News
News Releases 2006

Oct 17, 2006 - ACLU lawyers file suit on behalf of innocent woman wrongfully arrested, jailed, and strip searched
Lawyers for the ACLU of Colorado filed suit today on behalf of Mercedes Archuleta, a Thornton mother of nine children with no criminal record whom Lakewood police wrongly and groundlessly listed in a warrant as a suspect in a misdemeanor harassment case.

Sept 12, 2006 - Antiwar sign can stay, Salida says, avoiding federal court faceoff with ACLU attorneys
The City of Salida avoided a federal court battle with ACLU attorneys yesterday, when it withdrew its threat to enforce its sign code against Debra Juchem, a local resident and business owner who erected an antiwar sign on the side of her downtown building.

Aug 31, 2006 - Pueblo County ACLU Chapter on the move
Actively organizing to protect our civil liberties, fired up Pueblo County ACLU of Colorado Chapter hosted its first Annual Members Meeting last night at the Historic Pueblo Union Depot.

Aug 23, 2006 - Recent civil rights losses and violations spur citizens to form Pueblo County ACLU Chapter
Responding to executive abuses of power and general concerns about the loss of civil rights, Pueblo and surrounding area residents are forming a Pueblo County ACLU of Colorado Chapter.

Aug 23, 2006 - ACLU says Colorado Public Utilities Commission has delayed long enough, calls for immediate investigation
In response to the Colorado Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) stating that it would delay any investigation into reports that telephone companies have been voluntarily divulging Coloradoans private phone records to the National Security Agency (NSA), the ACLU of Colorado today renewed calls for a vigorous and thorough investigation of those allegations.

Aug 23, 2006 - ACLU blasts DA’s reversal of long-established “open file” policy in police shooting cases
Denver District Attorney Mitch Morrissey has quietly abandoned the “open file” protocol that his predecessors had followed for more than two decades in police shooting cases. In doing so, Morrissey violated an explicit campaign pledge and took a major step backward with regard to transparency and police accountability, ACLU Legal Director Mark Silverstein said today.

July 19, 2006 - ACLU files class action lawsuit challenging abuse of prisoners in Garfield County Jail
The ACLU of Colorado filed a sweeping class action lawsuit today in federal court on behalf of prisoners in the Garfield County Jail, who allege that they are subjected to a pervasive pattern of disproportionate and excessive force carried out by deputies’ misuse and abuse of pepperball guns, restraint chairs, tasers, pepper spray, and electroshock belts.

June 22, 2006 - ACLU sues Garfield County Sheriff for refusing attorney interviews
The ACLU of Colorado filed suit yesterday against Garfield County Sheriff Lou Vallario, alleging that the Sheriff unjustifiably prohibited ACLU attorneys from conducting confidential interviews with jail prisoners who wanted to speak with the ACLU.

June 13, 2006 - Colorado Springs Sues ACLU For Over Request For Public Records
In response to a routine request for public records filed by the ACLU of Colorado, the City of Colorado Springs filed suit against the ACLU in state district court in Colorado Springs. The lawsuit asks for a ruling that the Colorado Springs Police Department (CSPD) is not required to release the records of an Internal Affairs Bureau (IAB) investigation into allegations of serious police misconduct.

May 24, 2006 - ACLU of Colorado urges state officials to investigate phone companies' cooperation with NSA
In conjunction with the National ACLU and nineteen other ACLU affiliates across the country, the ACLU of Colorado sent a letter today to the Colorado Public Utilities Commission and the Colorado Attorney General demanding an investigation into whether phone companies operating within the Colorado have turned millions of Coloradans’ phone records over to the National Security Agency without any legal process. If the sharing is found to be in violation of Colorado law, the ACLU is urging that officials seek injunctions or other orders to immediately halt these practices.

May 12, 2006 - Denver’s Hannah Picasso-Hobin receives ACLU’s National 2006 Youth Activist Scholarship
Denver’s Hannah Picasso-Hobin, a senior at the Denver’s Colorado School of the Arts, is one of nine high school seniors from across the country to receive a $4,000 college scholarship in recognition of their outstanding work to protect civil liberties, especially for young people.

Apr 6, 2006 - ACLU of Colorado statement on schools banning personal displays of flags
In response to questions prompted by recent decisions of some school administrators to ban the display of flags and other expressive symbols, ACLU Legal Director Mark Silverstein made the following statement

Mar 28, 2006 - FBI conducts surveillance of Denver bookstore and records license plate numbers of vehicles “in the vicinity.”
As part of a “domestic terrorism” investigation, the FBI’s Joint Terrorism Task Force conducted surveillance of a Denver bookstore on February 15, 2003, and monitored 40 persons who gathered there to carpool to an antiwar demonstration in Colorado Springs later that day, according to an FBI report the ACLU of Colorado released today. The document, the latest the ACLU obtained in response to a series of requests under the Freedom of Information Act, indicates that the FBI also recorded the descriptions and license plate numbers of a dozen cars “in the vicinity” of the now-closed radical bookstore, Breakdown Books, located at the time in the 1400 block of Ogden Street.

Mar 2, 2006 - Denver police “Spy Files” now available at Denver Public Library
The Denver police Spy Files have now been archived, indexed, and added to the Western History Collection at the Denver Public Library, the ACLU announced today.

Feb 21, 2006 - After ACLU intervention, high school student suspended for off-campus internet posting is back in school
Littleton High School junior Bryan Lopez, who was suspended from Littleton High School for posting satirical commentary about the school on the internet, is now back in school after ACLU attorneys reached an agreement with school district officials on Monday evening. The agreement averted a federal court First Amendment lawsuit that ACLU attorneys were prepared to file on Lopez’s behalf on Tuesday morning.

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