The ACLU of Connecticut believe in a society where all people, including people who are coming home after being imprisoned, should have an equal opportunity to build successful and fulfilling lives. When a person is released from incarceration, they have earned the opportunity to rejoin society. They need and deserve the ability to move forward. Making sure they have an ID is a basic and critical step so that they can be productive members of our communities.
On March 15, 2023, ACLU of Connecticut Smart Justice leader Curtis B. Hudson testified in support of H.B. 6875 during its public hearing in the Judiciary Committee. The following is his testimony:
Hello Senator Winfield, Representative Stafstrom, and Ranking Members Senator Kissel, Representative Fishbein, and all the distinguished members of the Judiciary Committee. My names is Curtis B. Hudson, I am a resident of New Haven, and I am a Smart Justice Leader with the ACLU of Connecticut. I am here to testify in support of House Bill 6875, regarding IDs for people who are coming out of incarceration.
I believe in a society where all people, including people who are coming home after being imprisoned, should have an equal opportunity to build successful and fulfilling lives. But Connecticut is behind the times. Having an ID is foundational to being able to reintegrate into society. But instead of supporting people so that they can thrive in their communities, Connecticut makes it extremely difficult without proper identification to obtain employment, housing, insurance and just about anything a person needs to survive. This is not good for individuals and it is not good for our communities. When a person is released from incarceration, they have earned the opportunity to rejoin society. They need and deserve the ability to move forward. Making sure they have an ID is a basic and critical step so that they can be productive members of our communities.
I am a person who has gone through the reentry process here in Connecticut and in other states. In the state of New York they recognize how important an ID is and will make sure either you have it before you leave a correctional facility or they will literally walk with you from a halfway house to the Department of Motor Vehicles to obtain one. Here in Connecticut, however, I had to obtain three pieces of mail that could prove my new address, which could take two to three weeks, before I could go the DMV to get an ID. And of course that required some amount of money which I didn’t have because I wasn’t able to find employment without an ID.
HB 6875 provides direction to the Department of Corrections to create a system that will give every person the essential documents, like a birth certificate or social security card, that they need to get an ID before they leave incarceration. The bill also directs the DOC and DMV to waive the cost of getting these documents. I believe the DMV currently charges $28 for a state ID, so if you are working on prison wages that is like an entire month’s paycheck.
If the state knows a person’s identity well enough to incarcerate them, then the state can give them the proper identification when they leave, that’s why they’re called the Department of Corrections. I urge the members of this committee to vote in favor of HB 6875 so that every person leaving incarceration has a proper state identification. Thank you for listening to my testimony today, and I would like to leave you all with a quote from the poet Khalil Gibran: “We are all prisoners of this world, but some are in cells with windows, and some without.”
Thank you.
