The Colorado Independent

Justice/Civil Liberties

Obama drug policy: same as it ever was

By | 04.19.12 | 5:01 am

The White House Office of National Drug Control Policy issued its 2012 strategy Tuesday; opponents insist it maintains the same failed policies of prior administrations.

Labor leaders to Obama: Push Columbia harder to stem violence

By | 04.14.12 | 6:46 am

Richard Trumka, president of the AFL-CIO, and Leo W. Gerard, international president of the United Steelworkers, have called on President Obama to not certify the Colombia Free Trade Agreement during the sixth Summit of the Americas that will take place this weekend in Cartagena, Colombia.

Poll: Wide support in Colorado for same-sex civil unions

By | 04.13.12 | 12:48 pm

For years, credible surveys conducted among Colorado voters have found opinion in the state swinging strongly in favor of legal relationship recognition for gay couples. Results released Friday by North Carolina-based Public Policy Polling show the strongest support yet. Coloradans, according to a poll conducted last week (pdf), support a civil unions bill presently being considered by the state legislature by a whopping 30-point spread.

Catholic Bishops launch national ‘religious freedom’ campaign

By | 04.13.12 | 5:17 am

Catholic Bishops, one of the biggest opponents of the federal government’s decision to require health insurance companies to cover birth control as a preventive service, released a proclamation this week “calling for every priest, parish and layperson to participate in ‘great national campaign’ to defend religious liberty, which they said is ‘under attack, both at home and abroad,’” The New York Times reports.

Medical marijuana coalition asks U.S. Attorney Walsh to back off

By | 04.11.12 | 10:04 am

A coalition of 11 medical marijuana patient and business advocacy organizations – including the United Food and Commercial Workers Union – today sent a letter to U.S. Attorney John Walsh in response to Walsh’s call for the closure of 25 state-licensed medical marijuana businesses.

Colorado immigrants collateral damage in Catholic culture war

By | 04.11.12 | 6:54 am

Nicole Mosher, executive director of Durango-based nonprofit immigrant-aid organization Compañeros, is weighing how to keep her organization running effectively in light of the surprising news that the anti-poverty Catholic organization that supplies half of Companeros’ annual budget would likely end that support due to Compañeros’ indirect association with gay-rights group One Colorado.

VIDEO: Colombia President Santos calls for new look at War on Drugs

By | 04.10.12 | 10:53 am

Another Latin American president has called for a conversation about the U.S.-sponsored war on drugs during the sixth Summit of the Americas, which takes place next week in Cartagena, Colombia.

Colorado ‘religious freedom’ initiative moves step closer to 2012 ballot

By | 04.05.12 | 9:26 am

The Colorado Secretary of State’s title board on Wednesday approved language for a “religious freedom” ballot initiative submitted last month by Colorado Springs-based evangelical organization Focus on the Family. Supporters of the initiative can now begin collecting the roughly 86,000 valid voter signatures it will take to land the proposal on election ballots this November.

Denver coalition looks to feds to crack city’s alleged coddling of brutal cops

By | 03.21.12 | 6:00 am

Citing institutional weakness and failure, a Denver activist coalition is demanding federal authorities intervene to address police brutality in the city.

New voting restrictions in many states could impact election

By | 03.17.12 | 5:14 am

The Brennan Center for Justice at NYU’s School of Law, one of the foremost nonpartisan public-policy institutes focused on justice and democracy, reports that 70 percent of the 270 electoral votes needed to win the 2012 presidential election will now come from states with new restrictive voting laws, a statistic that could greatly affect the voter turnout and outcome of the upcoming election.