The following story contains graphic details from a child sexual assault case that could be objectionable to some readers. When Senon Louis Ramirez’s conviction for sexually assaulting one of his foster children was overturned last year because of a loophole in Colorado law, there was outrage over how such a gap could exist. But the […]
Cynthia Coffman
Posted inCrime and Courts, News, Politics and Government
Colorado’s new attorney general wants $4.2 million for organizational makeover as part of big shift from his GOP predecessor
It’s not just lawsuits against the Trump administration. Colorado’s new attorney general, Democrat Phil Weiser, has big plans to remake the office he oversees. And they’re not cheap. He’s seeking $4.2 million more in the next fiscal year than his Republican predecessor’s budget for priority initiatives and pay raises for his lawyers. The new spending […]
Posted inCrime and Courts, News
A Colorado law pays people for time they wrongly spent in prison. It’s helped only one person.
In 2013, as then-Gov. John Hickenlooper signed a law allowing people who had been wrongfully imprisoned to be compensated for the time they spent locked up, a man with a long goatee and a leather motorcycle vest stood behind him. That was Robert Dewey, who had been falsely convicted of murder and exonerated and who […]
Posted inCrime and Courts, News, Politics and Government
Colorado’s new attorney general plans legal action against Trump administration over health care, citizenship question
Colorado’s new attorney general on Wednesday outlined a list of legal challenges he plans to either join or explore joining against the Trump administration, starting with lawsuits aiming to protect the Affordable Care Act. Phil Weiser said his priority is to sign Colorado onto a challenge with other Democratic state attorneys general appealing a federal […]
Posted inCrime and Courts, News, Politics and Government
Cynthia Coffman once had a bright political future. Here’s what Colorado’s GOP attorney general has to say as she leaves office.
Attorney General Cynthia Coffman is leaving her post Tuesday, marking an end to one of the more dramatic departures from power in Colorado’s recent political history. It would have been hard to imagine four years ago that the rising Republican star would fail to land on her party’s 2018 primary ballot for governor, let alone […]
Posted inColoradans, Education, Health, News
First-of-its-kind study of Colorado suicides reveals traumatized communities — for reasons that differ across the state
Parents in the four Colorado counties with the highest rates of youth suicide used these words to describe their emotional state: paralysis, exhaustion, desperation and surrender. By surrender, the parents meant leaving their jobs to watch over their kids or “outright moving to other communities” to run away from a rash of youth suicides, according […]
Posted inNews, Opinion, Opinion Columns
Armstrong: How Colorado Republicans can rebuild
It’s official: Colorado is a blue state. Can Republicans recover? Democrats did far better even than I expected. I thought Wayne Williams would cruise to re-election for Secretary of State and that George Brauchler would edge out Phil Weiser for Attorney General. Wrong! My worry that Libertarian candidates might endanger key Republican victories now seems […]
Posted inCrime and Courts, News
A jury acquitted Clarence Moses-EL of rape after 28 years in prison. But is that enough for him to be repaid for his time behind bars?
When Clarence Moses-EL walked out of a Denver courthouse two years ago after a jury in a new trial found him not guilty of a crime for which he had already served 28 years in prison, he felt free. “This moment is a moment I’ve fought for for a long time,” he told The Denver […]
Posted in2018 Voter Guide, Coloradans, News, Politics and Government
How Donald Trump, guns and cash spelled an end to Mike Coffman’s decade in Congress
Days before the election, U.S. Rep. Mike Coffman stood at a busy intersection in the 6th Congressional District waving campaign signs and smiling at passing motorists, searching for any sign that he might keep his job. His 30-year political career hung in the balance, and the five-term incumbent Republican from Aurora acknowledged that he was […]
Posted inEducation, Health, News, Politics and Government
New youth mental health initiative will promote statewide collaboration to prevent teen suicide
A children’s mental health initiative announced Tuesday could transform how Colorado identifies and treats kids and teens with depression, anxiety or eating disorders at the doctor and in the classroom. Attorney General Cynthia Coffman announced a $2.8 million grant to launch a collaboration between Children’s Hospital Colorado and Mental Health Colorado that state leaders called […]