The Colorado Independent

Friday, February 10th, 2012

Posts Tagged Colorado Latino Forum

Defiant Coffman sure to turn to middle in new tossup 6th District

By | 11.15.11 | 10:09 am

In his more than 20-year political career, Colorado 6th District Republican Congressman Mike Cofffman has never lost an election. Before heading to Capitol Hill, he was a state representative and senator, then state treasurer and then briefly secretary of state. Among insiders, it has been accepted as a given that Coffman is planning to take a run in 2014 at Democratic U.S. Senator Mark Udall’s seat. Any future Coffman political plans, however, were complicated Thursday, when Denver District Judge Robert Hyatt put the 6th District GOP stronghold into play by paring off large swaths of mostly white suburbs south of Denver and including more urban, working-class and Latino regions to the north.

Colorado’s new informed-consent bill celebrated as tool to fight racial profiling

By | 05.04.10 | 11:03 am

DENVER– On Monday lawmakers and civil rights activists celebrated Governor Bill Ritter signing into law the so-called informed consent bill, which requires police to tell people they have a right to refuse to be searched during interaction with authorities. Although the bill drew rare bipartisan support in the fractious legislature this session, supporters were concerned that Ritter, a long-time tough District Attorney loath to dilute law enforcement power, might veto the bill. He didn’t, which was cause for celebration.

Consent-to-search bill takes aim at racial profiling

By | 02.24.10 | 9:16 am

DENVER– Backed by a coalition of citizens’ rights groups, Democratic lawmakers Rep. Karen Middleton of Aurora and Sen. Pat Steadman of Denver introduced a bill that would require police to inform citizens of their right to refuse voluntary searches. The groups backing the bill believe it would limit traffic stops and searches that stem from discrimination.

State Latino leaders warm to Ritter, dismiss top Republicans

By | 12.16.09 | 3:03 pm

DENVER– Gov. Bill Ritter shored up support with the state’s growing number of Latino voters Tuesday, appearing with a group of roughly 40 of the community’s leaders, who came to the downtown Auraria campus to endorse him as the best choice for governor in 2010. In discussions with the Colorado Independent, Latino leaders at the event made it clear that Ritter has been working hard to smooth relationships with the community and to address grievances. They also made it clear that Ritter’s Republican rivals have moved in the opposite direction, their recent efforts further alienating Colorado Latinos.

Hot-button immigration issues mostly a 2010 campaign distraction

By | 11.02.09 | 10:50 am

While serious discussion of immigration policy reform has been generally avoided for the past year, the politics of immigration have weaved their way through the health care debate as a pet topic on the right, spurring some of the most heated exchanges in blog comment threads, at town hall meetings and, of course, in a joint session of Congress in September, when South Carolina Congressman Joe Wilson broke U.S. House decorum by shouting out “you lie” and waving a finger at President Obama for denying that national health care legislation would provide free coverage for illegal immigrants.

Latino groups say ‘Basta!’ to Dobbs, call on CNN to exile him to FOX

By | 10.13.09 | 2:47 pm

CNN next week is airing a series called “Latino in America” in which Soledad O’Brien will explore and celebrate the ways the exploding U.S. Latino population is shaping the country. But isn’t CNN the same station that airs the…

Forest Service warns Coloradans: Beware of camping Latinos

By | 08.28.09 | 6:41 pm

In a presentation on recent discoveries of major marijuana-cultivation operations in Colorado, the U.S. Forest Service said it suspected an international cartel was behind the state’s hidden weed farms. Officials issued a warning that asked forest visitors to look…