equal protection
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Teen defendant properly transferred from youth detention to jail, Colorado justices conclude
Colorado law required the transfer of a teenage murder suspect from youth detention to the county jail when he turned 18, the state Supreme Court ruled last week. Prosecutors have accused Issac James Lawrence of killing a younger boy and attempting to kill his mother in Durango. Lawrence is being tried as an adult but was initially…
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Colorado justices decline to say whether man’s child prostitution conviction is unconstitutional
The Colorado Supreme Court declined to say on Monday whether a man’s conviction for an attempted child prostitution offense violated his rights under the state constitution, and only concluded that the absence of an obvious error meant his conviction should remain intact. An El Paso County jury convicted Javier Vega Dominguez of two attempted child…
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Federal judge green-lights trial against Denver officer over race-based enforcement
A federal judge green-lit a jury trial last week on a man’s claim that a Denver police officer engaged in racially selective enforcement of the law by arresting him for video recording at a police station, while not arresting a White man who filmed in the same spot. U.S. District Court Judge Philip A. Brimmer…
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Colorado justices weigh overlap between child prostitution offenses
Members of the Colorado Supreme Court last week appeared willing to uphold a man’s conviction for an attempted child prostitution offense, which the state’s second-highest court previously found to be a violation of his right to equal protection under the law. An El Paso County jury convicted Javier Vega Dominguez of two attempted child prostitution…
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CDOT did not violate constitutional rights of outdoor advertising company, appeals court says
Colorado’s second-highest court concluded last month that the Colorado Department of Transportation did not violate the constitutional rights of an outdoor advertising company by denying two permits for billboards in Adams County. StreetMediaGroup, LLC argued CDOT violated its right to equal protection under the law by allowing “large, influential competitors” to maintain signs not in…
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Federal judge to challengers of Colorado’s aid-in-dying law: Is key plaintiff’s death problematic to case?
A federal judge on Friday asked those challenging a provision of Colorado’s aid-in-dying law to reconsider whether they want to continue litigating, after a key plaintiff died earlier this month. This year, three people alleged Colorado’s assisted suicide law, which voters enacted in 2016, violated multiple constitutional provisions with its requirement that beneficiaries be residents…
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Judge dismisses constitutional claim against detective despite ‘eyebrow-raising’ investigation into motel
A federal judge on Friday dismissed a Greenwood Village motel operator’s constitutional rights claim against a detective who allegedly singled out the establishment for a criminal investigation based on its willingness to house people with disabilities long-term. Zarrin Hospitality Group, Inc. is the operator of a Motel 6 at 9201 E. Arapahoe Road. Its owner…
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10th Circuit says judge erred in denying immunity to Denver officers who arrested man for recording
The Colorado-based federal appeals court sided with two Denver police officers on Tuesday, finding they were entitled to immunity outright or to a second look at their arguments in a lawsuit over a man’s arrest for video recording at a police station. There was no dispute that a sign was posted on the window of…
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10th Circuit denies full-court review of trans detainee’s appeal; some GOP appointees dissent
The members of the Denver-based federal appeals court rejected El Paso County’s request on Tuesday for full-court review of a recent decision reinstating the constitutional rights lawsuit of a transgender detainee. In February, a three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 10th Circuit concluded Darlene Griffith had credibly alleged then-Sheriff Bill Elder’s housing and…
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Colorado justices appear open to striking down harsher municipal sentences
Members of the Colorado Supreme Court appeared open last week to the idea that municipalities cannot impose harsher sentences under their own ordinances than state law does for identical criminal offenses. In a rare pair of appeals taken directly from municipal court, the justices heard about an unusual twist in the relationship between state and…