News
News Releases 2005

Dec 7, 2005 - New documents confirm that FBI’s Joint Terrorism Task Force wastes resources and threatens First Amendment rights by targeting peaceful protest activity as “domestic terrorism”
Releasing new documents obtained from the FBI under the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA), the Legal Director of the Colorado ACLU, Mark Silverstein, said today that the FBI’s Joint Terrorism Task Force (JTTF) wastes resources and threatens First Amendment rights by wrongfully equating nonviolent protest with domestic terrorism.

November 23, 2005 - ACLU lawyers defend bus rider arrested by Homeland Security for declining to produce photo ID when her bus route crossed through the Denver Federal Center
Deborah Davis was a passenger commuting to work on a public RTD bus that crosses the property of the Federal Center in Lakewood. When federal officers boarded the bus and asked each passenger to produce identification, Deborah declined. She was subsequently arrested, handcuffed, and removed from the bus. Officers from the Department of Homeland Security then issued two tickets accusing her of criminal offenses for refusing to produce identification.

Nov 22, 2005 - Settlement resolves ACLU lawsuit on behalf of Palmer High School Gay-Straight Alliance against Colorado Springs School District 11
The American Civil Liberties Union Foundation of Colorado announced today a settlement agreement in a federal lawsuit it had filed against Colorado Springs School District 11 on behalf of the Palmer High School Gay-Straight Alliance (GSA) in 2003. The school board approved the settlement at its meeting Monday evening.

Nov 21, 2005 - ACLU files suit over ouster from Bush town hall meeting
White House event staffers unlawfully removed two Denver residents from a town hall discussion with President Bush because of an anti-war bumper sticker on their car, charged the American Civil Liberties Union in a federal lawsuit filed today.

Nov 17, 2005 - ACLU files class action suit to restore right to vote for Colorado parolees
The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) Foundation of Colorado announced today that it has filed a class action lawsuit challenging a Colorado statute that forbids persons on parole from voting or registering to vote.

Nov 2, 2005 - 6,000 Coloradoans illegally excluded from voting
While thousands of Colorado citizens cast their ballots on November 1, more than 6,000 Coloradoans were illegally excluded from the polls by a state statute enacted in the early 1990s, according to Mark Silverstein, Legal Director of the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) of Colorado.

Aug 29, 2005 - Pueblo Family Obtains $230,000 in Settlement of Civil Rights Claims Against City of Pueblo, State of Colorado and U.S. Government
The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) and cooperating attorneys from Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher LLP obtained a $230,000 settlement for their client, the Unis family of Pueblo, Colorado.

Aug 2, 2005 - New documents confirm that FBI’s Joint Terrorism Task Force treats peaceful protest as potential terrorism
The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) of Colorado released new documents today that it says confirm that the FBI’s Joint Terrorism Task Force (JTTF) is inappropriately treating peaceful protest as potential terrorism.

July 26, 2005 - ACLU of Colorado blasts the USA PATRIOT ACT
Reform the Patriot Act rallies were held simultaneously in Colorado Springs, Denver, Boulder and Greeley at which activists urged Congress to reform the Patriot Act. The ACLU of Colorado believes that Government has unbridled power to invade the privacy of law-abiding Americans that must be stopped.

May 19, 2005 - ACLU asks Denver to withdraw from FBI Joint Terrorism Task Force
In a letter sent yesterday to Denver Mayor John Hickenlooper and the members of the Denver City Council, the ACLU of Colorado urged Denver to withdraw its detectives from the FBI’s Joint Terrorism Task Force (JTTF).

May 18, 2005 - New documents confirm: FBI's Joint Terrorism Task Force targets peaceful activists for harassment, political surveillance
The American Civil Liberties Union of Colorado released documents today that it says confirm that the FBI’s Joint Terrorism Task Force (JTTF) in Denver is targeting peaceful political activists for harassment and building files on constitutionally-protected political activities and associations that have nothing to do with terrorism or other criminal activity.

May 17, 2005 - Legislature passes ACLU-backed resolution urging PATRIOT Act revisions
In the waning hours of the 2005 legislative session, both houses of the Colorado General Assembly passed a resolution originating with Senator Ron Tupa that urges President Bush and Colorado’s Congressional delegation to amend the USA PATRIOT Act to restore Constitutional rights eroded since the terrorist attacks.

Mar 24, 2005 - ACLU calls on Denver officials to deliver on promised police reform
The Denver city administration is already failing to deliver on one of its promised reforms in how it deals with incidents in which police officers kill or seriously injure civilians, a spokesperson for the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) of Colorado said today.

Mar 16, 2005 - Lakewood agrees to restore censored artwork
The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) Foundation of Colorado announced today that Lakewood city officials have agreed to restore to its original condition an art exhibit that they censored last month on the ground that they believed it was “anti-American” and “anti-military.”

Feb 8, 2005 - Statement on Ward Churchill
The First Amendment of the U. S. Constitution protects Ward Churchill's right to speak or write his opinions and it protects the rights of his detractors to say they do not like what he wrote or said. The ACLU of Colorado stands firmly for these rights of free speech.

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