Change can be slow. The legal process takes time, and it can take months or years to see the results of hard work on behalf of civil liberties. Getting an unconstitutional policy changed in 48 hours is almost unheard of, but that’s exactly what I was able to do last week.

My ten-week summer internship at the ACLU of Colorado was drawing to close and I was getting ready to head back to California to start my second year of law school at the University of California at Irvine. Like other legal interns, I was prepared to leave the ACLU with the confidence that I had contributed to future legal victories, but I certainly didn’t expect to produce a concrete policy change in my last days that would affect all future interns as well as Denver inmates in need of legal assistance.

And yet that’s exactly what I did. It started with a letter requesting assistance from an inmate at the Denver County Jail. Deciding that the case merited further scrutiny but unable to spare the time to meet with him, my internship supervisor, ACLU staff attorney Rebecca Wallace, asked me to send a letter to the jail notifying them that I was working under Rebecca’s supervision and would be visiting the jail to interview the inmate on behalf of the ACLU. It was going be my first time interviewing a client on my own and I was excited about the opportunity. Unfortunately, despite the fact that the ACLU has sent numerous interns to speak with inmates at jails and prisons in the past without issue, the letter I sent to the jail was faxed back with “REFUSED” stamped across the front. Rebecca called the Division Chief of the Denver County Jail and asked that he reconsider his decision, but he refused and referred her to an assistant city attorney.

Undaunted and sure that the law was on our side, Rebecca and I quickly did some research on cases involving interns and other non-attorneys visiting clients on behalf of an attorney. We hit the jackpot – a 1974 U.S. Supreme Court case confirmed that interns have the right to meet with clients with the approval of their supervising attorney and that failure to allow them to do so is a violation of due process rights. Rebecca took our findings back to the city attorney and within hours we received notice that the policy would be changed effective immediately.

Feeling a strong sense of accomplishment and pride, I drove to the jail and met with the inmate. It turns out that he had been languishing in jail for over three months without charge and he was very grateful that he was finally given the chance to tell his story.
So as I prepare to leave the ACLU, I am happy knowing that I was able to affect a change that will have concrete, immediate benefits for future interns and inmates in need of legal assistance.

Change is (usually) slow.

By Rosalie Wilmot

(This op-ed column appeared in the July 17, 2012 edition of the Denver Post and can be seen online at denverpost.com)

I have been a canvasser for more than a year now. I’ve toiled under the sweltering summer sun while walking blocks and blocks in search of young people who need to be registered. I do this not because of a promise of compensation, but rather because I believe that every person deserves the opportunity to participate. I do it because I remember that the day I was registered to vote, I was given something far more important than a piece of yellow paper.

I was given a voice.

That’s why this year I am especially concerned about my generation turning out at the polls and making their mark on history. I have watched as voter photo identification bills and measures limiting same day registration have passed across the nation and large percentages of the population have been excluded from the most fundamental right we all share, the right to vote. I am worried because I know that these measures make it more difficult for young voices to be heard, I know that these “protections” largely make it more difficult for disenfranchised people to participate.

The consequences of inaction can be seen in our own communities. They are manifested in complacency and a disbelief that our voices even matter. As a young voter I remember my own process of discovery. .

Becoming a new voter is sort of like being reborn. You register and then wait impatiently for your ballot to arrive; you begin to read a bit closer when you hear of bills being introduced in the legislature. You begin to truly care about the democratic process. When your ballot finally arrives by mail, you are mostly ready. You unfold it neatly and pull out a fresh ballpoint pen. You carefully fill in the little circles and watch the ink dry. When you stick it in the mail – like a Christmas wish list to Santa – you have completed something worth bragging about.

You have acted as a citizen.

This year in Denver there are living signs that the system itself is in need of care. Secretary of State Scott Gessler wants to keep “inactive” voters from being sent mail ballots. For many Coloradans, missing one election in the past may cost them the ability to participate in future elections. If you did not participate in the last general election, you will be labeled an “inactive” voter and might not receive a mail ballot.

However, despite these attempts at voter suppression, there are also indicators of support for the democratic process. . This year the 150 polling places around Denver will be complemented by 13 voting centers with drive-up, drop-off service along with ten secure ballot drop boxes with 24-hour accessibility. Posters are being hung in homeless shelters and IPad applications have been developed to increase accessibility for seniors. When we participate in our community and focus on issues, we do have the power to create change. It begins with a decision to participate – and is dependent on policies that make participation possible.

This election, be ready.

Visit GoVoteColorado.com to check your status. If you have moved since the last time you registered, you must re-register. Don’t take it for granted, visit the website to make certain.

The registration deadline for the General Election Nov. 6, 2012 is Oct. 9, so if you are registering close to the deadline at any location besides the Denver Elections Division, make sure they validate your registration with a date and time stamp.

I hope for democracy —which is why I educate and prepare myself for upcoming elections. I pull on my volunteer shirt and I set up a table to register voters. I talk to young people. I try to hear their vast perspectives. I remind myself, as well as others, that our vote requires follow-up action and that we are the true watchdogs of our own freedoms. Beyond our own acts as citizens, we also desperately need elected officials who seek to expand opportunities, rather than suppress them.

Colorado: Let people vote.

Our voices are ready to be heard.

Wilmot, of Denver, is a 2012 graduate of the University of Denver and a Media Intern at the ACLU of Colorado.

In a letter dated July 16, 2012, attorneys for the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) of Colorado demanded that Arapahoe County Sheriff J. Grayson Robinson rescind a recent Sheriff’s Office alert titled “Gypsy Scams” that could result in the racial profiling of persons described by the Sheriff’s Office as “Gypsies.”

The Sheriff’s Office bulletin describes a “Gypsy” as a “medium to dark complexioned Caucasian” with “dark hair and dark eyes” who “are often mistaken as Hispanic.” In the document, the Sheriff’s Office warns that “Gypsies” target the elderly and commit major crimes like home repair frauds and burglaries.

In the ACLU letter, Staff Attorney Sara Rich noted that the Sheriff’s physical description of “Gypsies” covered a wide swatch of the population, and the Sheriff’s warning that this group commits major crimes “can only serve to heighten any preexisting biases that community members may already have against ethnic groups that fit this general description, including Latinos.”

The letter criticizes the Sheriff for encouraging the community to regard persons as suspicious on the basis of physical appearance and thereby “subjecting countless innocent individuals to the risk of potential discrimination and harassment.”

“The investigation of crime should focus on behavior, not complexion,” said Mark Silverstein, ACLU Legal Director. “To avoid racial profiling, law enforcement must discard ethnic stereotypes and focus on specific evidence about specific individuals. When communicating with the public, law enforcement must be especially careful to reject profiling and ethnic stereotyping.”

The ACLU’s letter noted that similar police bulletins targeting persons described as “Gypsies” prompted litigation charging a New Jersey police department with illegal racial profiling. In that case, the court said it was “disturbed” by police department alerts which sweepingly referred to “Gypsies” as “transient criminal families and individuals.”

The ACLU demanded that the “Gypsy Scam” bulletin be immediately rescinded. Attorneys for the organization also asked that the Sheriff issue a public statement that: 1) retracts previous comments about so-called “Gypsy scams” and 2) condemns discrimination against any person based on race, ethnicity or physical appearance.

Invoking the Colorado open records laws, the ACLU also demanded that the Sheriff release copies of its records related to “Gypsies” and “Gypsy scams” in Arapahoe County.

Arapahoe County includes 13 incorporated cities and towns, including Aurora, Centennial and Littleton. According to the 2010 U.S. Census, the county has a population that exceeds 572,000 people. In the 2010 Census, nearly 20 percent of households responding self-identified as Hispanic or non-White.

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