The post-mortem on this year's legislative session has been mostly positive. Lawmakers are being applauded for their willingness to place good policy-making above partisan politics. Governor Hickenlooper referred to the 2017 session as "the most productive" since he took office in 2011.
Legislators made big news for finding common ground on some of the state's most critical issues, like construction defects reform and addressing the hospital provider fee. Lawmakers also found common ground - most of the time - on legislation affecting civil rights and civil liberties.
For almost three years now, the ACLU has been working with the Division of Youth Corrections attempting to reverse the punitive culture that has been pervasive within the Division. Earlier in the year, the ACLU, along with other child advocates, released Bound and Broken, a report documenting the harsh and punitive nature of DYC practices. DYC has for years relied heavily on the use of solitary confinement, a full-body straitjacket called the WRAP, pain compliance techniques, knee strikes, leg irons and handcuffs to control kids. This punitive culture endangers both staff and kids. As the state legislature has given DYC more and more money over the years, violence has increased. More money alone is clearly not the answer.
Relying on the facts presented in Bound and Broken and other evidence revealed through investigative journalism, Representatives Pete Lee (D-Colorado Springs) and Lois Landgraff (R-Fountain) sponsored HB 1329 -- legislation that mandates DYC retain an outside consultant to evaluate all Division facilities and make recommendations to bring DYC in line with best practices.  It also requires the Division to work with an independent consultant to develop a pilot program that relies on non-punitive approaches to caring for kids. The bill also changes the name from the Division of Youth Corrections to the Division of Youth Services and establishes the mission as rehabilitative rather than punitive.
The bill received unanimous support in the House. In the Senate, after some legislative procedural acrobatics, it passed with bipartisan support in a 21-14 vote. It was sponsored by Senators Daniel Kagan (D-Cherry Hills) and Don Coram (R-Durango). The legislation really had only one vocal opponent - Senator Kent Lambert (R-Colorado Springs) and thankfully, his voice was overwhelmed by the majority of those seeking much needed reform.
The ACLU continued its work on municipal courts and correcting harsh penalties that largely affect poor people and particularly people of color in the criminal justice system, and these efforts received great bipartisan support. After extensive research, the ACLU discovered that many people incarcerated on minor municipal offenses – including park hours violations and open container – were held in jail for days and even weeks on end just waiting to see a judge. These individuals were stuck in jail only because they were too poor to post bond.  HB 1338 begins to address this problem by requiring that municipal inmates who are not brought before a judge within 48 hours or 72 hours over a weekend, will be automatically released from jail on their own recognizance. This bill garnered unanimous support from both chambers. The bill was sponsored by Representative Jeff Bridges (D-Cherry Creek) and Senator Vickie Marble (R-Broomfield).
HB 1168, another bill supported by ACLU of Colorado, decriminalizes “Driving Under Revocation” when one's license was revoked because of an unpaid traffic ticket. Currently, the Department of Motor Vehicles revokes on average 205,000 driver's license each year. Many of these revocations occur for extremely minor infractions simply because people cannot afford to pay their fines, creating a vicious cycle that punishes people for their poverty. Under HB 1168, jail time is no longer a penalty when a person drives with a license that was revoked simply because they failed to pay. Although the ACLU would have preferred to see revocations for inability to pay eliminated altogether, rendering driving in this scenario to a civil offense is a step in the right direction. We thank Representative Matt Gray (D-Adams County) and Senator Bob Gardner (R-Colorado Springs) for sponsoring this legislation, which passed both chambers with strong bipartisan support.
Other ACLU-supported bills which passed with bipartisan support included Campus Free Speech and Asset Forfeiture Reform. Lawmakers also came together to support legislation that requires insurers to cover a 12-month supply of contraception for women. This legislation has been defeated in the past, but this session, it found bipartisan sponsorship and votes in both chambers. Also of great significance, the Republican-controlled Senate voted down a bill that would have mandated ultrasounds and a waiting period for women seeking an abortion. The bill – titled Women's Right to Accurate Health Care - was voted down 19-16.
These victories didn't prevent several legislative attempts to limit women's access to reproductive care. The House alone saw five bills that would have done just that. One such bill, predicated on "junk science," would have required doctors to inform women about an "abortion reversal" pill. Another bill would have enacted personhood, subjecting anyone performing an abortion to the criminal charge of first degree murder, the potential penalty for which is the death penalty. Personhood has been resoundingly defeated by Colorado voters multiple times.
Partisan politics also persisted in the area of LGBT rights, immigrant rights and a key area of criminal justice reform. For the second year in a row, the Senate State Affairs committee voted down bills that would have limited the use of conversion therapy and made it easier for one to change their gender marker on their birth certificate. Both bills were defeated on a party line vote.
The legislature also refused to advance legislation that intended to benefit our immigrant and refugee communities. And a Senate committee rejected a bill that would have repealed the death penalty. We thank Minority Leader Senator Lucia Guzman for her persistence and passion on this issue.
Much can be and was accomplished in 120 days. ACLU's policy work, of course, continues beyond the legislative session. The policy team will continue to persist in advancing civil liberties and resist attempts to take us backward. Sine die.

Airline Prohibits Breast Pumping on Duty, Despite 10-Hour Shifts

DENVER — The American Civil Liberties Union, the ACLU of Colorado, and the law firm Holwell Shuster & Goldberg LLP today filed discrimination charges with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission on behalf of two female Frontier Airlines flight attendants who claim that the company has discriminated against them and other female flight attendants by failing to provide accommodations related to pregnancy and breastfeeding.
The flight attendants, Jo Roby, who has worked for Frontier for 13 years, and Stacy Rewitzer, who has worked for the airline since 2006, assert that despite their desire to return to work, they were forced onto unpaid leave after having their babies. When the two women sought accommodations that would enable them to pump breast milk, they were told that no accommodations were possible and were forbidden from pumping while on duty — although they typically work shifts over 10 hours long with back-to-back flights. Rewitzer also faced disciplinary action and risk of termination as a result of Frontier’s policy that penalizes pregnancy-related illness and absences.
“I am bringing these charges not just for me and my daughter, but also for future flight attendants and their families,” said Roby. “No one should have to choose between being the mom she wants to be and pursuing the career she loves.”
The formal complaints filed today come on the one-year anniversary of similar discrimination charges filed previously by the ACLU and Holwell Shuster & Goldberg LLP on behalf of four female Frontier pilots, Brandy Beck, Shannon Kiedrowski, Erin Zielinski, and Randi Freyer, in May 2016.
“I love my job as a flight attendant for Frontier Airlines and shouldn’t have to choose between my job or my health and breastfeeding my child,” said Rewitzer. “I’m proud to stand with the pilots who stood up to Frontier before us.”
The EEOC charges point to the lack of maternity leave at Frontier for flight attendants, who are limited to whatever unpaid time they have saved up under the Family Medical Leave Act, and accrued sick or vacation days. As a result, many flight attendants return to work when their babies are still nursing. Yet Frontier fails to make any accommodations for flight attendants who are breastfeeding to pump breast milk when they return to work.
Women who are away from their babies need to express breast milk using a breast pump on roughly the same schedule as the baby’s feeding schedule, or serious medical complications can result. Because flight attendants’ schedules often involve long flights and shifts of up to 10 hours with no break time, they need to have a designated place where they can pump both on the aircraft and at airports.
“Frontier’s policies are discriminatory at a structural level and need to be changed,” said Galen Sherwin, senior staff attorney with the ACLU Women’s Rights Project. “How is it that a job that is majority female still fails to take into account pregnancy and breastfeeding? It’s time for Frontier to start addressing the needs of pregnant and breastfeeding workers — both inside and outside the flight deck.”
The charges assert that Frontier’s policies violate federal and state laws against discrimination based on sex, pregnancy, childbirth and disability in employment, including Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, the Americans with Disabilities Act, the Colorado Antidiscrimination Act, and Colorado’s Pregnant Workers Fairness Act. They also allege violations of the Colorado Workplace Accommodations for Nursing Mothers Act.
One of the pilots at Frontier, Freyer, who is still breastfeeding, also submitted additional allegations today in connection with the charges filed last year detailing her continued difficulties since returning to work. Frontier has denied Freyer’s request for schedule modifications to avoid longer flights, and as a result, she has had to go long stretches without pumping. Although Frontier finally gave her a list of places to pump at some airports after she and the three other pilots filed their discrimination complaints last year, almost all of the locations Fryer has attempted to use have been inadequate — either because they are too far from the gate for her to reach in the time between flights, because she has been unable to access them, or in some cases, because the location is not private or lacks a necessary electrical outlet.  Moreover, Frontier’s list does not even include a location for several of the airports that Frontier pilots fly to.
“In order to be competitive and attract and retain the most qualified workforce, businesses need to create an environment in which both male and female employees can thrive,” said Lani Perlman of Holwell Shuster & Goldberg LLP. “Unfortunately, it sometimes takes brave women like our clients speaking out in order to bring about necessary changes. We hope this case brings the employees at Frontier closer to achieving that goal.”
The flight attendants’ charges ask the EEOC to require Frontier to take several steps to make it easier for pregnant flight attendants and flight attendants who are breastfeeding, including:

• Providing clean and convenient accommodations for pumping while on duty, including on board during flight when necessary, during training, and at airports
• Allowing temporary alternative ground assignments
• Providing relief from the current strict attendance policy that penalizes flight attendants who miss work due to pregnancy
• Offering meaningful parental leave for new parents.

Prior to filing these charges, the ACLU and Holwell Shuster & Goldberg LLP sent a letter to Frontier requesting that Frontier implement policy changes to adequately accommodate pregnant and breast-feeding flight attendants, but Frontier has not done so.
Today’s complaint is at: https://www.aclu.org/cases/frontier-airlines-eeoc-complaint

For more on the flight attendants’ experiences: https://www.aclu.org/cases/frontier-airlines-eeoc-complaint

 
DENVER – The Colorado Legislature gave final approval last night to HB 1329, a bill to bring systematic change to the Division of Youth Corrections (DYC). HB 1329 will increase transparency within DYC and create a 2-year pilot program focused on treatment and rehabilitation of kids without the use of punitive measures, such as solitary confinement, mechanical restraints, and pain compliance. The Division of Youth Corrections will also be renamed the Division of Youth Services and the mission will be changed to reflect the Division’s core rehabilitative function.
ACLU of Colorado Public Policy Director Denise Maes issued the following statement:

“The ACLU of Colorado commends the legislators from both sides of the aisle who came together to support broad, systematic reform of the Division of Youth Corrections – soon to known as the Division of Youth Services. HB 1329 is a major stride forward on the path to ending the culture of violence that has plagued the Division and endangered kids and staff in youth facilities, as chronicled in the Bound and Broken report by the Colorado Child Safety Coalition.
“We especially want to recognize the efforts of the bill’s prime sponsors, Representatives Pete Lee and Lois Landgraf and Senators Daniel Kagan and Don Coram, whose determination and leadership were critical to HB 1329’s passage. Representative Lee, in particular, has been a tireless advocate for protecting the rights and safety of our state’s most vulnerable youth, and his work in the legislature has been inspiring and impactful.
“ACLU members and activists responded to this legislation like none other in our organization’s history.  Citizen lobbyists traveled from all over the state in March to speak directly to their legislators, and ACLU activists sent more than 15,000 emails in the final weeks of the session urging support for HB 1329.
“We hope and expect that Governor Hickenlooper will sign HB 1329 without delay. Then begins the important work of implementing these reforms in a way that is consistent with the Legislature’s vision that youth corrections becomes a safe, humane environment that equips young people to deal with trauma and develop the behavioral changes needed to successfully return and contribute to our communities.”
Resources:

Fact Sheet on HB 1329: http://static.aclu-co.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/DYC-Reform-Bill-Summary-2017-04-22-2.pdf

Read the Colorado Safety Coalition’s Bound and Broken Report: http://static.aclu-co.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/03/Bound-and-Broken-report-Feb17-complete.pdf