mesa county
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3 Colorado judges receive unfavorable retention recommendation as one performance commission violates rules
Of the 123 Colorado judges standing for retention on the November ballot, citizen-led performance commissions found that three did not meet the required performance standards. However, in an unprecedented move, the commission charged with evaluating Supreme Court and Court of Appeals members stepped in to issue its own narrative after it concluded the local performance…
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Federal judge dismisses Colorado county sheriff’s challenge to law limiting immigration cooperation
A federal judge dismissed a challenge from Mesa County Sheriff’s Office leaders last week to a Colorado law limiting public employees’ cooperation with immigration authorities, concluding that the plaintiffs did not allege they engage in any conduct that the law would prohibit. In a July 17 order, U.S. District Court Judge Gordon P. Gallagher noted…
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Colorado Supreme Court tosses man’s lawsuit over daughter’s traffic death
The Colorado Supreme Court applied a confusing matrix of conditions and deadlines in state law to conclude on Monday that a man waited too long to sue after his daughter was rendered unconscious and later died from a vehicle accident. At the same time, the justices acknowledged that their interpretation may result in differential treatment…
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Gov. Polis asks residents not to use fireworks as wildfires burn
While Gov. Jared Polis said he will not issue a statewide fire ban, Colorado’s top political leader urged residents against using fireworks as the country heads into the July 4 weekend. “We are encouraging the people of Colorado to exercise personal responsibility and not do anything that could cause fires — from off-roading to shooting…
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Colorado, Utah mourn after 3 firefighters killed in wildfires
Gov. Jared Polis on Sunday mourned the deaths of three firefighters killed while battling a wildfire on the Colorado-Utah border, calling the loss a tragedy for the state and the firefighting community. The firefighters died Saturday while responding to a fire in the Knowles Canyon near the state line, according to initial reports. Two additional…
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10th Circuit dismisses Tina Peters’ challenge to confinement as moot
The Denver-based federal appeals court granted the state’s unopposed request on Wednesday to dismiss former Mesa County clerk Tina Peters’ challenge to her confinement as moot. Although Peters received a commutation of her prison sentence last month from Gov. Jared Polis and has since left prison, her federal proceedings addressed whether Peters could be freed…
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Man who asked mom to lie to parole officer can stand convicted, Colorado Supreme Court decides
Attempting to influence a public servant is a crime that can include a defendant’s use of a third party to convey false information, the Colorado Supreme Court decided on Monday. There was no dispute that Michael Thomas Hupke asked his mother to lie to his parole officer on his behalf. Further, Hupke acknowledged Mesa County…
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Colorado Gov. Jared Polis grants clemency to Tina Peters, makes her eligible for release from prison
Colorado Gov. Jared Polis on Friday granted clemency to Tina Peters and made the former Republican county clerk eligible for release from state prison as soon as early June, capping months of speculation that the Democratic governor would shorten a nearly nine-year sentence related to Peters’ role in a scheme to breach secure voting equipment.…
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Federal judge sides with Mesa County school district in ex-student’s First Amendment claims
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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Colorado appeals court orders new sentencing for Tina Peters, upholds convictions
Colorado’s second-highest court determined on Thursday that a trial judge improperly sentenced former Mesa County clerk Tina Peters based upon her exercise of protected speech, while at the same time upholding her convictions. The three-judge Court of Appeals panel also concluded that President Donald Trump’s attempted pardon of Peters for state-level convictions last year was…