Wednesday’s Democratic primary debate featured exactly one moment of profound import. When Colorado’s own Sen. Michael Bennet proclaimed “equal is not equal,” he highlighted the tragic legacy left in the shadow of one of our country’s most celebrated court cases, Brown v. Board of Education. Sixty-five years after the Supreme Court ordered public schools desegregated, […]
Mario Nicolais
Special to The Colorado Sun
Twitter: @MarioNicolaiEsq
Posted inOpinion, Opinion Columns
Nicolais: IT’S ALIVE! Colorado’s undead TABOR lawsuit lurches forward
Colorado’s Frankenstein case against TABOR, Kerr v. Hickenlooper, rose from the dead — again — earlier this week. After a panel of the 10th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals found several plaintiffs had proper standing, the case seems posed to lurch back into federal court. Or not. Either way, the case has officially taken a […]
Posted inOpinion, Opinion Columns
Nicolais: Will political purity tests catch up to Colorado Democrats?
Before President Trump’s latest incendiary comments diverted the attention of the political media, Democrats in Washington, D.C., appeared to be barreling toward an intra-party showdown between traditional powers and upstart progressives. What happens if Colorado Democrats follow suit? For most of the past two decades, Colorado Democrats have been unified in a sole, all-encompassing mission: […]
Posted inOpinion, Opinion Columns
Nicolais: How a prison gang-rape led to a glimmer of hope
Prison terrifies most people. For members of the LGBTQ community — particularly transgender individuals — the prospect is even more grim. While it won’t eliminate that disparity, the recent settlement between a transgender Colorado inmate and the Colorado Department of Corrections represents a positive step in the right direction. Last year Lindsay Saunders-Velez reported several […]
Posted inOpinion, Opinion Columns
Nicolais: Colorado Republicans must move from “r-e-c-a-l-l” to “r-e-b-u-i-l-d”
A picture of state Sen. Brittany Pettersen surrounded by volunteers recently popped up in my social media feed. Packed several rows deep and bridging a city street, the volunteers congregated to help Pettersen battle a nascent recall campaign against her. The picture and its context exposed the divergent effects recent recall efforts have had in […]
Posted inOpinion, Opinion Columns
Nicolais: USA soccer’s Megan Rapinoe delivers another perfect cross into the mix
Megan Rapinoe caught the attention of social media and the president alike with a perfectly placed f-bomb in response to whether she would visit the White House. Colorado’s growing soccer community almost certainly grinned knowingly over the exchange. It isn’t the first time Rapinoe has delivered a deadly accurate lob into a heated battlefield. My […]
Posted inOpinion, Opinion Columns, Politics and Government
Nicolais: More than TABOR suffered defeat in the Colorado Supreme Court’s recent decision
The potential demise of the Taxpayers Bill of Rights, TABOR, will dominate political discussion in Colorado for much of the next six months. The Colorado Supreme Court decision that cleared the path for that debate may contain an even more potent and far-reaching consequence: the weakening of stare decisis and judicial precedent. When the opinion […]
Posted inOpinion, Opinion Columns, Politics and Government
Nicolais: Colorado Court of Appeals alters the 2020 landscape for politically active organizations
A little heralded decision by the Colorado Court of Appeals could cause headaches for politically active organizations involved in Colorado’s 2020 elections. In an unpublished opinion, the court of appeals affirmed that Colorado Pioneer Action – a nonprofit organization run by former congressman and GOP gubernatorial candidate Bob Beauprez – qualified as a “political committee” […]
Posted inOpinion, Opinion Columns
Nicolais: Jamie Giellis didn’t just lose the Denver mayoral race, Hancock’s team won it
Campaigns matter. More specifically, competent professional campaigns matter. The runoff election for Denver mayor put an exclamation point on that adage. The shortcomings of the Jamie Giellis campaign and her many unforced errors earned plenty of attention from mainstream and social media alike. But in hindsight, the quietly effective campaign for Michael Hancock made several […]
Posted inOpinion, Opinion Columns
Nicolais: Jena Griswold is playing politics and undercutting a long history of excellence
Colorado Secretary of State Jena Griswold recently made it clear she prioritizes political posturing over sound public policy. Less than six months into her term, Griswold has already destabilized the reputation her predecessors — both Republican and Democratic — worked to build around fair, nonpolitical excellence. For Coloradans fed up with partisan politics, Griswold’s actions […]