Mark Silverstein

Court stops Colorado Springs "no-solicitation zone" because of free speech concerns

Colorado Springs is trying to clean up its downtown by banning panhandling and soliciting, but there's one problem with that plan: The ordinance would violate the First Amendment -- at least according to the American Civil Liberties Union. And in the first major ruling on that issue, a federal distr ... More >>

Colorado Springs not yet enforcing law against panhandling -- but is "educating" people

Last week, we reported on a lawsuit from the American Civil Liberties Union against Colorado Springs, which is pushing forward with a controversial anti-panhandling law that critics see as violating free-speech rights. The city says it won't start enforcement for a few weeks, but will begin educatio ... More >>

ACLU sues Colorado Springs for panhandling ban, says it violates free speech rights

In what's called an effort to support the economic vitality of downtown Colorado Springs and stop panhandling, the city passed an ordinance this week that bans solicitation. But the law is so broad that it violates the First Amendment. At least that's the interpretation of the American Civil Liberti ... More >>

Sexy letters -- and Men's Health? -- banned by new prison censorship rule

A recent push by state prison officials to crack down on the sexual content of inmates' mail has greatly expanded the range of books and magazines intercepted by prison censors, including such staid fare as Rolling Stone and Men's Health. The move has also prompted complaints from inmates' loved one ... More >>

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 >>

Occupy Denver: ACLU demands formal investigation of police conduct, pepper ball guns

This morning, the ACLU of Colorado requested a formal investigation of the Denver Police Department's conduct with Occupy Denver during the past six and a half months. The complaint, delivered to Police Chief Robert White and the Office of the Independent Monitor, cites both First Amendment freedoms ... More >>

Urban camping ban proposal mean-spirited, possibly unconstitutional, says ACLU

As witnessed by a Westword item from October, Mayor Michael Hancock and Denver's business and outreach communities have spent months discussing and debating a push to ban overnight camping on public property. Now that the issue is reportedly scheduled to be addressed in a City Council committee meet ... More >>

Junius Puke inspired bill to kill criminal libel, senator says

In 2003, Greeley Police officers arrived at the home that then-UNC student Tom Mink shared with his mom, confiscating his computer and more because of complaints about his portrayal of professor Junius Peake as "Junius Puke" in his fledgling Internet publication, The Howling Pig. Eight years and a ... More >>

Alonzo Ashley: No charges for eight cops in Denver Zoo death

Update below: On the same day Denver Manager of Safety Alex Martinez met with Westword, his office cleared eight cops in a July incident at the Denver Zoo during which Alonzo Ashley died. The decision summary contradicts the account offered by Ashley's loved ones in virtually every respect.

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 >>

Tom Mink on $425K settlement in Howling Pig/"Junius Puke" case

"Junius Puke."​Update: Yesterday marked exactly eight years since officers in Greeley arrived at the home then-UNC student Tom Mink shared with his mom, confiscating his computer and more because of complaints about the way he'd portrayed a professor in his fledgling Internet publication, The ... More >>

Jose Sanchez lawsuit: $30K settlement in racial profiling case includes new police training

Flickr​Update: At a meeting last night, the Denver City Council approved a $30,000 payment to settle a lawsuit over alleged Denver Police racial profiling. Equally important, says the ACLU's Mark Silverstein, is a DPD agreement to improve training to try to prevent such incidents in the future ... More >>

Occupy Denver: ACLU investigating the seizure of personal property during most recent raid

​One week after the Colorado ACLU launched an investigation into the constitutionality of police action at Occupy Denver, the group has yet to receive the records it requested from the Denver Police Department and the Colorado State Patrol. In the meantime, the ACLU is researching a secondary ... More >>

Occupy Denver: ACLU investigates constitutionality and safety of police action

Phillip Becerra.​Colorado ACLU communications director Rosemary Harris Lytle confirms her organization has launched an investigation of "an escalation of police force" at Occupy Denver -- like, for example, the shooting of Phillip Becarra, seen here, with pepper bullets. The ACLU has expressed ... More >>

Alonzo Ashley death: ACLU wants coroner's docs, possible changes in police Taser training

Alonzo Ashley.​The decision by Denver DA Mitch Morrissey not to charge anyone in the case of Alonzo Ashley, who died at the Denver Zoo after an incident involving police, has already stirred controversy. But the ACLU of Colorado also believes it raises doubts about police training regarding Ta ... More >>

ACLU objects to Ken Buck's comments after $295K Operations Numbers Game settlement

Ken Buck.​In 2008, the Weld County Sheriff's Office raided Amalia's Translation and Tax Service in Greeley as part of Operations Numbers Game, an effort to bust identity thieves who were also undocumented immigrants. The ACLU filed suit over the action -- and this week, Weld District Attorney/ ... More >>

Jose Sanchez lawsuit alleges Denver Police Department bias, says ACLU director

Flickr​Despite the firing of officers involved in the Michael DeHerrera beating, the Denver Police Department continues to be a criticism target. The latest example: an American Civil Liberties Union lawsuit (read it below) filed on behalf of Jose Sanchez. Among other things, it alleges DPD bi ... More >>

El Paso County Jail's postcard-only policy is returned to sender

​Prisoners in El Paso County got an early Christmas present yesterday, when county officials agreed to stop limiting outgoing inmate mail to just postcards. The ACLU had filed suit against that policy, which the El Paso County Jail adopted this summer, arguing that such restrictions for prison ... More >>

ACLU files claim against ICE for harassing U.S. citizens en route to Amway convention

​Today, the American Civil Liberties Union announced a formal administrative complaint against Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) over an April incident during which dozens of Spanish speakers aboard a Denver charter bus were detained under suspicion of human smuggling. Turns out the ri ... More >>

Leslie Weise, Alex Young: Supreme Court won't hear No More Blood for Oil bumper-sticker case

​Back in 2005, Leslie Weise and Alex Young were prevented from attending a George W. Bush speech because their car sported a bumper sticker reading "No More Blood for Oil." The two, assisted by the ACLU, have been fighting this expulsion ever since -- but today, they reached the end of the lin ... More >>

Perry Speelman: Denver Police Sgt. accused of racial profiling costs city another $24,000

​In April, Alan Prendergast reported about Sgt. Perry Speelman, one of the defendants in a 2004 racial profiling lawsuit the city settled for $75,000. Tonight, Denver City Council will pay another $24,000 over similar allegations.

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 >>

Labia-lift searches of female prisoners have to stop, ACLU tells Ari Zavaras

​A few months ago we first reported on the "labia lift" -- an extremely invasive search process that the Colorado Department of Corrections has started using at its Denver women's prison. Now the American Civil Liberties Union of Colorado has taken notice -- and demanded that the DOC immedia ... More >>

Thomas Mink and The Howling Pig: ACLU's illegal search case moves forward six years later

"Junius Puke" in "The Howling Pig."​In December 2003, the Ault, Colorado home onetime UNC student Thomas Mink shared with his mom was raided by police. His crime? Satirizing a UNC professor named Junius Peake as "Junius Puke" in his self-published newsletter, The Howling Pig. Thus began a cou ... More >>

ACLU challenging Boulder's practice of ticketing homeless people for sleeping outside

​The ACLU is challenging a Boulder ordinance that penalizes homeless people for sleeping outside under the cover of blankets -- even when the city's homeless shelter is full. That's what happened to David Madison. He was ticketed last November under the city's controversial camping ban for s ... More >>

ACLU settles suit over Denver police complaint records

​On the eve of going to court in its effort to protect internal investigations records of police officers from public scrutiny, the City of Denver has agreed to settle a lawsuit by forking over many of the documents sought by the American Civil Liberties Union of Colorado.

ACLU sues Jeffco sheriff Ted Mink, says he unlawfully imprisoned man for 47 days

Ted Mink allegedly held a man for over a month without charges.​The American Civil Liberties Union has filed a federal lawsuit against the Jefferson County Sheriff, accusing him of illegally detaining a man for 47 days for the suspicion that he was an illegal immigrant. Sheriff Ted Mink, the ... 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 >>

Boulder DA Stan Garnett and the ACLU's Mark Silverstein weigh in post-Mall Crawl and Naked Pumpkin Run

Stan Garnett isn't having to spend a lot of time weighing the differences between indecent exposure and public indecency.​We still don't know all the particulars about the Halloween festivities on Boulder's Pearl Street Mall on Saturday; at this writing, the Boulder Police Department is still ... More >>

The Boulder police try to unfriend a Boulder Mall Crawl Facebook page

Court case saves Headed West hookah mural

The mural in question.​ Lewis Carroll's Alice in Wonderland could hardly be more mainstream. Children of all ages have read it for decade upon decade, Disney made an animated version during the Truman administration, and there'll likely be another burst of interest in the material when directo ... More >>

ACLU sues Denver for alleged false arrests during Democratic National Convention

Signs of recent times.​It's been a year since the Democratic National Convention took over this town -- and to mark that anniversary, the Colorado branch of the American Civil Liberties Union has taken two legal actions. In the first, an ACLU lawyer is representing eight people in a suit again ... More >>

Dani Newsum to Leave Colorado Inside Out

Slots Announced for DNC Protest Marches

ACLU Files DNC Lawsuit Against Feds

Cycle Killer

Why is the city putting the brakes on the Derailer Bike Collective?

Book Them

Pen and stink in the Jeffco jail.

Follow That Story

Roan and Groan

The Gangs All Here

What's in a name?

Embracing the Future

Traveling out of DIA continues to be a frisky business.

Last But Not Yeast

The DPD's binge-and-purge problem continues.

Smart Bombs

There's nothing intelligent about the way the DPD kept its spy files.

The Boys Next Door

In the rush to ban sex offenders, cities and counties may inadvertently be creating more of them down the line.

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.

The Mouth That Roared

Leonard's talking off the top of his head. Children, leave the room.

The Gang's All Here

You're Under Arrest, Sir

The Denver Police Department regulates what some say it shouldn't even have to think about.

The Pen Is Mightier Than the Pen

Prison censors' motto: What you don't know can't hurt us.

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.