of the Voting Rights Act of 1965. The U.S. Supreme Court has chipped away at the federal law in recent years, and a case on redistricting under the Voting Rights Act ― Merrill v. Milligan ― is also currently before the court.

The Connecticut Voting Rights Act, which passed out of the Government Administration and Elections Committee this year but not the Senate, also requires voting materials in other languages to be provided in certain municipalities.

ACLU also pushes for criminal justice changes

Anderson Curtis, senior policy organizer, explained that the ACLU is looking to increase accountability for state’s attorneys ― who serve eight-year terms ― by making them undergo data-driven performance reviews every two years, based on data already available from the Office of Policy and Management.

Claudine Constant, public policy and advocacy director, said the ACLU is also looking for Connecticut to abolish the practice of deceptive interrogation practices by police, in which investigators can lie to a person about the details of a crime or the leniency they could offer, in order to coerce a confession. This bill made it out of the Judiciary Committee and Senate last year but died in the House.

Constant said the two biggest consequences of deceptive interrogation practices are wrongful convictions which can then result in an “extensive financial burden” for the state due to litigation.

These are measures that address the “front end” of the criminal legal system but the ACLU also wants to address the “back end,” by removing barriers that people face to employment, housing and education after leaving prison.

“We find over and over again that people who are living with a criminal record face barriers to living in a quality apartment,” Constant said. She added, “Once a person has done their time, paid their debts to society, they deserve an opportunity to move on, and that includes having a roof over their head.”