Unless and until the ACLU-CT agrees to take your case, you are solely responsible for any and all statute of limitations or other deadlines which might apply to your specific situation.
- Submitting a complaint does not guarantee that the ACLU-CT will provide legal assistance
- The ACLU-CT is unable to assist people in emergency situations.
- The ACLU-CT has a policy of not interfering with the work of other attorneys.
- The ACLU-CT cannot provide legal assistance if the matter did not take place in Connecticut. If you are in another state, you can find information about your local ACLU affiliate here.
How the ACLU-CT accepts cases
The ACLU-CT generally files cases that affect the civil liberties of large numbers of people, rather than those involving a dispute between two parties. If you would like the ACLU-CT to consider your case, you should submit the online legal complaint form, email a written complaint to intake@acluct.org or send a written correspondence to ACLU-CT, 765 Asylum Avenue, Hartford, CT 06105. Please be aware the ACLU-CT no longer performs phone intake and cannot return calls requesting legal assistance.
Our basic criteria for accepting cases are:
1. Does this case raise a significant civil liberties or civil rights issue?
2. What effect will this case have on people other than the parties involved?
3. What is the potential impact of the case?
The ACLU-CT generally cannot accept cases such as:
- Landlord/tenant disputes.
- Individual being denied benefits such as worker’s compensation or unemployment benefits.
- Criminal cases or complaints about a person’s attorney in a criminal case. (Only in limited cases, such as a person being prosecuted for exercising his or her First Amendment rights, do we consider accepting criminal cases.)
- Private civil disputes including contractual matters.
- Domestic matters.
- Challenges to convictions or prison sentences.
