DENVER – The City of Fort Collins has agreed to stop arresting, ticketing, citing, or otherwise interfering with individuals who engage in passive solicitation as part of a settlement agreement announced jointly by the ACLU of Colorado and Fort Collins today.

The ACLU filed a lawsuit in early February alleging that both the Fort Collins panhandling ordinance and its enforcement by local police violated the First Amendment.  According to the suit, the ordinance was overly broad and prohibited peaceful, polite and nonthreatening requests for charity.  In addition, the ACLU presented evidence that the overwhelming majority of the City’s enforcement had been directed at individuals who only passively asked for charity by displaying a sign, an activity that was not actually prohibited by the challenged ordinance.

“The First Amendment protects the rights of all people, regardless of economic circumstances or social status, to make peaceful, non-threatening requests for charity,” said ACLU of Colorado Legal Director Mark Silverstein.  “We were prepared to prove that the Fort Collins ordinance and the city’s campaign of enforcement, which went beyond the written words of the law, were unconstitutional.”

On Feb. 27, the Fort Collins City Council repealed all of the challenged provisions of the ordinance.  In today’s settlement, the City has also agreed to the entry of a federal court order forbidding police and city officials from interfering with the free speech rights of persons who panhandle by merely displaying a sign that invites charity.  The City also agreed to pay the plaintiffs’ legal fees and costs, and to provide the ACLU with 45 days advance notice of any future proposals to reinstate or revise the repealed provisions of the ordinance.

“We commend Fort Collins for agreeing to a resolution that protects free speech rights and avoids lengthy and costly litigation,” said ACLU cooperating attorney Hugh Gottschalk of Wheeler Trigg O’Donnell LLP.  “The City handled this matter in a prompt, professional, and responsible manner.”

The ACLU of Colorado is also currently litigating a challenge to Grand Junction’s panhandling ordinance. In recent years, the ACLU of Colorado has successfully challenged the criminalization of peaceful, non-threatening solicitation in Colorado Springs, Boulder, and Durango.  Last week, the organization sent a letter to Telluride warning that a recently proposed panhandling ordinance, if passed, would violate the First Amendment.

Along with its legal efforts, the ACLU of Colorado is also supporting HB 1264, known as the “Homeless Bill of Rights,” in the Colorado legislature.  The bill, which is scheduled to be heard by the House State Affairs Committee on April 15th, establishes basic rights for individuals and families experiencing homelessness, including, but not limited to, the right to move freely and to rest in public spaces.

more on this case

March 26, 2015
Today, the Colorado House Committee on Health, Insurance, and Environment heard testimony on HB 1265, the Birth Certificate Modernization Act, which would enable transgender individuals to more easily change their birth certificates to reflect their identified gender.  ACLU of Colorado Policy and Outreach Associate Sarah Spears testified in support of the bill. Below is her prepared testimony. For more information on the importance of HB 1265, please see the Birth Certificate Modernization Act Fact Sheet.

Thank you Madame Chair and members of the committee.
My name is Sarah Spears and I am here on behalf of the ACLU of Colorado as Policy and Outreach Associate. The ACLU is a not for profit, non-partisan organization with approximately 10,000 members statewide.
The ACLU strongly supports HB-1265, which sets medically appropriate guidelines for changing the gender designation on one’s birth certificate and helps to ensure fairness for the transgender community.
The current method for changing the gender designation on one’s birth certificate is outdated.
It is out of line with the current medical consensus that surgery is not appropriate or necessary for every transgender person.
Contrary to common misconception, many transgender people do not want surgery, and even among those for whom surgery is desired, many cannot receive it because such care is prohibitively expensive, not covered by their insurance, appropriate providers are not available, or they have a medical condition that prevents them from undergoing the medical procedure.
Colorado’s surgical requirement is unduly restrictive and prevents many transgender individuals from obtaining consistent legal identity documents. This can have a serious impact on issues related to employment, education, travel, and safety. Individuals who are unable to receive documents that match their gender identity and presentation face increased discrimination and are unfairly robbed of their privacy. Under current law, if asked to present a birth certificate, a transgender person who has undergone full transition but has not opted for surgical change, is forced to out themselves to a potential employer, school administrators, and more.
Transgender people with incongruent identity documents frequently experience violence and discrimination. The National Transgender Discrimination Survey found that 40% of transgender people with incongruent documents experienced harassment.
Many other states and federal agencies have already changed their laws and policies to allow for the changes proposed by HB-1265. California, New York State, New York City, Oregon, Rhode Island, Washington, Vermont, and the District of Columbia, along with the U.S. Department of State and the Social Security Administration, have already adopted standards comparable to the proposed bill requirements to ensure that transgender individuals can obtain accurate identification without proof of surgery.
HB-1265 will bring Colorado in line with the medical community’s understanding of gender transition, it will ease unnecessary financial and social burdens faced by transgender Coloradans and will further demonstrate Colorado’s commitment to ensuring respect and fairness for the transgender community.
I urge a yes vote on House Bill 1265.

March 18, 2015
DENVER – A bipartisan package of ten bills was introduced yesterday in the Colorado legislature to increase transparency and accountability in police practices and to rebuild trust between law enforcement and the local communities that they serve.
The American Civil Liberties Union of Colorado issued the following statement:

“The American Civil Liberties Union of Colorado applauds members of the Colorado legislature for coming together in a broad, bipartisan fashion to introduce a set of measures aimed at increasing transparency and accountability in police practices and rebuilding trust between Colorado communities and their law enforcement agencies.
“The ACLU of Colorado has been a long-time proponent of many of the policies introduced in the package, including improvements to police training, increased proper use of body-worn cameras, more public disclosure, oversight, and accountability for use of force incidents and officer-involved shootings, and prohibition of profiling in all forms and against all people.
“While recent high-profile events, settlements, and judgments in Colorado have increased public awareness of the growing confidence gap between police and their local communities, particularly communities of color, problems with excessive use of force and racial bias, whether conscious or not, are widespread and long-standing, not limited to a few isolated incidents or ‘bad actors.’  Again, we applaud those lawmakers who have recognized the size and scope of these issues and have responded with an impressive initial set of solutions.  We will be tracking these proposals closely and encouraging their passage in the strongest possible form.”