With thousands of Coloradans no longer able to be seated at our dinner tables due to the ongoing pandemic, the loss for our state is a heavy one. Yet as Thanksgiving approaches, it’s also a much-needed reminder to reflect on what we can be grateful for. In addition to several outstanding actions by Coloradans below, […]
Phil Weiser
Posted inCrime and Courts, News
Aurora to improve use-of-force policies, hire more diverse first responders, per agreement with attorney general
Aurora’s police and fire departments have agreed to improve their use-of-force policies and training, develop a new system to collect data about police interactions with members of the community, and work to hire officers and firefighters that better reflect the city’s diversity as part of a consent decree with state prosecutors unveiled Tuesday. “The city […]
Posted inCrime and Courts, Equity, Health, Housing, News, Politics and Government
Nearly half of all people released from prison in Colorado return in 3 years. A $1.1 million program aims to reverse the trend.
The No. 1 concern state leaders are hearing from business owners is that it’s hard to find employees to fill their current job openings. And for that reason, the timing for a new initiative to encourage businesses to employ formerly incarcerated people in Colorado couldn’t come at a better time, Gov. Jared Polis said on […]
Posted inEducation, News, Politics and Government
Proposition 119, which would have raised Colorado marijuana taxes to pay for out-of-school learning, fails
Colorado voters on Tuesday rejected a proposal to increase taxes on recreational marijuana to pay for out-of-school support services for students like tutoring and therapy. Supporters of Proposition 119 admitted defeat at about 8:30 p.m. With more than a million ballots counted at 10 p.m., the measure was failing with 54% rejecting the initiative and […]
Posted inNews, Politics and Government
Amendment 78: Colorado voters will decide if lawmakers should have more oversight of state spending
A measure on Colorado’s November ballot asks voters to change the way the state approves spending money from the federal government, legal settlements and other non-state sources. Amendment 78 would require the Colorado General Assembly to determine how the state uses what it defines as “custodial money,” funding the state receives from outside sources for […]
Posted inCrime and Courts, News
3 caregivers charged in death of 86-year-old at Grand Junction assisted living facility
Three caregivers have been charged in the death of an 86-year-old woman who investigators say was left outside a Grand Junction assisted living facility in the heat for six hours in June, the Colorado Attorney General’s Office said Tuesday. Caregivers Jamie Johnston, 30, Jenny Logan, 50 and Letticia Martinez, 27, are accused of negligent death […]
Posted inCrime and Courts, News, Politics and Government
Aurora police consistently break the law through racially biased policing and excessive force, attorney general finds
The Aurora Police Department consistently violates state and federal law in a pattern of racially biased policing and excessive use of force, the Colorado Attorney General’s Office concluded after a year-long investigation into the agency. The department, which has been mired in a string of headline-grabbing controversies in recent years, also fails to record legally […]
Posted inHealth, News, Politics and Government
Colorado attorney general and 19 others back South Carolina abortion law challenge
By Meg Kinnard, The Associated Press Twenty Democratic attorneys general, including Colorado’s Phil Weiser, have voiced their support for a lawsuit challenging South Carolina’s new abortion law, arguing that the restrictive measure could harm their states by taxing resources if women cross borders to seek care. “The effects of the law are not confined to […]
Posted inOpinion, Opinion Columns
Carman: A mother’s grief turns to long-overdue action in justice for Elijah McClain
When Attorney General Phil Weiser stood behind a microphone to announce the indictment of three cops and two paramedics in the death of Elijah McClain on Wednesday, his tone was somber and resolute. “Our goal,” the grave-faced Weiser said, “is to seek justice for Elijah McClain, for his family and friends, and for our state.” […]
Posted inCrime and Courts, News, Politics and Government
6 ways Colorado’s laws have recently changed to prevent another death like Elijah McClain’s
Elijah McClain’s death two years ago inspired a wave of new laws from the Colorado legislature and Gov. Jared Polis aimed at preventing something similar from ever happening again. From new rules on how and when the powerful sedative ketamine can be administered in situations involving law enforcement to a ban on neck holds, Colorado […]