The Colorado Independent

Justice/Civil Liberties

Poll: Wide majority of Americans now favor legalizing pot

By | 05.22.12 | 4:38 pm

According to a Rasmussen poll of 1000 adults conducted May 12 and released last week, American voters favor legalizing marijuana by a margin of 56 percent to 36 percent.

Speaker McNulty sends civil unions bill to House kill committee

By | 05.14.12 | 12:24 pm

DENVER– Republican House Speaker Frank McNulty in the first hours of a special session of the legislature called to consider a gay-rights civil unions bill has effectively assured that bill’s death, assigning it to the hardline Republican-controlled State, Veterans and Military Affairs Committee.

Colorado Republicans vote to fund fed war on medical marijuana

By | 05.11.12 | 11:33 am

An amendment to the U.S. House Appropriations Bill that would have required the Department of Justice to stand down in pursuing cases against the medical marijuana industry failed Wednesday night on a mostly party line vote. Colorado’s seven-member delegation split on the amendment, with Democrats voting in favor and Republicans voting against.

Nikkel casts key vote to advance Colorado civil unions bill

By | 05.04.12 | 7:50 am

DENVER– The House Judiciary Committee voted Thursday evening to advance a state civil unions bill that would grant legal recognition to same-sex couples. The bill died in the same Republican-controlled committee last year but on Thursday won the deciding vote of Loveland Republican Rep. B.J. Nikkel.

Police return stash to Colorado man acquitted of felony marijuana charges

By | 05.03.12 | 8:46 am

Josh Jones was acquitted last week of felony charges stemming from his role as a medical marijuana caregiver. As a result, the Jefferson County sheriff’s office returned marijuana confiscated from Jones during the raid at his house that took place more than a year ago.

Courts consistently allow flagrant discrimination against LGBT jurors

By | 05.01.12 | 7:39 am

“I believe that people who are either transsexuals or transvestites — I don’t know what the proper term is — traditionally are more liberal-minded thinking people, tend to associate more with the defendants because, obviously, they have been either ridiculed before or are feeling in a position of being in a microscope all the time and are outcasts which lends themselves to associating more with the defendant.”

Colorado marijuana initiative gets huge cash infusion

By | 04.27.12 | 5:08 pm

The national Marijuana Policy Project (MPP) announced today that it is contributing at least $694,000 to the Initiative to Regulate Marijuana Like Alcohol, also known as Amendment 64.

Sen. Spence makes conservative case for Colorado civil unions bill

By | 04.26.12 | 10:09 am

A bipartisan majority of the Colorado Senate on Wednesday passed a civil unions bill that would grant legal recognition to same-sex couples. Senator Nancy Spence from Centennial, one of the Republicans who voted in favor of the bill, argued that the legislation would bolster limited government and individual liberty, core conservative political values recognized by majorities of Republican voters in the state.

Supreme Court hears Arizona immigration case today

By | 04.25.12 | 7:19 am

The Supreme Court will hear arguments today on the legality of four provisions contained in Arizona’s immigration enforcement law. Analysts on both side of this issue say the court’s eventual decision will affect the future of state immigration laws across the U.S.

Boulder judge rejects bid to keep CU open for 4/20 pot protest

By | 04.20.12 | 10:58 am

A Boulder District Court judge last night rejected attorney Rob Corry’s bid to prevent the University of Colorado Boulder from shutting down campus today. The judge ruled the university administration is free to bar non-students from entering the grounds as part of an effort to force annual April 20 anti-drug war and pro-legalization marijuana advocates to assemble elsewhere.