Legal
Colorado ACLU Cases

Legal Department Docket, 2002-Present

Case Name: Electroshock Weapons: Tasers and Stun Guns
Case Number: (non-litigation advocacy)
ACLU Case Number: 2003-19

Description: In letters and advocacy outside the courtroom, the ACLU of Colorado has raised issues about law enforcement's increasing use of electroshock weapons such as tasers and stun guns. The ACLU has questioned whether the proponents' claims that the weapons are nonlethal are sufficiently trustworthy to justify use-of-force policies that authorize police to use the weapons in situations where there is no threat to the safety of law enforcement officers or civilians. The ACLU has also raised concerns about increasingly-common reports that law enforcement officers have been using electroshock weapons abusively, such as shocking suspects who have already been handcuffed or otherwise restrained.

Issues: Police Practices

ACLU of Colorado Attorneys: Mark Silverstein

Links to Selected Documents:

News Release, Feb. 26, 2004: "Citing In-Custody Deaths, ACLU Calls for Policy Change to Limit Use of Tasers"

ACLU letter to Denver Police Chief Gerry Whitman, Feb. 26, 2004

ACLU letter to the Editor of The Denver Post, published March 12, 2004, responding to Post editorial of March 1, 2004

ACLU letter to the Editor of the Rocky Mountain News, (not published), responding to Rocky editorial of March 1, 2004

ACLU letter to the Editor of the New York Times, not published, responding to Times article of March 7, 2004

Announcement, March 16, 2004: "ACLU Charges Unnecessary Force and Torture in Letter Summarizing Complaints about Colorado Law Enforcement Agencies Abusing Tasers and Stun Guns"

ACLU letter to Mayor's Task Force on Police, March 15, 2004

"Nonlethal" force can kill, ACLU guest editorial about tasers, Denver Post, August 18, 2006

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