Bio
In January of 2001, Colleen Connell became the first female attorney to lead the American Civil Liberties Union of Illinois, an organization Ms. Connell joined in 1984.
Prior to becoming the Executive Director, Ms. Connell served as the ACLU’s Associate Legal Director and Director of the Reproductive Rights Project. In that capacity, she directed the organization’s litigation efforts involving constitutional rights of privacy and protecting the rights of Illinois citizens to make decisions concerning reproductive matters and child-bearing, without undue governmental restriction.
A native of North Dakota, she was graduated from North Dakota State University and the University of Iowa School of Law.
Featured Work
Our 2016 Year in Review
Social media is replete with memes cheering the end of 2016. It has been a tough year in many ways; though, there have been some highlights, including -- according to many of my colleagues -- the Cubs winning the World Series. But the year also has provided a number of highlights in Illinois from a civil liberties perspective. So, as the year winds down to the last few days, here are ten positive civil liberties developments in Illinois during 2016:
How to help the ACLU - and the country
There have been many encouraging developments over the past few days. Millions of Americans have vocally reiterated their support for civil liberties and reaffirmed their commitment to the proposition that liberty and equality are not zero-sum games; these human rights belong to all of us! We have been overwhelmed - in a positive way - by the number of people who have called, emailed, and stopped us on the street, asking: how can we help defend the Constitution?