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In California, secession question could be headed to ballot, but some wonder whether state can leave union
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Courthouse News Service, National

In California, secession question could be headed to ballot, but some wonder whether state can leave union

By Alan Riquelmy  | Courthouse News Service It’s a long way to 546,651 signatures, but Marcus Ruiz Evans feels good that this time he can do it. Evans, with the Calexit movement, has until July 22 to get those signatures — a requirement for his proposed ballot question to reach voters in the November 2028 election. The question: “Should California leave the United States and become a free and independent country?” READ THE FULL STORY AT COURTHOUSE NEWS SERVICE
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Fifth Circuit declares age restrictions on adult handgun purchases unconstitutional
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Courthouse News Service, National

Fifth Circuit declares age restrictions on adult handgun purchases unconstitutional

By Christina van Waasbergen  | Courthouse News Service A Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals panel ruled Thursday that a decades-old federal law banning handgun purchases by 18 to 20-year-olds violates the Second Amendment. The ruling is an about-face from a prior ruling where the appeals court initially found the law constitutional in 2012. The three-judge panel attributed the switch up to the U.S. Supreme Court's landmark 2022 decision in New York State Rifle & Pistol Association Inc. v. Bruen, which held that gun restrictions must be consistent with the historical tradition of firearm regulation in the U.S. "Ultimately, the text of the Second Amendment includes eighteen-to-twenty-year-old individuals among 'the people' whose right to keep and bear arms is protected. The fed...
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Elementary student argues being required to remove ‘Come and Take It’ hat was 1st Amendment violation
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Courthouse News Service, National

Elementary student argues being required to remove ‘Come and Take It’ hat was 1st Amendment violation

By Kevin Koeninger | Courthouse News Service Students do not abandon their First Amendment rights when they enter the classroom — and a hat depicting an assault rifle is not threatening or inappropriate, a Michigan father argued Thursday at the Sixth Circuit, seeking to overturn a lower court loss in the lawsuit he filed on behalf of his daughter. Adam Stroub's daughter C.S. was in third grade in February 2022 when her school had "hat day" and encouraged students to wear their favorite hats. She decided on a hat she had given to her father: a black baseball cap with a star above an assault rifle and the phrase "come and take it" in block letters. Administrators at Kerr Elementary School in Durand, Michigan, forced her to take it off. READ THE FULL STORY AT COURTHOUSE NEWS SERVI...
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Top Aurora police crime analyst faces nine counts of official misconduct: ‘I shouldn’t have done it’
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CBS Colorado, Local

Top Aurora police crime analyst faces nine counts of official misconduct: ‘I shouldn’t have done it’

By Brian Maass | CBS Colorado The Aurora Police Department's top crime analyst, Frank Fredericks, 60, was charged this week with nine counts of official misconduct. In a phone call Wednesday evening, Fredericks admitted he used department computers for non-law enforcement purposes. "I ran a query on my husband to obtain a VIN on a vehicle that is in his name. Is it wrong, yes," said Fredericks. "I shouldn't have done it." Court records show the nine charges were filed Monday and stem from incidents between March 22, 2023, and April 29, 2024. Fredericks resigned from the Aurora Police Department June 17, 2024, after about 18 months on the job. He said he resigned due to a difference of opinion with APD command staff over an internal reorganization. READ THE FULL STORY AT CBS ...
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ACLU lawsuit claims Aurora landlords violated law in threatening to report tenants to ICE
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CBS Colorado, Local

ACLU lawsuit claims Aurora landlords violated law in threatening to report tenants to ICE

By Austen Erblat | CBS Colorado The ACLU of Colorado has filed a lawsuit against a pair of Aurora landlords who the civil rights group accuses of threatening tenants, in violation of state law.  An ACLU spokesman says the threats violate Colorado's Immigrant Tenant Protection Act and filed a civil suit in Arapahoe County District Court on Monday. According to the suit, Avi Schwalb and Nancy Dominguez of PHS Rent LLC threatened to report two tenants and their children, aged 15 and 3, to ICE. Reached by phone Tuesday afternoon, Dominguez declined to comment. The ACLU says the couple, who are not identified in the lawsuit, have pending asylum cases with the U.S. READ THE FULL STORY AT CBS COLORADO
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Colorado files lawsuit against apartment rental manager of 45,000 units for ‘junk fees’
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The Center Square, State

Colorado files lawsuit against apartment rental manager of 45,000 units for ‘junk fees’

By Elyse Apel | The Center Square The Colorado Attorney General's office filed a lawsuit against apartment rental company Greystar for charging “junk fees.” The lawsuit was filed in Denver federal district court against Greystar, which is one of the largest providers of rental housing in Colorado managing approximately 45,000 units. “I will continue fighting for fair treatment of all Colorado renters,” said Colorado Attorney General Phil Weiser. The lawsuit alleges that Greystar has, since 2019, “used deceptive advertising to entice consumers into applying for rental housing, and then bilked those consumers out of hundreds of millions of dollars by charging ‘Hidden Fees.’” READ THE FULL STORY AT THE CENTER SQUARE
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Colorado, 13 other states, reach $7.4 billion settlement over opioid crisis
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denvergazette.com, State

Colorado, 13 other states, reach $7.4 billion settlement over opioid crisis

By Sage Kelley | The Denver Gazette The Colorado Attorney General's Office, along with 14 other states, helped secure a $7.4 billion settlement with Purdue Pharma and the Sackler family over its role in fueling the ongoing opioid crisis. The resolution comes on the heels of a previous settlement that was rejected by the U.S. Supreme Court in June 2024. The new agreement is more than $1 billion more than the initial settlement. Purdue Pharma is the maker of OxyContin, a powerful prescription painkiller that has been a significant factor in the opioid epidemic striking the country since 2011. READ THE FULL STORY AT THE DENVER GAZETTE
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Denver appeals $14M jury award in 2020 George Floyd protest case
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coloradopolitics.com, Local

Denver appeals $14M jury award in 2020 George Floyd protest case

By Michael Karlik | Colorado Politics Denver has moved to appeal a nearly $14 million judgment against the city, after jurors found police officers violated a group of plaintiffs' constitutional rights in their response to 2020 protests. The case is one of several filed in Colorado's federal trial court over the use of projectiles and chemical weapons against demonstrations in downtown Denver. Protesters assembled in Denver and other cities after bystander video captured a Minneapolis police officer kneeling on George Floyd’s neck, causing his death. A 2022 jury trial before U.S. District Court Senior Judge R. Brooke Jackson resulted in a favorable verdict for the injured plaintiffs. The parties continued to address other issues after trial and Jackson entered a final judgment in ...
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Missy Woods case could plant necessary doubt within DNA testing, judicial system, DA Brauchler says
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kdvr.com, State

Missy Woods case could plant necessary doubt within DNA testing, judicial system, DA Brauchler says

By Gabby Easterwood | KDVR-TV Fox 31 News Officials said that after the filing of Missy Woods’ felony charges, re-trials and multiple strains on the justice system could be next. Woods, the former Colorado Bureau of Investigation DNA analyst, had her first court appearance Thursday morning. This comes after she was charged with 102 felonies related to alleged tampering and excluding of DNA evidence. There are 58 cases impacted, ranging from homicides to robberies to sexual assaults and sexual assaults on children. READ THE FULL STORY AT KDVR-TV FOX 31 NEWS
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‘An elephant is not a person’ and doesn’t enjoy same liberties, Colorado Supreme Court decides
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kdvr.com, Local

‘An elephant is not a person’ and doesn’t enjoy same liberties, Colorado Supreme Court decides

By Jacob Factor | KDVR-TV Fox 31 News “An elephant is not a person” and is not afforded the same liberties as a person under the Colorado Constitution, the Colorado Supreme Court decided Tuesday. The state’s highest court upheld an El Paso County District Court decision that decided five elephants at the Cheyenne Mountain Zoo were not included in state liberty statutes. The petitioner, the Nonhuman Rights Project, had argued the animals should be included and should be moved to a sanctuary “because they are autonomous and extraordinarily cognitively and socially complex beings,” according to the opinion announcement. Cheyenne Mountain Zoo officials in a statement claimed the Nonhuman Rights Project is “abusing court systems to fundraise” by publicizing “sensational” court cas...
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