senate judiciary committee
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Colorado bill makes falsely reporting mass shootings a felony
Update: Senate Bill 249 passed the Senate Thursday in a unanimous 35-0 vote with no amendments. It will next be sent to the House. “I have an AR-15 and pipe bombs with me. I’m going to shoot every kid I see in the school. I’m walking in now.” That threat was made against at least…
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Bill advances to lower threshold for workplace harassment in Colorado
When a cook at Marie Evenson’s job repeatedly grabbed her around the waist, she reported him to a manager. One week later, she was fired for not “fitting in” to the workplace environment. Evenson met with a lawyer to discuss her legal options, but was told she didn’t have a case. Evenson said her lawyer claimed…
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Colorado lawyers sympathetic toward Kato Crews’ botched answer at confirmation hearing
After U.S. Magistrate Judge S. Kato Crews drew a blank at his confirmation hearing when asked to describe the holding of a major U.S. Supreme Court decision, the embarrassing lapse quickly generated condemnation online. “ANOTHER Biden judicial nominee flunks basic legal quiz,” tweeted JCN, an advocacy group for conservative judicial nominees. But in Colorado, the…
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Kato Crews appears before Senate committee, fields tense questions about judicial record
The Biden administration’s nominee to fill an upcoming federal court vacancy in Colorado appeared for his confirmation hearing on Wednesday with a strong endorsement of his character from the state’s legal community, while facing a tense line of questioning from one Republican U.S. senator. S. Kato Crews, who is currently a magistrate judge for Colorado’s…
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Lawmakers seek to give child victims, witnesses of crimes anonymity in public records
Eight months ago, 17-year-old Riley Whitelaw was murdered in the break room of the Colorado Springs Walgreens, where she worked. The horrific details of the crime, allegedly committed by an adult co-worker who Riley had previously complained against, quickly consumed state and national news. In a matter of days, many of Riley’s relatives, friends and…
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Gordon Gallagher appears at judicial confirmation hearing with support from Western Slope
Gordon P. Gallagher arrived before the U.S. Senate Committee on the Judiciary on Tuesday armed with a roster of endorsements from the Western Slope, each repeating the message that they know Gallagher, they trust Gallagher and they would like him to represent their region on Colorado’s federal trial court. It is important that those in…
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Colorado was potential target of Facebook data breach, IT expert says
WASHINGTON – Colorado’s status as an election swing state likely made it a target for the kind of data breach described by Facebook Chief Executive Mark Zuckerberg during his congressional testimony Tuesday, according to a Boulder-based information technology expert. Zuckerberg was grilled by senators outraged that a British political consulting firm was able to collect…
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Colorado Civil Rights Commission isn’t exempt from legislative oversight
In recent weeks, much misinformation and political hyperbole has been spread about a “Republican plot” to defund the Colorado Civil Rights Division (CCRD) and the Civil Rights Commission. As the Senate sponsor of the bill to reauthorize the CCRD and the Commission, I want to set the record straight – for those Coloradans interested in…
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Guzman: ‘I came to the Legislature to repeal the death penalty’
Senate Minority Leader Lucia Guzman’s death penalty repeal bill was voted down by Republicans in committee Feb. 15, just as she expected. Speaking before the hearing, Guzman said she hoped mainly that the bill would foster heartfelt conversation on the issue. “It was not to be,” she said. She thinks she might have pulled off…