American Civil Liberties Union

Jacqueline Gallegos's son wants death penalty for killer of his mom

In recent days, members of Colorado's general assembly have been battling over legislation intended to outlaw the death penalty in Colorado. Yesterday, however, the proposal failed in the House Judiciary Committee. This development distressed the Colorado ACLU; see the group's statement below. But ... More >>

Robert Motyka, Denver police officer, shot in high-speed chase; one suspect dead, four caught

Details are still emerging about a high-speed police chase yesterday that ended with one suspect dead, four others in custody, and a Denver police officer identified as Robert Motyka hospitalized after a non-life-threatening gunshot wound. Speculation about what started the chase focuses on the deat ... More >>

Thousands of possible non-citizens Scott Gessler targeted are legal voters

Earlier this month, Secretary of State Scott Gessler asked nearly 4,000 registered voters to prove that they are citizens as part of an effort, he said, to prevent fraud. The results are now in and one in eight voters who showed a non-citizen document to the Division of Motor Vehicles remain ineligi ... More >>

Howard Simon, ACLU executive director, says Florida voting changes are racist and wrong

Editor's Note: The following is a guest-post by Chuck Strouse, editor-in-chief of Westword's sister paper, the Miami New Times. It's video side-bar to Strouse's piece that ran in Westword this week, "Welcome back, Jim Crow: A tradition of keeping African-Americans voters from the polls."As I show in ... More >>

For the homeless, "urban camping" is no picnic

Also read: Councilman Albus Brooks discusses the proposed ban on urban camping

4/20 at CU Boulder: ACLU blasts claim event's a party, not a protest

In defending CU Boulder's decision to close Norlin Quad and ban visitors on 4/20, Chancellor Philip DiStefano claims the event is a party, not a protest -- an assertion echoed by the institution's spokesperson. But Mark Silverstein, legal director for the Colorado ACLU scoffs at this argument even a ... More >>

University of Colorado to ban visitors on 4/20 and close Norlin Quad

After weeks of denying that it would crack down on 4/20 events, the University of Colorado Boulder has announced that school will limit campus visitors to official business only and close down the famous Norlin Quad where as many as 10,000 students have gathered to smoke herb in past years. The camp ... More >>

Occupy Denver, ACLU and Coalition For the Homeless team to oppose urban camping ban

Although Denver's proposed urban camping ordinance is not scheduled for final consideration until May 7, the sides for and against it are already preparing for battle. Last week, the ACLU of Colorado organized an online petition against the ban, with Occupy Denver taking a stance this weekend. In a ... More >>

Pat Robertson "endorses" Regulate Marijuana Like Alcohol Act, Amendment 64

Amendment 64, previously known as the Regulate Marijuana Like Alcohol Act, has been approved for the November ballot, and thus far, its backers include former Colorado House Majority Leader Paul Weissmann, the ACLU of Colorado and ex-New Mexico governor/Libertarian presidential candidate Gary Johnso ... More >>

Occupy Boulder: Attorneys use Fourth Amendment to defend protesters

Of all the constitutional freedoms cited in defense of the Occupy movement, the First Amendment is staked most territorially. But in Occupy Boulder, attorneys defending protesters arrested for illegal camping are using the Fourth Amendment in a push to dismiss evidence gathered when police officers ... More >>

ACLU wants Department of Justice to investigate Denver Police

The December news that Richard Rosenthal, Denver's Independent Monitor, would be leaving the post for a similar job in British Columbia, was greeted with enthusiasm by some law-enforcement types, who saw him as anti-cop. And their delight wasn't tempered by his office's final scathing report, on vie ... More >>

Border Patrol T-shirts warrant punishment at Dakota Ridge High, "F*ck America" signs don't?

Was Dakota Ridge High School student Bryce Benson punished for wearing a T-shirt that read "Border Patrol" while others who staged a mock-demonstration featuring signs that read "Fuck America" weren't -- or at least not initially? Ex-Congressman and recent gubernatorial candidate Tom Tancredo's not ... More >>

Douglas County voucher plan gives public funds to discriminatory religious schools, suit claims

Videos below.​Update below: A lawsuit filed this morning in Denver District Court challenges the legality of a Douglas County voucher program set to go into effect this fall partly on the grounds that it diverts public money to religious institutions. Yet plaintiffs include the Interfaith Alli ... More >>

Drug war: An unhappy 40th birthday party

​On June 17, 1971, President Richard Milhous Nixon announced that the United States of America would commits its vast resources to armed conflict against a hostile enemy known as "drugs." Yes, that's right. Next week, the War on Drugs officially turns forty years old, and it's showing every bi ... More >>

Reader: Police brutality videos are concerned citizens' best defense against more abuse

Alex Landau.​Patricia Calhoun's post about the ACLU's "Police Brutality is Killing Us" campaign -- a movement inspired by beating cases like the one involving Alex Landau -- sparked a number of strong comments. Take this one, in which a reader encourages witnesses to law-enforcement violence t ... More >>

Mentally ill prisoners in solitary confinement: New bill seeks to stop the madness

​Roughly four out of every ten prisoners in solitary confinement in Colorado is either developmentally disabled or mentally ill, a figure that's been rising steadily over the past decade. Senate Bill 176, headed for a statehouse committee review later this week, seeks to drastically reduce tha ... More >>

Fort Lyon prison closing proposed by John Hickenlooper: Adios to a poisoned pen

Mark Manger​Among the painful budget cuts proposed by Governor John Hickenlooper on Tuesday, one long-overdue move should earn points from prison reformers as well as bean counters -- shutting down the Fort Lyon Correctional Facility, a geriatric hoosegow on the eastern plains that was suppose ... More >>

Reader: "Marriage is so Gay" T-shirt controversy and the like prompt politically correct silence

Kate Cohn.​The controversy over student Kate Cohn's "marriage is so gay" T-shirt, which was banned but then allowed after the ACLU complained, prompted an interesting post from one reader, who wishes we could create a thought-provoking environment for learning without risking the ire of variou ... More >>

Denver DA Mitch Morrissey and the ACLU butt heads over "Katie's Law"

Katie Sepich.​A new law went into affect in Colorado today that will require anyone arrested for a felony to submit a DNA sample. "Katie's Law" is named after 22-year-old New Mexico State University graduate student, Katie Sepich, who was raped and murdered in 2003. Governor Bill Ritter signed ... More >>

Bare breast ban in Boulder: Is city council ready to treat men's and women's nipples differently?

A Flickr photoWill she still be able to uncover that in Boulder?​At a meeting tonight, the Boulder City Council will take up a proposed public nudity ordinance that's gone through several permutations in recent months. At first, the measure forbade the display of a woman's nipples, among othe ... More >>

Inside the courtroom for the "No Blood For Oil" bumper-sticker hearing

A sticker like this one started it all.​Yesterday, in the 10th Circuit Court of Appeals, American Civil Liberties Union attorney Chris Hansen argued on behalf of a lawsuit filed by Leslie Weise and Alex Young, who were prevented by White House personnel from attending a March 2005 town hall ab ... More >>

Headed West owner on the saving of his hookah mural

Headed West owner Mike Mahaney in front of his mural.​Just because the Colorado Court of Appeals ruled against the City of Englewood in its effort to get rid of an Alice In Wonderland-inspired mural featuring a hookah-puffing insect doesn't mean Headed West owner Mike Mahaney, the man who comm ... More >>

Play the ACLU vanity-licence-plate game

Who says folks at the American Civil Liberties Union's Colorado office don't have a sense of humor? They've just launched a page that asks the burning question, "Are you qualified to censor vanity license plates for the State of Colorado?" Included is a game that satirizes the decision by employee ... More >>

The Westword.com blog shortcut, July 7 edition

Photo by Cajun BoyMongo meets meat. Everyone form a line. Today in Cafe Society: • Hot Diggity Dog: Denver's Mongo Marquez joined the big leagues at Nathan's on July 4. • Civic Center Eats: Sweet Revenge cookies. • Tonight: Frasca wines paired with small plates from MiniBAR. • Where am I d ... More >>

Wake Up Call: The week ahead -- when worse comes to verse

Before we were panicked about swine flu and twisted by torture-memo leaks, we were terrified by the Devil Horse, Luis Jimenez's killer sculpture that stands guard outside Denver International Airport, its red eyes shooting deadly lasers at unsuspecting passersby. Or are those glowing orbs actually ... More >>

Focus on the Family's nightmare scenario about an Obama victory

See and Be Seen at Racines

Slots Announced for DNC Protest Marches

Fight for Your Rights

The Pen is Mightier Than the Pen

Recreate '68 Plans to Do Just That

Chicago in 1968 was a place of violence and chaos. Some activists would like to re-create those good old days.

Watch and Learn

Whatcha gonna do when they come for you?

Critical Mess

Denver bicyclists get taken for a ride.

Bowed But Not Broken

Breakdown Book Collective looks for a new space and new life.

Drunk of the Week

Mead Street Station Grill and Pub

Follow That Story

Roan and Groan

Freedom Fleet

Liberty Ride n' Rod rocks for a good cause

Best Bet for Adults With DPD Spy Files

Denver CopWatch

The Peter Principle

El Dildo Bandido wraps himself in red, white and blue.

Unlawful Entry

The high price of Denver's drug war: lies, bad busts, cops in harm's way -— and the death of an innocent man.

Throw the Bums Out

Merchants battle transients on the mall.

The Gang's All Here

Another Brick in the Mall

The cops' plans to use a high-tech database to keep track of kids hanging out on the 16th Street Mall draws complaints.

Off Limits

Get Stuffed

Off Limits

Letters

Black Marks

The Denver Police Department acts like it has something to hide about its clash with students at Thomas Jefferson High School. It does.

THRILLS

SUFFER THE CHILDRENWILL A LANDMARK LAWSUIT SPUR CHANGES IN THE STATE'S FOSTER CARE SYSTEM?