The Colorado Independent

Politics

‘He Was Freaking’: Friend Says Clements Suspect Flailed from Years of Isolation

By | 03.26.13 | 10:08 am

DENVER– In the weeks before his death, Evan Ebel, suspected killer of Colorado Department of Corrections Director Tom Clements, had broken ties with white supremacist prison gang 211 Crew and was debilitated by the transition from prolonged isolation to social contact, according to a friend and former fellow inmate.

Colorado Muslims Disgusted with Biased Clements Murder Coverage

By | 03.22.13 | 10:11 am

News surrounding the murder Tuesday of Colorado Department of Corrections Chief Tom Clements centers now on white supremacist suspect Evan Ebel, who was captured clinically dead yesterday afternoon in a hail of bullets after a 100 mile-per-hour car chase ended in a wreck near Fort Worth, Texas.

Slain Colorado Corrections Chief Clements No Friend to Prison Culture Inertia

By | 03.21.13 | 9:21 am

Prison work is an insular occupation. Corrections officials tend to inhabit a culture unto themselves– tight-lipped, low profile and tough as nails. Tom Clements was an exception.

Colorado Death Penalty Repeal Testimony: ‘Flashbacks Still Haunt Me Today’

By | 03.20.13 | 2:49 pm

DENVER— Lawmakers considering a bill that would end capital punishment in Colorado heard 10 hours of emotional testimony here Tuesday, including statements by a former state prisons chief and a former district court judge. The men said the death penalty…

Widely Cited Anti-Gay Study Meant to Sway High Court, Docs Show

By | 03.12.13 | 9:09 am

The conservatives who bankrolled a widely cited but flawed academic study critical of gay parents timed its release to influence “major decisions of the Supreme Court” on gay marriage, documents show.

Udall Endorses Brennan for CIA Director, Underlines Need for Greater Oversight

By | 03.07.13 | 3:15 pm

In the wake of an historic Senate filibuster over the murky U.S. laws governing drone strikes, Colorado Senator Mark Udall on Thursday urged his colleagues to confirm John Brennan as the new director of the CIA.

Feds Probe Denver for Violating Deaf Prisoner Rights

By | 03.04.13 | 11:27 am

The federal Justice Department is investigating Denver for failing to provide sign-language interpreters for deaf prisoners. Investigators are seeking to determine whether Denver – which touts itself as “one of America’s most accessible cities” — is violating the Americans with Disabilities Act.

Sequester Could Lead to Large Cuts to AIDS Treatment Programs

By | 02.28.13 | 6:58 am

The AIDS Drug Assistance Program is among the many federal programs that will take a hit if $85 billion in across-the-board spending cuts go through March 1, and those cuts could potentially lead to an increase in HIV transmission, the White House said Sunday in a report on the anticipated state-by-state impacts of the so-called sequester.

Attorneys, Scholars Raise Questions about Constitutionality of Colorado Death Penalty

By | 02.27.13 | 6:55 am

Colorado’s death penalty is not only massively expensive, critics say it is also unconstitutional because it is so randomly sought.

Appeals Exhausted for Colorado Chuck E. Cheese’s Killer

By | 02.19.13 | 4:36 pm

The United States Supreme Court on Tuesday declined to hear the appeal of death-row prisoner Nathan Dunlap, the Colorado man convicted of the 1993 murder of four employees at an Aurora Chuck E. Cheese’s restaurant. Dunlap’s fate is now in the hands of Governor John Hickenlooper.