Politics
Colorado Springs mayor won’t commit city assistance to upcoming white nationalist conference
COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. – As President Donald Trump continues to stoke outrage over the white nationalist rally that led to the death of a young woman by failing to outright denounce the neo-Nazis who organized the event, the history and future of white nationalism in Colorado is coming under new scrutiny.
The mayor of Colorado Springs said Tuesday the city won’t provide any support or resources to a conference set for next year planned by “patriotic immigration reform” group VDARE, which also sympathizes with white nationalists, according to its website. Continue reading
New Colorado laws take hold this week: New DUI sentencing guidelines, protections for DV victims
DENVER – More than 100 new laws made by the state Legislature earlier this year will take effect on Wednesday, when the 90-day period for a petition on the bills ends.
Among them are new laws that will impose mandatory jail time for anyone convicted of multiple felony DUIs, one that will allow people to break into hot cars to save people or animals without repercussions, and one that will force convicted stalkers and domestic violence offenders to be held without bail before they are sentenced.
New DUI sentencing guidelines take hold
The new DUI law will require anyone convicted of felony DUI to serve between 90 and 180 days in jail if they are granted probation for their sentence. People sentenced to work release will have to serve between 120 days and 2 years in jail.
The law came to pass this session after years of work to address what many say are lenient sentencing guidelines in Colorado. Two years ago, the Legislature made it a felony to have a fourth or subsequent DUI, which carries a sentence of between 2 and 6 years.
Under the new law that takes effect Wednesday, those convicted will also have to serve between 48 and 120 hours of public service time.
Protections for hot car Good Samaritans
Also taking effect Wednesday is a new law that will protect people who break into hot cars to rescue animals and people who are at risk of heat exposure and heat stroke.
The new law protecting Good Samaritans sailed through the Legislature, garnering only four “no” votes total in the House and Senate before Gov. John Hickenlooper signed the bill in April.
Once the law goes into effect, there will be a checklist people have to fulfill in order to not be charged as well:
- The vehicle in question can’t be a law enforcement vehicle.
- An at-risk person or non-livestock animal has to be in the car, and the Good Samaritan must believe that person or animal is “in imminent danger of death or suffering serious bodily injury.
- The vehicle must be locked.
- The Good Samaritan must make a “reasonable effort” to find the vehicle’s owner and document the vehicle’s characteristics.
- The Good Samaritan must contact a law enforcement, fire, or animal control agency before they enter the vehicle.
- The Good Samaritan must not interfere with the duties or direction of a law enforcement agent or first responder.
- The Good Samaritan can’t use “more force than he or she believes is reasonably necessary.”
- The Good Samaritan must remain with the at-risk person or animal and near the vehicle until law enforcement or first responders arrive.
- If the Good Samaritan can’t stay at the scene until first responders or law enforcement arrive, they have to let the responders know and leave their contact information with the vehicle.
The law does not apply to livestock, the term of which the law covers: cattle, horses, mules, burros, sheep, poultry, swine, llamas and goats.
Before the law takes hold, people face charges of criminal mischief, criminal trespass or criminal tampering involving property if a district attorney decides to pursue charges in a hot-car break-in.
New protections for stalking, DV victims
Another new law taking hold Wednesday is the No Bail for Stalking and Domestic Violence Offenders Act, which will force people convicted of felony stalking or habitual domestic violence to be held without bail while they await sentencing.
The law came to be after a Colorado Springs woman was allegedly killed by an ex-boyfriend who had already been convicted of stalking her.
Sessions to Hickenlooper: Marijuana still unsafe; task force report says crackdown unlikely
DENVER – U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions made clear in a letter sent to Colorado Gov. John Hickenlooper that the governor received this week that he still believes an Obama-era Justice Department memo does nothing to protect states with legal marijuana from being prosecuted by the federal government, but documents obtained by the AP show a federal task force on marijuana might think otherwise.
Hickenlooper and the governors of Alaska, Oregon and Washington sent a letter to Sessions and the Treasury Secretary in early April urging Sessions and the Justice Department to work with them and come see their states’ programs before changing any federal rules regarding marijuana. Continue reading
Sen. Cory Gardner moving Denver office after protest arrests
DENVER – U.S. Sen. Cory Gardner is moving his Denver office out of a private building downtown after a series of protests raised issues about what was public and what was private space.
Ten disability advocates with ADAPT were arrested in late June after a three-day sit in at Gardner’s office after building management allegedly ordered the protesters to be removed—lest Gardner’s office be in violation of its lease. Continue reading
Colorado delegation, EPA administrator to tour Gold King Mine and host town hall Friday
DURANGO, Colo. – Several of Colorado’s top politicians will hold a joint town hall meeting Friday afternoon directly after they tour the Gold King Mine with Environmental Protection Agency staffers, including the agency’s administrator, Scott Pruitt.
Sens. Cory Gardner and Michael Bennet, Gov. John Hickenlooper, Rep. Scott Tipton and Durango Mayor Dick White will be among those attending the tour and subsequent town hall meeting, which will come a day before the two-year anniversary of the mine spill. Continue reading
Denver council committee passes immigration ordinance proposal to full council
DENVER – A Denver City Council committee voted 6-1 Wednesday to pass a proposed ordinance to the full council that would change the city’s public safety priorities laws regarding immigration and law enforcement cooperation with federal agents, putting two different proposals in front of the city that hope to accomplish the same thing.
Hancock on Tuesday released a fact sheet on his proposed route for the changes: an executive order that would further strengthen some of Denver’s rules on how city and county employees interact with federal immigration authorities, and would also create a legal defense fund for immigrants targeted by authorities. Continue reading
Denver mayor drafts executive order to push back on Trump immigration policy
DENVER – Mayor Michael Hancock is drafting an executive order that would create a legal defense fund for immigrants as part of a series of new policies aimed at pushing back against the Donald Trump administration’s crackdown on illegal immigration.
The legal defense fund would be in place through Jan. 20, 2021—the first day of the president’s current term—and would help pay for lawyers for people threatened with deportation, according to a fact sheet of the draft executive order provided to Denver7 Tuesday. The Denver Post reports the fund would be created mostly from donations.
The proposed executive order would put into official city policy some of the things that Hancock and the city council have pushed for in recent months as pushback to a new crackdown by Trump and his head at the Department of Justice, Jeff Sessions.
Namely, it would make it official city/county policy that immigration enforcement is a federal responsibility and that city/county employees (especially the Denver Police Department and Denver Sheriff Department) won’t aid federal agents in arresting people without a warrant.
The draft proposal also would engrain into city rule that neither law enforcement agency would hold an inmate beyond their release time without a warrant—even if there is an immigration detainer in place. It would also prohibit federal agents from entering any secure areas of a law enforcement facility without a warrant.
The proposal would also establish the legal defense fund and establish a team to track federal immigration law and enforcement in regards to the city and county.
And it would continue to uphold the U-Visa program that gives visas to undocumented people who are victims of crime and aid law enforcement in the investigation.
As a final facet, the proposed order would help families who are in the process of being broken up due to deportation get connected with foreign consulates and help them plan for their separation.
The proposal comes amid a push by councilors Paul Lopez and Robin Kniech to address some of these same concerns via the council and an ordinance—specifically the legal defense fund and language regarding detainers on undocumented immigrants.
Hancock said that though both his proposed executive order and the councilor’s ordinance proposals are different means to address some of the concerns about Denver being a “sanctuary city,” that he thinks both of their efforts are worthwhile.
“The community can rest assured that their mayor and their city council are all working towards the same goals as this conversation continues,” the mayor said in a statement. “I am grateful to Councilmembers Robin Kniech and Paul Lopez for the tremendous amount of courage and vision they showed in bring forward these concepts we jointly care about. Our goals are shared.”
He said that whether it’s a city ordinance, as the councilors have proposed, or his executive order that ends up being finalized into memorial or ordinance, that Denver is standing with the immigrant community.
“This executive order is another step in this administration’s work to send a clear message to our refugee and immigrant communities that Denver stands with you and that you can place your trust in your city and law enforcement agencies that are working to ensure you and your families can live a safe, happy and healthy life here in Denver,” Mayor Hancock said. “We remain focused on enacting policies and actions that provide real protections to our immigrant and refugee communities, and does not give people a false sense of security.”
But one of Denver’s top immigration lawyers, Hans Meyer, said the mayor’s executive order didn’t go far enough and that he preferred the councilmembers’ ordinance.
“If Mayor Hancock wants to stand up for the principles he espouses and protect Denver’s immigrant community against the Trump administration’s deportation machine, then he should adopt all the substantive protections of the proposed ordinance and not simply cherry pick the parts that make for easy sound bites,” Meyer said. “Hancock’s proposed executive order fails to extract Denver probation officers, city employees, and jail personnel from colluding with ICE to deport immigrant community members.”
The councilmembers are set to discuss the ordinance proposal again Wednesday morning at a committee meeting.
Colorado sends voter roll information over to Trump election integrity commission
DENVER – Colorado finally sent its voter roll information over to President Donald Trump’s election integrity commission on Tuesday, a day after the transfer was delayed due to “user error” in the Colorado Secretary of State’s Office.
The office had been set to send the information over to the controversial commission on Monday, but a spokeswoman for the office said a system lockout stopped the transfer. Deputy Secretary of State Suzanne Staiert told the Denver Post Monday night it was due to “user error.” Continue reading
Rep. Coffman grilled on Obamacare replacement at town hall, talks VA wait times in interview
HENDERSON, Colo. – U.S. Rep. Mike Coffman voted against the House Republicans’ latest efforts to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act and has been talking about bipartisanship in crafting a health care solution for months, yet health care was still the prime topic of discussion at Tuesday’s town hall meeting at Prairie View High School.
Hundreds of his constituents from Colorado’s 6th Congressional District packed into the high school in Coffman’s first town hall meeting since April. Watch the town hall meeting in the player embedded below or by clicking here. Continue reading
Rep. Mike Coffman hosting town hall in Henderson Tuesday
HENDERSON, Colo. – U.S. Rep. Mike Coffman will host a town hall meeting Tuesday evening at Prairie View High School in Henderson—in Denver’s northeast suburbs.
The town hall meeting comes amid confusion and shake-ups in Washington—particularly in the White House.
Coffman has held several town halls this year amid pushes to fix the Affordable Care Act, and Tuesday’s town hall comes as he tries to push for bipartisan changes to the health-care law. His most-recent town hall in the Denver area was in early April.
Coffman voted against the House’s version of the Republican effort to repeal and replace the ACA, the American Health Care Act, in early May, and his since been pressing for bipartisan solutions as the Senate GOP push fell apart.
He said Monday he and a bipartisan caucus of congressmen and women had put together a new proposed solution to stabilizing insurance markets in each state.
Coffman’s Tuesday town hall is free and open to constituents of Colorado’s 6th Congressional District, but tickets to the event were sold out Monday.
People who have tickets will have to bring a photo ID to be cross-checked. Each person in attendance will be given a raffle ticket, which will be drawn at random to determine who will ask questions.
There are a few more rules for those planning to attend, which you can find by clicking here.
For those not able to attend, Coffman plans to live stream the event on his Facebook page.
The town hall meting starts at 6 p.m. at Prairie View High School in Henderson, and is scheduled to last for an hour.