By: ACLU of Colorado Racism has been in the national news in recent weeks thanks to the inflammatory words of Donald Sterling, owner of the Los Angeles Clippers, and Cliven Bundy, wealthy renegade rancher in Nevada.  Both have been widely condemned and Sterling faces serious consequences from the NBA, but in the wake of their pronouncements there can be no doubt that even the most crude forms of racism are alive and well in the United States. Just don’t try telling that to the Supreme Court.  In a series of.... | Read More

By: ACLU of Colorado A few weeks ago we wrote about the problems states are having in getting the drugs needed to carry out lethal injections. Over the last 24 hours, headlines have emerged around the country and the world about Oklahoma’s drug secrecy and their most recent botched execution attempt. Background: In Oklahoma two executions were forthcoming and the state was scrambling for drugs.  With plans to use a new three drug cocktail and no public information about the drug suppliers, the lawyers of.... | Read More

By: ACLU of Colorado Featuring ACLU of Colorado Legal Director Mark Silverstein and Jared Thornburg (read his story here).   | Read More

By: ACLU Blog of Rights (From the ACLU Blog of Rights) By Helen Vera, National Prison Project Fellow, ACLU Her cell was so dirty that a sock rotted into an open wound on her foot. For two and a half years, she didn't have a bed. She slept on a mat on the floor. She bled on herself, because the jail denied her sanitary napkins. Jan Green, a 51-year-old grandmother, never even stood trial. Because of the dramatic mood swings and psychosis associated with her bipolar disorder, Green was found unfit to stand trial.... | Read More

By: Rebecca T. Wallace Today our debtors’ prison bill, which is aimed at ending the common practice in Colorado of jailing poor people for failure to pay fines, passed the state legislature with overwhelming bipartisan support.  This victory is the result of two years of hard work and collaboration. In addition to bill sponsors Representative Joe Salazar and Senator Lucia Guzman, we commend  and thank Jared Thornburg and Linda Roberts, the two Coloradans who chose to share their experiences with legislators and helped.... | Read More

By: ACLU of Colorado I served in the U.S. Army in Desert Storm and Panama from 1985 until 1993. It was in the service that I learned the true value of freedom. After I retired, I married my wife Susan. Together, we’re now raising our two sons in Denver. But my friend Sgt. Metcalf, who served in both Iraq and Afghanistan, is not afforded the same freedom—despite putting his life on the line to defend this country. See, Sgt. Metcalf is gay and in Colorado, he’s denied the freedom to marry the person he loves. I.... | Read More