News & Commentary

Based on news stories, video, and reports from participants and legal observers at Occupy Denver, attorneys at the ACLU are concerned that what had initially been characterized as a policy of admirable restraint in regard to activists at the Occupy Denver site has now evolved into an unwise policy of unnecessarily confrontational and provocative police tactics.

The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) of Colorado announces that former White House staff member Denise Maes will join the ACLU as Director of Public Policy, succeeding Jessie Ulibarri, who has resigned his position.

In an announcement today, the ACLU of Colorado praised the Colorado Department of Corrections (CDOC) for adopting a new Administrative Regulation—drafted after months of collaborative negotiation with ACLU attorneys—that puts a stop to a practice the ACLU had criticized as unconstitutional corporal punishment. The newly-revised regulation prohibits CDOC officials from chaining and shackling compliant prisoners for extended periods of time when those prisoners are safely locked alone inside maximum-security prison cells.

WASHINGTON - The American Civil Liberties Union national office today filed a federal lawsuit against a former high-level White House staffer for enacting a policy that unlawfully excluded individuals perceived to be critical of the administration from public events where President Bush was present. The policy is laid out in an October 2002 "Presidential Advance Manual" obtained by the ACLU.

For the third year in a row, the ACLU of Colorado's nominee for the national ACLU Youth Activist Scholarship has been selected to receive the $4,000 award. Established in 2000, the scholarship honors graduating seniors who have demonstrated a strong commitment to civil liberties and civil rights through some form of student activism.

WASHINGTON - The American Civil Liberties Union and the National Abortion Federation (NAF) today sharply criticized a decision by the U.S. Supreme Court upholding a federal law banning certain abortions. It is the first abortion decision from the Supreme Court since Justice Sandra Day O'Connor retired. Both organizations said that the Court's decision will endanger women's health.

The ACLU of Colorado added two new staffers in January, hiring Development Assistant Caryn Osterman and Communications Associate Erik Maulbetsch.

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.

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: