first amendment
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10th Circuit upholds verdict against Denver, officer for protest-related violations
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The Colorado-based federal appeals court on Tuesday turned aside multiple challenges to a 2022 jury verdict that found Denver and one of its officers violated the constitutional rights of protesters and were liable for $14 million. In the first of many lawsuits culminating in a jury trial, 12 plaintiffs largely succeeded in arguing that Denver’s…
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Colorado justices weigh constitutionality of unique disclosure requirement for ballot measures
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Members of the Colorado Supreme Court considered on Tuesday whether a unique feature of the state’s campaign finance system categorically violates the First Amendment by requiring the disclosure of a ballot measure committee’s legal representative on advertisements. No on EE — A Bad Deal for Colorado was an issue committee in 2020 that opposed Proposition EE,…
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Federal judge sides with Mesa County school district in ex-student’s First Amendment claims
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A federal judge concluded last week that Mesa County Valley School District 51 and three of its administrators did not violate the First Amendment rights of a former student when they imposed minor discipline in response to disruptive behavior. In the landmark 1969 decision of Tinker v. Des Moines Independent Community School District, the U.S. Supreme Court…
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Federal judge upholds constitutionality of Colorado campaign contribution limits
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A federal judge upheld Colorado’s individual campaign contribution limits as constitutional on Thursday, finding that three Republican plaintiffs failed to prove the campaign finance framework violates their First Amendment rights. U.S. District Court Senior Judge John L. Kane recognized that Colorado’s limitations on individual contributions to state political candidates are among the lowest in the…
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Public figures have limited path to sue over accusations of criminality, says appeals court
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Colorado’s second-highest court ruled last week that a public figure cannot sue for defamation solely because a person publicly accuses them of committing a crime, as the statement may be constitutionally protected opinion. A three-judge Court of Appeals panel narrowed the claims that Academy School District 20 board member Derrick Wilburn may pursue against Bernadette…
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Federal judge green-lights trial against Denver officer over race-based enforcement
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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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Appeals court agrees defendant’s speech constitutionally protected against El Paso County judge
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Colorado’s second-highest court agreed last week that a defendant’s critical statements toward an El Paso County judge were constitutionally protected and could not form the basis of a retaliation charge. A three-judge Court of Appeals panel concluded that, in context, Ashley Hernandez’s brief confrontation with District Court Judge Diana May in a courthouse elevator did…
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Elizabeth School District dismisses challenge to book-ban injunction on eve of appellate arguments
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An Elbert County school district has dismissed its challenge to a judge’s injunction ordering it to return banned books to library shelves, days before the Denver-based federal appeals court was set to hear oral arguments this week. Although a three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 10th Circuit formally dismissed the case…
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In Tina Peters appeal, judges telegraph some degree of reversal | ANALYSIS
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Former Mesa County clerk Tina Peters seems poised to walk away from the state’s Court of Appeals with her criminal convictions largely intact, even as a three-judge appellate panel raised concerns about her sentence and one specific conviction. Peters, a Republican who served one term following her 2018 election, is serving a roughly nine-year prison…
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Appeals court clarifies framework for parents’ First Amendment rights in child-naming disputes
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Colorado’s second-highest court overturned a Jefferson County judge’s order last week in a long-running dispute about whether two ex-spouses must call their child by his first name or middle name outside the home. In doing so, a three-judge Court of Appeals panel clarified that the standard for restricting a parent’s free speech rights is a…