Headshot of Monica Bennett

Monica Bennett

Pronouns: she/her/hers

Legal Director

Legal

Bio

Monica Bennett, an attorney with a strong civil rights and litigation background, joined the ACLU of Kansas as the Legal Director in July 2024.  During her more than 20 years as an attorney, Monica has worked to ensure safe and affordable housing free from discrimination and for fair and equitable educational opportunities for all students.  She’s also advocated on behalf of individuals with disabilities to create accessible public accommodations and institutions and for immigrants' rights.   

Prior to joining the staff of the ACLU, Monica served in the federal public sector as a litigation attorney at the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) and, prior to that, a Staff Attorney in the U.S. Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights (OCR).  While at HUD, she charged multiple cases alleging housing discrimination, including a case against the owner of multiple single-family residences in Missouri who subjected female tenants to sexual harassment; and at OCR took action against dozens of school districts and post-secondary institutions accused of discriminating against students in violation of Title VI, Title VIIII, Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act, and other civil rights authorities.  Monica also worked as an Assistant Attorney General in the state of Connecticut and a private practitioner focusing on education and immigration law.

Monica holds a bachelors’ degree from Tuskegee University (1998), as well as, a juris doctor from Howard University School of Law (2001).  She resides in Kansas City.

Related Content

Publication | BLOG
systemic racism
  • Criminal Legal Reform

Probation in Kansas Criminalizes Poverty and Continues a Legacy of Systemic Racism

Probation, the legal practice that allows an individual to remain in their community for all or part of the sentence for a criminal conviction, dates back as far as the early 19th century. Originally, the practice may have been intended to allow the court to punish an offender without punishing those who relied upon his support, or perhaps in the face of a harsh sentence to “let the punishment fit the crime.” It may be that the judges who originally meted out probation instead of prison or other harsh punishments intended to do a service to offenders and their communities. But in the 21st century, we see that probation can do more harm than good, especially when it permanently subjects poor Kansas and particularly Kansans of color to repugnant, Reconstruction era-like restrictions.