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Tag: 1st Amendment

Federal judge gives The Rock Church injunction against Town of Castle Rock to shelter homeless
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CBS Colorado, Local

Federal judge gives The Rock Church injunction against Town of Castle Rock to shelter homeless

By Austen Erblat | CBS Colorado A Colorado church that sued the Town of Castle Rock over its ability to shelter homeless people on church grounds saw a win in court on Friday after a federal judge granted the church a preliminary injunction against the town. The Rock Church has sheltered homeless people in RVs on its property since 2019, calling it their religious duty to help those in need. But on at least three separate occasions, in 2021, 2022 and again in 2023, town officials blocked their efforts, saying they violated zoning laws. The church, in response, said this violated its 1st Amendment rights to religious freedom, as well as the Religious Land Use And Institutionalized Persons Act. In January, the church sued the town. "The Holy Bible specifically and repea...
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Coloradans have standing to sue over open meetings violations — no matter where they live, court finds
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Colorado Freedom of Information, State

Coloradans have standing to sue over open meetings violations — no matter where they live, court finds

By Jeffrey A. Roberts | Colorado Freedom of Information Coalition A Pagosa Springs attorney who has filed nearly 100 open-government lawsuits in the past several years has standing to sue the Elizabeth school board for alleged open meetings law violations even though he lives 300 miles away, the Colorado Court of Appeals ruled Thursday. Shutting down arguments made by the school district, the Colorado Association of School Boards and the Colorado Rural Schools Alliance, the state’s second-highest court concluded that the Colorado Open Meetings Law “creates a legally protected interest in favor of at least every natural person in Colorado — including the plaintiff here — in having public bodies conduct public business in compliance with the OML.” The school district had accused Mat...
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McCall: Government has no business trying to ‘save’ journalism 
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Commentary, National, THE HILL

McCall: Government has no business trying to ‘save’ journalism 

By JEFFREY M. MCCALL | The Hill It seems everybody wants to “save” the journalism industry these days, except for the people who matter most — news consumers.   Citizens have been turning away from establishment news sources for some time. Audiences no longer trust news outlets to be fair, and this decline in media credibility has caused readers and viewers to disengage from the news. That necessarily leads to lost revenue for news organizations, layoffs of journalists and, ultimately, the closing of news outlets. There is no doubt: the journalism industry is suffering.  Legislators across the country are hopping on their white horses to ride to the rescue, with several states approving various measures to prop up the news industry with...
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Elon Musk’s ‘X’ tops list of companies trampling on the 1st Amendment
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National, The Daily Signal

Elon Musk’s ‘X’ tops list of companies trampling on the 1st Amendment

By Hudson Crozier  | The Daily Signal Several major U.S. companies continue to flout First Amendment freedoms, according to a legal group’s new analysis and rankings.  Alliance Defending Freedom’s annual Viewpoint Diversity Score Business Index ranks dozens of corporations based on their “respect for free speech and religious freedoms” both inside and outside of the companies.  In its third edition, announced Tuesday, the Top 10 list of shame for flouting those freedoms includes many companies on the same list last year. The companies’ scores ranged from 1% to 100%, measuring 43 different factors, including employee trainings, charitable donations, and various policies for consumers that reveal ideological bias.   ADF, a Scottsdale, Ariz.-based legal no...
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First Amendment expert: Proposal from Democratic leaders ‘completely’ exempts lawmakers from open meeting laws
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coloradopolitics.com, State

First Amendment expert: Proposal from Democratic leaders ‘completely’ exempts lawmakers from open meeting laws

By Luige Del Puerto | Colorado Politics Leaders of the Colorado General Assembly, along with several Democratic members, are seeking sweeping exemptions for lawmakers from the state's open meetings law, which contains guarantees of transparency when officials craft policies. The exemptions only apply to the legislature, not to other policymaking bodies such as a city council or county commission.   It's not immediately clear if the proposal is a direct response to a lawsuit filed in July against leaders of both House caucuses. That lawsuit from two Democratic legislators claimed the Democratic and GOP caucuses each held mandatory secret meetings at least weekly during the 2023 legislative session, directing legislative aides to omit or disguise the meetings on legislators' calenda...
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