News & Commentary

We believe people closest to a problem are best suited to identifying solutions. That's why we work to connect people who are directly impacted by policies and laws to those who have the power to make sweeping changes. Jaden Spence is one of them. He pressed his support of the Family Preservation and Accountability Act to a committee of House representatives by sharing his experience growing up with an incarcerated parent. Immediately after his testimony, that committee passed the bill on to its last major hurdle, the floor of the full House. Here's Jaden's story..

Every week, children across the state receive letters from Kentucky prisons. Some are written on lined notebook paper. Some are typed. Some are messy with corrections and crossed-out words. But almost all of them contain the same things: Regret and fear about what is happening to their children while they are gone.

This week’s word from the Kentucky legislature is “conviction.”  Most people hear that word and think about a courtroom. A judge. A sentence. A permanent mark that follows someone long after they have paid their debt. In Kentucky, a conviction can become a kind of shadow. It shows up on job applications, housing forms, and background checks. It can close doors before someone even gets a chance to knock. 

I was two years old when my mom went to jail. I do not remember everything she remembers. I was too young. What I do remember is what came after. I remember missing her. I remember confusion. I remember loss before I had the words for it.

In Kentucky, that phrase carries weight. Every March, it becomes gospel. You do not have to be perfect. You do not have to win pretty. You just have to survive and move on. This week, Senate Bill 72 survived committee, and it advanced. Then, it passed the full Senate. But here is the problem. For too many Kentuckians, this bill flips the script. It asks marginalized communities to do the surviving so the legislation can do the advancing.

By now, the pattern is all too familiar. Another bill in America – in particular, Frankfort, KY – aimed at drag performances. Another round of rhetoric claiming this is all about “protecting children.” Same script, different day. If General Assemblies subscribed to Spotify, these bills would make the most played lists. Every year.

We’re proud to report ACLU-KY's priority piece of legislation for the 2026 legislative session, the Family Preservation and Accountability Act, was heard in and passed out of the Senate Judiciary Committee on January 30, 2026.

Two words kept showing up in Frankfort this week, and not by accident.

If you follow politics even casually, you have probably heard a small blizzard of terms thrown around this time of year.