In a letter sent today, the ACLU of Colorado demands that the Gypsum Post Office stop discriminating against Latino residents who apply to rent a post office box. According to the ACLU, Latinos living in Gypsum who comply fully with applicable Postal Service regulations are arbitrarily and unjustifiably being denied the right to rent a post office box. Because the small Colorado mountain town provides no home mail delivery, a post office box is necessary for residents who want to receive any written correspondence through the mail.

“In this country, residents have a right to receive mail regardless of their country of origin,” said Mark Silverstein, ACLU Legal Director. “By discriminating against Gypsum’s Latino residents, the Gypsum Post Office is violating Postal Service regulations as well as the First Amendment right to receive mail.”

Postal Service regulations make it easy to rent a post office box. They require only that an applicant show proof of local residence such as a rental agreement and a photo ID that contains “sufficient information to confirm that the applicant is who he or she claims to be.”

“Our client, Griselda Duarte, complied fully with these regulations when she attempted to renew her postal box rental earlier this year,” said ACLU Staff Attorney Rebecca T. Wallace. “While postal employees did not dispute that Ms. Duarte resided in Gypsum, they rejected her two photo IDs, which included a B1/B2 visa issued by the United States government, as well as an official ID issued by the Mexican Federal Election Institute.”

In past years, the ACLU said, the Gypsum Post Office rented a post office box to Ms. Duarte when the only photo ID she presented was her Mexican voting document. Postal employees provided no explanation for their sudden change of position or their rejection of Ms. Duarte’s application to renew her rental, other than to say that she must provide “local ID” or “ID from here.” “There is no such requirement in the Postal Service Regulations,” Wallace added.

In April, in response to similar complaints, the ACLU wrote to Gypsum Postal Supervisor Dave Ruechel. The ACLU asked for the criteria post office staff applied to determine whether photo IDS are “sufficient to confirm that the applicant is who he or she claims to be.” The ACLU received no response.

“Because Ms. Duarte fully complied with the applicable rules for renting a post office box, there must be some other reason for rejecting her application,” Silverstein said. “The evidence—and the Post Office’s refusal to explain—strongly suggest that the Gypsum Post Office is engaging in impermissible discrimination.”

According to the letter, an ACLU intern who speaks with a British accent phoned the Gypsum Post Office and asked if her B1/B2 visa would serve as sufficient photo ID to rent a post office box. She was assured it was. Ms. Duarte, however, who speaks with a Mexican accent, was told that her B1/B2 visa was not acceptable confirmation of her identity.

“Three months ago, our letter provided the Gypsum Post Office an opportunity to explain,” Silverstein said. “We received no response. Now we are demanding that Mr. Ruechel tell us within 10 days whether he will grant Ms. Duarte’s application for a post office box and restore her ability to receive written correspondence in the mail.”

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For the first time in 15 years, Colorado death-row prisoner Nathan Dunlap will have the opportunity to exercise regularly in an area that is open to the sky and the elements, pursuant to a settlement of Mr. Dunlap’s lawsuit against the Colorado Department of Corrections (DOC) announced by the ACLU of Colorado today.

“Depriving Mr. Dunlap of fresh air, sunshine, and outdoor exercise for 15 years is cruel and unusual punishment,” said Mark Silverstein, ACLU Legal Director. “The Constitution requires prisons to provide for basic human needs, and courts have consistently required access to fresh air and sunshine along with food, clothing, shelter, safety, and medical care.”

The ACLU lawsuit relied on a 1999 ruling of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit, which held that “even a convicted murderer who had murdered another inmate and represented a major security risk was entitled to outdoor exercise.” Perkins v. Kansas Department of Corrections, 165 F.3d 803, 810 (10th Cir. 1999).

As a matter of policy, the Colorado DOC automatically assigns death-sentenced prisoners to administrative segregation, the highest-security classification, which critics refer to as solitary confinement. Until now, the DOC also required that death-sentenced prisoners be assigned to the state’s dedicated “supermax” prison, Colorado State Penitentiary (CSP), where all 734 prisoners are isolated, locked down 23 hours a day, and denied outdoor exercise. At CSP, prisoners’ only opportunity for out-of-cell recreation is one hour in a separate concrete-walled cell that contains a pullup bar.

Prison officials usually maintain that with good behavior, “supermax” prisoners can earn their way to general population facilities, where prisoners can go outdoors and enjoy additional privileges. Mr. Dunlap, however, was not confined to “supermax” because of any violent or disruptive conduct in prison. Despite his good behavior in “supermax,” he was not eligible to “earn” his way out, because DOC policy assigned death-sentenced prisoners to CSP.

Mr. Dunlap filed a lawsuit and acted as his own attorney until ACLU Cooperating Attorney Gail Johnson took over the lawyering early last year.

Under the terms of the settlement, Mr. Dunlap has been moved from CSP to the Sterling Correctional Facility, where he will still be held in solitary confinement, but he will have the opportunity to exercise five days a week in an area open to the sky and elements that is twice as large as the exercise rooms at CSP that Mr. Dunlap has been forced to use for 15 years. The DOC also chose to transfer the two other Colorado death row inmates to the Sterling Correctional Facility.

“To settle this case, the DOC agreed to move Mr. Dunlap to the administrative segregation unit at Sterling, where he will be entitled to regularly exercise in areas that are open to the sky, the sun, and the elements,” said ACLU Cooperating Attorney Johnson. “Mr. Dunlap is glad to finally have the opportunity once again to breathe fresh air and feel the sun on his skin during his limited out-of-cell exercise time.”

“While this settlement resolves Mr. Dunlap’s legal claims, it also underscores a continuing and unresolved issue: hundreds and hundreds of prisoners at Colorado State Penitentiary continue to endure 23-hour-a-day lockdown year in and year out.” Silverstein said. “Long-term deprivation of outdoor exercise violates the Constitution. While DOC claims that prisoners can shorten their ‘supermax’ confinement, the truth is that the slightest infraction or negative report by a staff member keeps them there. Many have been warehoused in solitary confinement since CSP opened in the early 1990s.”

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ACLU of Colorado Moving Offices

July 21, 2011

The ACLU of Colorado will be moving offices this weekend. Our office will be closed on Friday, July 22 and reopen on Monday, July 25 at 9am.

Our new address is:

P.O. Box 18986
Denver, CO 80218-0986

Our main office number (303-777-5482) and fax number (303-777-1773) will remain the same.