Today is Dec. 12, 2023, and here’s what you need to know:

On the same day the leaders of three of America’s most prominent educational institutions gave legalistic responses over whether calling for the genocide of Jews constitutes bullying or harassment, a Colorado university raised funds for a group providing emergency services in Israel.

Colorado Christian University hosted local Jewish leaders over dinner and a prayer vigil on Dec. 5, in which faculty members and students expressed support for Israel in its war against Hamas.

“Tonight, I stand before you publicly as the president of this university,” Eric Hogue said. “I promise you – this university will continue to support Israel, her land, her state and her people. You are home at CCU tonight.” 

The Christian university’s unequivocal backing for the Jewish state highlights the debate in Colorado and America over the parameters of free speech on campus as education leaders faced pressure – to condemn the attack on Israel or sympathize with the plight of Palestinians – after Hamas killed 1,200 and kidnapped more than 200 in October. Retaliatory strikes by Israel have killed more than 13,000, according to the Hamas-run health ministry in Gaza.  

Indeed, the discord at America’s colleges – where students have launched protests to denounce Israel and show support for the Palestinian people and also attracted counter-protests – brought to fore the disparate response from university leaders to the crisis. 

The Colorado Cattlemen’s Association and the Gunnison County Stockgrowers Association are suing to prevent the introduction of gray wolves in the state.

The lawsuit, which was filed in the U.S. District Court for the District of Colorado, named the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and Colorado Parks and Wildlife as defendants, according to a statement from the plaintiffs.

The federal rule allowing Colorado to reintroduce wolves went into effect last Friday, Dec. 8. The reintroduction, starting with the release of up to 10 wolves, has emerged as a political wedge issue when Republican-dominated Wyoming, Idaho and Montana refused to share their wolves for the effort. Colorado officials ultimately turned to another Democratic state – Oregon – to secure wolves.

The Colorado Supreme Court on Monday, by 4-3, agreed a Fremont County judge was within her authority to reduce a first-degree murder charge against a criminal defendant because the district attorney’s office was responsible for a pattern of withholding evidence across many cases in violation of its professional obligations.

Despite the split decision, all members of the court seemingly acknowledged the judges of the 11th Judicial District have grown fed up with how the district attorney’s office repeatedly failed to disclose evidence to defense attorneys. The rules of criminal procedure require prosecutors to do so within 21 days of a defendant’s first appearance.

Specifically, the Supreme Court cited 20 recent cases in which various judges and magistrates in the central Colorado jurisdiction called out the misconduct.

“The 20 cases illustrate, among other things, multiple significant discovery violations by the district attorney’s office; explicit warnings from various judges that a pattern of neglect was emerging or had emerged,” wrote Justice Maria E. Berkenkotter, “an apparent lack of oversight by the district attorney in the face of significant continuing discovery problems; and a pattern by the district attorney’s office of dismissing cases when faced with discovery sanctions.”

Several state agencies, including the Governor’s Office, are holding tens of millions of dollars in cash reserves in excess of statutory limits as of June 30, 2023, and several have been put on spending restrictions until the dollars are spent down, the Colorado state auditor announced Monday. 

State agencies are allowed to keep no more than $200,000 in reserves, the result of legislation from 2015. But some agencies have been holding reserves in the millions. And at least three agencies have been out of compliance for a decade or more since 2001, although that noncompliance might not be for consecutive years, according to the auditor’s report.

The federal appeals court based in Denver agreed on Monday that two Colorado Springs police officers cannot be held liable for using a Taser on a man up to eight times in 90 seconds, leading to his death.

Officers Daniel Patterson and Joshua Archer were investigating a possible disturbance at an apartment building when Jeffrey Melvin entered the unit. Within seconds, the officers grabbed Melvin and began yelling at him, prompting a struggle. Patterson and Archer tased Melvin between five and eight times.

After being handcuffed, Melvin went to the hospital, where he later died from his injuries.

A trial judge believed a jury should decide whether the officers used excessive force. However, a three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 10th Circuit concluded Patterson and Archer deserved qualified immunity. The panel declined to say whether the men committed a constitutional violation, instead finding that no prior court decisions would have put Patterson and Archer on notice that their repeated use of force was unlawful.