Category Archives: Issues

September 1, 2021 DENVER – The following statement can be attributed to Deborah Richardson, Executive Director of ACLU of Colorado. “Two years after Elijah Jovan McClain, a 23-year-old African American, a beloved brother and son, a massage therapist and gifted violinist, died at the hands of Aurora police and first responders, two of the three police officers directly involved in his death still work at the department. Six months after the Aurora independent investigation report confirmed.... | Read More

August 30, 2021 Seguido en Español. DENVER – The City of Colorado Springs has agreed to pay $65,000 to settle a lawsuit brought by the ACLU of Colorado alleging that three Colorado Springs police officers engaged in racially biased policing when they targeted Corey Barnes, a Black resident of the Springs, and detained him without cause, handcuffed him without justification and searched him illegally. Along with monetary compensation, the Colorado Springs Police Department has agreed to.... | Read More

August 6, 2021 When I was a sophomore in high school, my world history teacher started off the class period one morning with a question. He presented the class with a sweatshirt that all the teachers received as a gift from the school for the holidays. Along the sleeve of the black sweatshirt, in white thread, read the school’s name: DSST: Stapleton. He asked my class, “Should I take this black permanent marker and erase the name Stapleton?” He then gave a short presentation about.... | Read More

July 29, 2021 DENVER – ACLU of Colorado sent a letter today to government officials in Boulder, demanding an end to their unconstitutional and inhumane treatment of unhoused Boulder residents. The letter followed an ACLU investigation that found that unhoused residents are denied shelter due to arbitrary residency requirements and unjustly prosecuted for sleeping outdoors even when they have no adequate alternatives. According to the letter, Boulder, “with one hand makes shelter available.... | Read More

July 15, 2021 DENVER — A federal court yesterday denied Frontier Airlines’ request to dismiss a lawsuit filed by four flight attendants who allege the company discriminates against pregnant and breastfeeding employees. The court’s action allows the class action lawsuit, which is a companion to a related case filed by four Frontier pilots, to move forward.  The employees have alleged that Frontier denies accommodations to pregnant or breastfeeding flight attendants that would be given.... | Read More

The record demonstrates the ACLU’s unwavering commitment to First Amendment rights for all. David Cole, ACLU Legal Director June 6, 2021 Has the ACLU lost its way? This appears to be a perennial question. In 1994, then-ACLU President Nadine Strossen wrote a 17-page article with 54 footnotes, responding to the charge that the organization “is abandoning its traditional commitment to free speech and other classic civil liberties and is becoming a ‘trendy’ liberal organization primarily.... | Read More

May 27, 2021 DENVER – Today, ACLU of Colorado sued the City of Aurora for blocking a candidate with a prior felony conviction from running for public office. Candice Bailey, an Aurora resident and community leader for racial justice, intends to run for an at-large position on the Aurora City Council in the November 2021 municipal election. But the Aurora City Charter and City Code forbid her from being a candidate or holding public office solely based on her past conviction. “A city has.... | Read More

You might know Michael Marshall as the mentally ill, homeless man killed by sheriff’s deputies in the Denver jail, but to me he was Uncle Mike. Son of John Marshall and Hattie Lee Black-Marshall, Uncle Mike was a loving man, willing to do what he could for his family and other people experiencing homelessness. He had a contagious laugh and presence that brought joy at holidays and Sunday dinners. Because he lived with schizophrenia and the stigma that goes along with mental illness and poverty,.... | Read More

April 20, 2021 MINNEAPOLIS — A jury has found former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin guilty on all charges in the murder of George Floyd.  The following statement can be attributed to Jason Williamson, deputy director of the ACLU’s Criminal Law Reform Project:   “George Floyd will never make his way home to play games with his daughter, Gianna. He’ll never go on walks through the park with his beloved fiancée Courteney or play basketball with his brother, Philonise. While.... | Read More

March 9, 2021 DENVER – ACLU of Colorado filed suit today against the Douglas County School District, Douglas County Sheriff and several School Resource Officers (SROs) after they aggressively handcuffed an eleven-year-old Hispanic child with autism and left him in a patrol car for hours, causing him to become so dysregulated that he banged his head repeatedly and sustained injuries. Without seeking medical attention, officers drove the child to a juvenile detention center and placed him in.... | Read More