U.S. Department of Justice

Marijuana: John Hickenlooper-Eric Holder A64 call still a mystery despite activist's efforts

Editor's note: Medical marijuana critic William Breathes's latest review, which is usually published at 4:20 p.m. on Thursdays, has not quite finished curing; look for it in this space soon. In the meantime, we share the story of a marijuana activist and his efforts to discover what was said during ... More >>

Reader: Justice Department's decision not to charge cops in Alex Landau beating predictable

Our post about the decision by Justice Department representatives not to charge Denver cops involved in the brutal beating of Alex Landau with federal civil-rights violations prompted anger and frustration among many of our readers. Here's an example.

Rocky Flats to Ramseys: Grand jurors work in secret, but the truth will out

The truth, like plutonium, has a way of leaking out. After two years of deliberations, the Rocky Flats grand jury wanted to charge eight individuals for environmental crimes at the nuclear weapons plant -- but the Justice Department declined to indict, and instead sent the jurors home in the spring ... More >>

Marijuana activist objects to Amendment 64 task force member calling for fed crackdown

As we've reported, the first meeting of the Amendment 64 Implementation Task Force is slated for noon today. But even before that initial session, a marijuana activist is protesting the inclusion of one task force member, Colorado Concern's Tamra Ward. Why? Because her signature is the first on lett ... More >>

Amendment 64: Warnings from U.S. Attorney, State Patrol, CU boss as measure becomes law

Yesterday, Governor John Hickenlooper quietly signed Amendment 64. But the reaction from major players who oppose the new pot law has been considerably louder. U.S. Attorney John Walsh and the Colorado State Patrol both issued terse warnings calculated to harsh the buzzes of celebrants. And a prior ... More >>

Marijuana: Rumblings about federal crackdown on Colorado over Amendment 64

At this point, there's still no official word from the Justice Department about a response to Amendment 64, the Regulate Marijuana Like Alcohol Act. But as a similar law in Washington state went into effect at midnight yesterday, prompting a smoke-out at the Space Needle, a New York Times article su ... More >>

Amendment 64: Business organizations ask feds to clamp down on Colorado marijuana measure

In the wake of the Amendment 64's passage, Democratic and Republican officials have proposed a bill that would exempt Colorado from federal laws prohibiting marijuana use. Now, a coalition of business organizations opposed to A64 are urging the feds to do the opposite: enforce federal law, even if i ... More >>

The truth about America's biggest criminals

Medical marijuana superstores possible federal targets in Colorado?

U.S. Attorney John Walsh has sent out two waves of closure-threat letters to medical marijuana dispensaries near schools -- and his spokesman reveals that a third wave is coming. But could Walsh's targets in Colorado expand to so-called marijuana superstores, as has taken place in California? His of ... More >>

Alex Landau beating: Denver cops puts case on pause as FBI investigates

Update below: Alex Landau talks about the news. Three years-plus since Alex Landau was beaten bloody after being pulled over for what officers cited as an illegal left turn, and a year since he was

These days, schools ignore gay bullying at their own peril

Medical marijuana groups ask President Obama to call off MMJ crackdowns

At 2 p.m., hours before President Barack Obama is scheduled to speak at CU-Boulder, members of Colorado's medical marijuana industry will stage a press conference at which they'll ask the commander in chief to order call off federal law-enforcers such as U.S. Attorney John Walsh, whose seizure-threa ... 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 >>

Marijuana: U.S. Attorney "not bluffing" about seizing dispensaries near schools

Attorney Rob Corry unwittingly provided U.S. Attorney John Walsh with a make-my-day moment. Corry recently told 9News that seizure letters sent to 23 dispensaries near schools were a "colossal bluff." During a round of media interviews, Walsh begged to differ. "We are not bluffing," he says. "We sen ... More >>

Drilled, Baby, Drilled: The strange battle to keep Big Oil from cheating

Rocky Flats, which once manufactured plutonium triggers, still produces secrets

Late Friday, the Department of Fish and Wildlife referred queries about a proposed land swap (which would add a 617-acre parcel to the southwest side of Rocky Flats in exchange for a 300-foot right-of-way on the eastern border going to the Jefferson Parkway Public Highway Authority) to the Justice ... More >>

Rocky Flats land swap deal for Jefferson Parkway going nowhere fast

Last week, if all had gone according to plan, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service would have been finalizing the exchange of a 300-foot right-of-way comprising approximately 100 acres on the eastern border of the Rocky Flats National Wildlife Refuge for a 617-acre parcel on the southwestern corner of ... More >>

Bobby Maxwell, fed whistleblower, earns $7.5 million in oil company battle

It took nine years of fighting for money the government insisted it wasn't owed. It probably cost him his job, too. But last week, former federal auditor Bobby Maxwell and the Justice Department finally reached a $26 million settlement with Anadarko Petroleum over underpaid royalties on oil leases ... 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 >>

Greatest Mexican hits of 2011

Med. marijuana: Eric Holder okay with lawful MMCs, but do threats remain?

Video below.​This week, Congressman Jared Polis quizzed U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder about the Department of Justice's approach to medical marijuana; see a video of the exchange below. For the most part, Holder suggested that MMJ businesses following state law are not Department of Justic ... More >>

Child-sex-trafficking stereotypes demolished by new research

Medical marijuana state employees won't face fed prosecution: What's it mean for Colorado?

Jan Brewer.​As reported by our Toke of the Town blog, the Department of Justice's response to a lawsuit by Arizona Governor Jan Brewer directly contradicted an assertion by Colorado Attorney General John Suthers that state employees might be prosecuted for enforcing state medical marijuana law ... More >>

Michael Hancock prostitution story: Do Denver cops have different rules for mayor-elect, press?

Michael Hancock.​Although the uproar over reports allegedly linking mayor-elect Michael Hancock to the Denver Players prostitution operation has died down, one journalist -- Complete Colorado's Todd Shepherd, who broke the story in the first place -- isn't giving up. But he's hit a roadblock w ... More >>

Medical marijuana cultivation no different than other pot grows, says U.S. Attorneys Office

A 2009 weed bust.​U.S. Attorney John Walsh's letter objecting to elements of HB 1043, a bill meant to clean up parts of last year's medical marijuana rules, has alarmed activists and confused legislators like Senator Pat Steadman, the measure's co-sponsor. Could dispensary raids like those tak ... More >>

Cyber Monday ripoffs: See 7 Colorado website domains seized for selling counterfeit goods

​Overwhelmed by the number of sites offering Cyber Monday deals? Well, now there are 82 of them, including seven in Colorado, you don't need to visit -- because their domains have been seized for allegedly selling counterfeit or copyrighted goods. See the list and get more info from the Justic ... More >>

Andrew Romanoff job offers focus of House inquiry resolution

​It's getting to be a full-time job tracing the fall-out from the job offers dangled by the White House for Andrew Romanoff. According to Roll Call, House Republicans issued a resolution of inquiry last night demanding documents from the Justice Department on the White House's role in making ... More >>

Patric LeHouillier, Colorado Springs lawyer, to pay $50,000 for discriminating against seeing-eye dog

Could you say no to this guy? Apparently, Patric LeHouillier can.​A Colorado Springs attorney accused of violating the Americans with Disabilities act by not allowing a disabled woman and her seeing eye dog into his office will have to shell out $50,000 as part of a consent decree approved by ... More >>

Colorado Attorney General John Suthers rips new Obama administration medical-marijuana regulations

"Stop using medical marijuana! In the name of my interpretation of the law!"​Colorado Attorney General John Suthers wants to put the medical-marijuana genie back in the bottle -- so it's hardly surprising that he's not thrilled by the Obama administration's efforts to put enforcement of rules ... More >>

Attorney General Eric Holder: Aurora a central front in war on terror

Eric Holder.​Most of Attorney General Eric Holder's prepared remarks to the International Association of Chiefs of Police (IACP) Conference today are of the attaboy variety: At one point, he says, "I have come to Denver today with one simple message from Washington: 'We got your back.'" But t ... More >>

Disgraced ex-Mormon bishop Shawn Merriman hasn't got a prayer -- or his huge art collection -- anymore

Shawn Merriman pleaded not guilty to mail fraud charges against him yesterday -- but since the former Mormon bishop has already confessed to swindling folks since 1994, that seems like a temporary situation. In any event, he's already bid farewell to a huge array of belongings seized by authorities ... More >>

John Malone hit with $1.4 million civil penalty related to Justice Department lawsuit

John Malone. As one of Colorado's wealthiest entrepreneurs, Liberty Media chairman John Malone can certainly afford the $1.4 million civil penalty just announced by the U.S. Justice Department. But he can't be pleased by the publicity sure to be generated by the fine, levied against him for violati ... More >>

Survey says: Domestic violence doesn't play favorites

"Sheriff" Salazar rounds up some artifact rustlers

In his first few weeks as Secretary of the Interior, former Colorado Senator Ken Salazar was fond of sporting his cowboy hat and declaring that there's a new sheriff in town -- even though the work at hand didn't lend itself to quick draws, as explained in my feature "The Zen of Ken." But now t ... More >>

Rocky Mountain News' John Temple deems KOA's alleged Scripps scoop "BS"

When he arrived at his office yesterday, Rocky Mountain News editor/publisher/president John Temple was greeted by an e-mail letting him know about a report from KOA radio claiming that executives from E.W. Scripps, the paper's owner, which put it up for sale last month, would be arriving in the n ... More >>

Debate over spiked Rocky Mountain News media column heats up

Since November 2004, Cause Communications president Jason Salzman (pictured) has written a media column for the Rocky Mountain News; his pieces run every two weeks, alternating with offerings by the Independence Institute's Dave Kopel, whose perspective is typically as conservative as Salzman's is ... More >>

Department of Justice trying to preserve at least one newspaper JOA

The blog "Debate Over Spiked Rocky Mountain News Media Column Heats Up" deals in part with a piece by Jason Salzman, who feels the Denver dailies haven't truly measured the chances that the Justice Department might choose to prevent the dissolution of a joint-operating agreement that links the Roc ... More >>

Read Jason Salzman's controversial Rocky Mountain News column

The blog "Debate Over Spiked Rocky Mountain News Media Column Heats Up" deals with a Jason Salzman column that the Rocky declined to publish -- so Salzman posted it on his own website, prompting Rocky editor/publisher/president John Temple (pictured) to put together a tough reply. The text from Salz ... More >>

Janet Napolitano’s sorry service in Arizona makes her a terrible choice for Homeland Security secretary

Dialed In

Press 1 if you love the Mexican.

Trouble in Mind

True Lies

The FBI agent who raided Rocky Flats finally sounds off.

Toxic Shocker!

The government ambushed the Rocky Flats grand jury. Now its foreman is gunning for justice.

Screen and Screen Again

Forget Victoria's Secret. Argenbright Security has a few secrets of its own.

The Cowboy Way

Federal prison guards accused of beating inmates have their own support group -- the officers' union.

The Other Jury

Political Animals

Grand Illusions

SECOND-CLASS HANDLING

A POSTAL WORKER CLAIMS HE WAS FIRED FOR BLOWING THE WHISTLE.

JUSTICE (DEPT.) IS SERVED