DENVER – Colorado’s more than 200 municipal courts operate without meaningful accountability or oversight, and one court in particular — the Alamosa Municipal Court— systematically violates the constitutional rights of its mainly impoverished criminal defendants, according to a report released today by the ACLU of Colorado.
Justice Derailed: A case study of abusive and unconstitutional practices in Colorado city courts is based on a multi-year ACLU investigation which revealed that, despite a bipartisan reform effort at the state legislature, many municipal courts persistently ignore constitutional standards and state law and continue to employ practices that punish defendants for their poverty.
The report finds: “While some Colorado municipal judges are actively working to improve the quality and fairness of their courts, others run their courtroom like a personal fiefdom, trampling on the rights of criminal defendants – especially those living in poverty – with impunity.”
“Colorado’s city courts primarily handle our state’s lowest-level offenses, most of which are intimately tied to poverty and addiction,” said ACLU of Colorado Policy Counsel Rebecca Wallace.  “These courts are often the first contact individuals have with the criminal justice system.  Yet, they operate without meaningful oversight, in the shadows of state law and the Constitution.  This lack of oversight can and does pave the way for gross civil liberties violations.”
According to Justice Derailed, the Alamosa Municipal Court, under the sole leadership of Judge Daniel Powell, “stands out among Colorado municipal courts for the frequency and seriousness of constitutional abuses, the lack of respect for individuals who appear before the court, the striking difference in treatment between impoverished defendants and those with means, and the sense of fundamental injustice that permeates many court proceedings.”
Using transcripts, courtroom audio and case summaries, the report provides numerous examples of Judge Powell issuing unnecessary arrest warrants, allowing defendants to languish in jail for days or even weeks for low-level offenses, denying counsel to indigent defendants, imposing fines that are vastly disproportionate to the crime, and using jail and the threat of jail to collect money from defendants who cannot afford to pay, in violation of state law.
“Judge Powell is operating a two-tiered system in which defendants are punished for their poverty. Those with means might only appear once in court and pay their debt, while those who lack financial resources face a cruel form of injustice,” said ACLU of Colorado Research and Policy Associate Becca Curry, who co-authored the report.  “We saw cases where a person had received a simple traffic infraction or was accused of shoplifting less than two dollars’ worth of food, and just because they could not pay their court debt were trapped for years in a cycle of debt and incarceration.”
More than 35 percent of Alamosa’s 10,000 residents live below the poverty line.  Like many rural communities, the southwestern Colorado city is embroiled in an opioid crisis. Rather than using his position to connect addicts to services, Judge Powell “vilifies and blames people with addiction” and often issues arrest warrants for individuals that he knows cannot attend court proceedings because they are in voluntary drug rehab programs, according to the report.
The Alamosa Municipal Court, through its practice of issuing long sentences for minor offenses, is also a primary driver of overcrowding at the Alamosa County Jail, which is currently at more than double its capacity.  In 2016, 90 percent of the 475 arrest warrants issued by the court were for low-level nonviolent offenses.
“While Alamosa provides a comprehensive display of all that can go wrong when a local court has too much power and too little accountability, these abuses are present in many municipal courts throughout the state,” said Wallace. “The legislature and the Colorado Supreme Court must take action to ensure that all of our municipal courts are transparent, accountable, and just.”
Justice Derailed provides a set of recommendations for the Alamosa Municipal Court to bring its court into compliance with constitutional standards and state law, as well as recommendations for the state legislature to establish reporting requirements, incentivize municipalities to establish an independent public defender system, establish written ability-to-pay assessment criteria, require courts to individualize sentences to fit the crime and the defendant’s ability to pay, and create a statewide study group to study municipal court practices and make further recommendations to address injustices in the municipal courts.
Read the ACLU Report: https://aclu-co.org/sites/default/files/wp-content/uploads/2017/10/JUSTICE-DERAILED-web.pdf

 

APD Officer: “Your kind of business is not welcome here” 

DENVER - The ACLU of Colorado filed a federal lawsuit this morning on behalf of Omar Hassan, a black man who was forcibly removed from a coffee shop by two Aurora Police officers who told him, “Your kind of business is not welcome here.”
Hassan did nothing more than order a muffin and sit down to eat it when, according to the lawsuit, the two officers singled him out because of his race and, with their hands placed on their guns, forced him to leave.
“Our client is the victim of unjustifiable racial profiling,” said ACLU of Colorado Legal Director Mark Silverstein.  “Police officers had no grounds, no basis, and no legitimate authority to order Mr. Hassan to leave the coffee shop.”
According to the lawsuit, on March 16, 2016, Hassan entered a Caribou Coffee in Aurora and approached the counter to purchase a muffin. He had just finished a night shift at work and was dressed in a hooded sweatshirt, sweatpants, and work boots.
Aurora police officers Machelle Williby and Lisa Calcamuggio took notice of him and stood close behind him as he ordered.  They then followed him to a table, stood directly over him with their hands placed on their guns, and commanded him to leave.
When Hassan asked why he was being told to leave, Officer Williby responded, “Your kind of business is not welcome here.”  Hassan then asked, “Who says that?”  Officer Williby motioned her head toward the counter and said, “They do.”
Management, however, made it clear that the police officers were acting on their own.  Employees of the coffee shop did not ask police to remove Hassan, nor had there been any complaints about him, according to a signed affidavit from the manager on duty at the time of the incident.
“I did nothing wrong that morning and was targeted because I was a black man wearing a hoodie,” Hassan said. “When I walked into the coffee shop, I thought I could buy my breakfast and eat it, just like everyone else.  The next thing I knew, two police officers were standing over me, hands on their guns, ordering me to leave.  At that moment, I thought things could go very wrong and I could be another unarmed black man gunned down by the police.  I was afraid and followed their orders, even though I knew what they were doing was wrong.  Now, with the ACLU at my side, I’m fighting back against racial profiling by the Aurora police.”
According to the ACLU complaint, “Mr. Hassan’s experience in discrimination is unique in its reflection of both historical and modern-day racism.  His dress, including a hoodie, made him a particular target as a black man in the current environment.  Officer Williby then vocalized her prejudice by telling Mr. Hassan his ‘kind’ was not welcome at the coffee shop, a statement steeped in historical racism.”
“Aurora police officers have been named in incident after incident of mistreating young persons of color and violating their constitutional rights, and the department has repeatedly failed to hold its officers accountable,” Silverstein said.  “Our client’s complaint to internal affairs produced zero results, and Aurora refuses to release any details.   The department clearly needs effective anti-bias training and a truly independent citizen oversight body.”
The lawsuit, which was filed this morning in the United States District Court for the District of Colorado, seeks compensatory and punitive damages.  Hassan is represented by Silverstein, as well as ACLU staff attorneys Rebecca T. Wallace and Arash Jahanian.
RESOURCES:
Read the ACLU complaint:
https://acluco-wpengine.netdna-ssl.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/09/HassanComplaint.pdf

See also, Aurora Police Pays $110K for Unlawful Detention and Tasing of Darsean Kelley

 

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On today’s episode, Alejandra talks to ACLU clients Dave Mullins and Charlie Craig, a Colorado couple who were turned away by a bakery that refused to sell them a cake to celebrate their wedding. In November, the case will go before the US Supreme Court and the outcome could have wide implications. Dave and Charlie talk about their experience that day, what’s at stake at the Supreme Court, and why its never been about a cake. Also, John discusses a new ACLU case involving Iraqi immigrants, the Trump Administration, and abuse at a detention facility in Aurora.

Call To Action: President Trump put thousands of military-grade weapons back into the hands of police departments across our country. Support the petition to stop sending weapons of war to our communities: http://bit.ly/stopweaponsofwar

For More information on this case go to https://www.aclu.org/blog/lgbt-rights/lgbt-nondiscrimination-protections/right-equal-treatment-masterpiece-cakeshop-ltd-v?redirect=blog/right-celebrate-marriage-masterpiece-cakeshop-v-colorado-civil-rights-commission

The Purple State Report is brought to you by the ACLU of Colorado. Our show was produced by Vanessa Michel, Alejandra Garza, and John Krieger with original theme music by Pablo Novelas. Additional music by Coast Modern. Special thanks to Ryan Karerat. If you have feedback or suggestions for future episodes email us at [email protected].