December 2003

Equal Protection - Rights of Immigrants - Governor Owens signed SB 03-176, on March 5, which terminates Medicaid benefits to approximately 3,500 legal immigrants. The ACLU and other organizations filed a class action lawsuit alleging that this law violates the State Constitution by terminating benefits to legal immigrants while continuing to provide medical assistance to other, similarly-situated citizens. In addition, the suit alleges that state officials have failed to follow Federal Medicaid statute procedural requirements. A temporary restraining order and injunction have blocked the law from taking effect since April, and a court decision on our appeal is still pending.

Rights of Prisoners - The ACLU filed a class action lawsuit alleging that the El Paso County Jail in Colorado Springs fails to protect and provide adequately for prisoners with serious mental health needs, a group that makes up a steadily-increasing portion of the jail's population. "All over the country, more and more prisoners are arriving at overcrowded and understaffed county jails with serious mental illness or symptoms of psychosis that are the result of withdrawal or overdose from substance abuse," said Mark Silverstein, ACLU's Legal Director. In almost every case, the deceased prisoner was suicidal, seriously mentally ill, or displaying symptoms of psychosis from overdose or withdrawal. In the first year that the lawsuit was pending, two additional prisoners in the jail died from suicide. In July, 2002, the district court denied the defendants' motion to dismiss, but it also denied the plaintiffs' motion for class certification. Plaintiffs have filed an appeal of that ruling.

Pledge of Allegiance - Freedom of Expression - The American Civil Liberties Union of Colorado filed suit in federal district court in Denver challenging the constitutionality of the new Colorado statute requiring teachers and students to recite the Pledge of Allegiance each day in all Colorado public schools. The ACLU filed suit on behalf of teachers and students in several Colorado school districts, arguing that the right of free expression prohibits the government from mandating that individuals recite the Pledge of Allegiance. On August 15, 2003, Judge Babcock granted the ACLU's request for a temporary injunction forbidding enforcement of the statute.

School Vouchers - Separation of Church and State - HB 03-1160, the Colorado Opportunity Contract Pilot Program was signed into law on April 16. It authorizes a voucher program that makes public funds available to pay for students to attend private schools, including sectarian religious schools. A lawsuit was filed on May 20, 2003 by a coalition of public education advocates, of which the ACLU was a part, alleging that the new law violates several provisions of the Colorado constitution. One of the Colorado Constitutional provisions expressly prohibits spending any public funds to help support or sustain any school controlled by any church or sectarian denomination whatsoever. On December 3, 2003 Judge Meyer of Denver District Court declared the voucher law unconstitutional and enjoined the State from taking any action to enforce or implement the law.

Open Government, Police Practices - Relying on the Colorado Open Records Act, the ACLU of Colorado filed suit seeking disclosure of a document that sets out the terms of the Denver Police Department's participation in the FBI's Joint Terrorism Task Force (JTTF). The Denver JTTF, one of over five dozen similar task forces around the country, is run by the FBI and includes full-time agents on loan from participating federal, state and local law enforcement agencies. Last spring, Denver settled the Spy Files lawsuit and agreed it would stop collecting information about peaceful protesters who have no connection to criminal activity. Documents released to the ACLU during the Spy Files lawsuit demonstrate that the JTTF has been collecting information about peaceful protest activities that have nothing to do with terrorism or any other criminal activity. These documents show that the JTTF has been gathering the same kind of information that the Denver Police Department is now prohibited from collecting.

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