The state’s commissioner of public safety will issue an order limiting state troopers from breaking up highway overpass demonstrations as part of a settlement reached with the Connecticut chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union in federal court on Thursday.
The agreement puts a cork in a First Amendment legal battle brought by the ACLU last year after state police cited – and in one case, arrested – protesters who were speaking out against President Donald Trump’s policies on highway bridges.
“We were able to come to an agreement, which I think is very important for free speech in Connecticut,” said Dan Barrett, the ACLU’s legal director. “We are very pleased that, at long last, our clients can go back out on the bridges and speak their minds to their neighbors.”
In its suit, the ACLU asked a judge to allow people to protest on highway overpasses without the fear of being prosecuted.
Department of Emergency Services and Public Protection Commissioner Ronnell Higgins, who oversees state police, will issue updated guidance to all state troopers within the next ten days, according to Connecticut State Police.
“The agreement recognizes the right of peaceful protestors to demonstrate on the sidewalk areas of highway overpasses and to hold signs. The agreement recognizes that Troopers will still respond to calls for service (911 calls) and enforce laws related to unlawful protests, such as demonstrations in the road that block traffic,” Connecticut State Police said in a statement.
State Police added that protestors should not enter the highway or dangle items over the highway.
The ACLU had filed its suit in September 2025 on behalf of two Connecticut residents, Erin Quinn and Robert Marra. Both are part of a local group known as the Visibility Brigade. Members have been protesting on highway overpasses for much of last year.
Though Quinn and Marra were never arrested or cited, they stopped going out to protest out of fear of criminal prosecution, according to the suit.
State police had argued the highway demonstrations were a dangerous distraction for drivers. The ACLU disagreed and asked a judge to rule the demonstrations as lawful in its suit.
Lawyers for Higgins, who is named as a defendant in the suit, responded by filing a motion in court on Oct. 2025. In it, they argued the lawsuit should be dropped because state police issued new guidance to troopers on highway protests.
United States District Judge Stefan R. Underhill denied that motion during the hearing in Bridgeport.
A written version of the agreement had not yet been released as of Thursday evening.
“Hopefully people are out enjoying their full free speech rights on our overpass sidewalks, and there will be no problems,” Barrett said.
