eighth amendment
-
Appeals court: Defendant’s traumatic brain injury not a basis for finding life sentence unconstitutional
—
by
Despite the state legislature’s recognition that traumatic brain injuries lead to a greater risk of involvement with the criminal justice system, Colorado’s second-highest court on Thursday ruled such injuries do not make a defendant’s life sentence cruel and unusual. Stanley Paul Jurgevich, who is serving life in prison with the possibility of parole for his 1988…
-
Colorado Supreme Court identifies potential red flag in state’s sex offender sentencing law
—
by
The Colorado Supreme Court on Monday suggested the 25-year-old law governing criminal sentences for sex offenders might run afoul of the constitutional prohibition on cruel and unusual punishment when applied to juveniles serving lengthy terms of incarceration. The ultimate question of whether the Sex Offender Lifetime Supervision Act, or SOLSA, is unconstitutional in the case of…
-
Colorado Supreme Court identifies potential red flag in state’s sex offender sentencing law
—
by
The Colorado Supreme Court on Monday suggested the 25-year-old law governing criminal sentences for sex offenders might run afoul of the constitutional prohibition on cruel and unusual punishment when applied to juveniles serving lengthy terms of incarceration. The ultimate question of whether the Sex Offender Lifetime Supervision Act, or SOLSA, is unconstitutional in the case of…
-
10th Circuit opens door wider for courts to dismiss prisoners’ civil rights lawsuits
—
by
The federal appeals court based in Denver made it easier on Tuesday for prison officials to defeat lawsuits from incarcerated plaintiffs by moving them to a different facility outside a circuit court’s jurisdiction before judges have a chance to rule. Michael Bacote Jr., a prisoner with an intellectual disability and history of mental illness, spent…
-
Federal judge finds no constitutional violation in requiring illegal pot growers to forfeit house
—
by
Requiring an Aurora couple to forfeit their home to the government after using it to illegally grow marijuana does not violate the constitutional prohibition against excessive fines, a federal judge ruled last month. In 2019, the U.S. Department of Justice petitioned to take possession of a home in the 23000 block of East Wagontrail Avenue…
-
10th Circuit underscores limited path federal prisoners face in suing government
—
by
The federal appeals court based in Denver underscored last month that incarcerated plaintiffs have essentially no path to suing federal officials for money for violating their constitutional rights. A three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 10th Circuit explained that the U.S. Supreme Court’s precedent, as well as its own, meant prisoners…
-
Federal judge dismisses inmate’s lawsuit over alleged assault from living with gay cellmate
—
by
A federal judge last month dismissed an incarcerated man’s lawsuit against two corrections officers who allegedly left him in a cell with a gay inmate, despite knowing other prisoners would attack him for rooming with a “known homosexual.” Although judges have analyzed other cases involving prisoners’ claims that their sexual orientation posed a risk of…
-
Colorado Supreme Court to hear cases on ‘3 strikes’ law, Littleton family’s meth exposure
—
by
The Colorado Supreme Court announced this month it will hear cases that could drastically broaden the relief available to people serving lengthy sentences under the state’s “three strikes” law and that would potentially reduce a multimillion-dollar award to two tenants who were poisoned by a downstairs meth operation. At least three of the court’s seven…
-
Colorado Supreme Court to scrutinize parole requirements for juvenile sex offenders
—
by
The Colorado Supreme Court has agreed to answer whether the state law authorizing indefinite, potentially lifetime sentences for sex offenses makes room for the special considerations that must be given to juveniles who are tried as adults. In a rare move, the court accepted the question not through the usual appeals process, but following a…
-
Federal judge orders prison contractor to get medical care for suicidal detainee
—
by
A federal judge last week ordered a contractor for the Colorado Department of Corrections to obtain medical care for a detainee’s diseased colon, after it spent months allegedly doing nothing in the face of the man’s extreme pain and suicide attempt. Arthur Burnham, who is incarcerated at Centennial Correctional Facility near Cañon City, filed suit in July…