Thank you to the loyal readers and supporters of The Colorado Independent (2013-2020). The Indy has merged with the new nonprofit Colorado News Collaborative (COLab) on a new mission to strengthen local news in Colorado. We hope you will join us!

Visit COLab

Criminal Justice

Kamyar Samimi was 64-years-old when he died, shortly after being detained in the GEO Group immigration detention facility in Aurora. (Photo from an ACLU of Colorado report.)

ACLU sues GEO Group and doctor for wrongful death of immigrant detainee in Aurora...

The ACLU of Colorado sued the GEO Group today for what it alleges was the wrongful death of a Thornton man at the private...
Still shot from the dashboard camera on former Rangely Police Lt. Roy Kinney's patrol car as he chased Daniel Pierce through the desert. The December 10, 2018 pursuit ended when Kinney fatally shot Pierce.

Through the Cracks: A stranger, a police shooting, and a small town’s silence ...

RANGELY – No one seems to know why Daniel Pierce settled in this northwestern Colorado town last year after his wife in Missouri and...
Former Rangely Police Lt. Roy Kinney at his kitchen table, breaking months of silence about the man he killed and job he lost in a December 2018 shooting. (Photo by Susan Greene)

Through the Cracks: A stranger, a police shooting, and a rural town’s silence (Part...

Editor's note: This is the second of a two-part collaboration between The Colorado Independent and The Rio Blanco Herald Times. We posted the first part, linked...

Reformers double down on death penalty repeal Abolishing the death penalty could test collegiality...

Helen Griffiths stood beside a wooden podium inside the Second Baptist Church in Boulder on Monday and delivered a well-rehearsed presentation to about two...
Still shot from the dashboard camera on former Rangely Police Lt. Roy Kinney's patrol car as he chased Daniel Pierce through the desert. The December 10, 2018 pursuit ended when Kinney fatally shot Pierce.

Through the Cracks: A stranger, a police shooting, and a rural town’s silence (Part...

Editor's note: This is part one of a two-part collaboration between The Colorado Independent and The Rio Blanco Herald Times. We will post the...

Private prisons on the chopping block next legislative session  A proposed bill would open...

Democratic lawmakers are moving ahead with plans to begin closing private prisons in Colorado.  The Prison Population Management Interim Study Committee passed a proposed bill...

Survivors of child sex abuse by Catholic priests call for Colorado statute of limitations...

Survivors of child sex abuse by Catholic priests are calling for reforms to Colorado's statute of limitations for such crimes in the wake of...

Report: Sexual abuse of children went on for decades in Colorado’s Catholic church 166...

At least 166 children were sexually abused by 43 Catholic priests in Colorado over the past 70 years, according to an independent investigator's report...

Polis sets up new board to help determine who deserves clemency for past convictions...

Correction: This story was updated on Feb. 27 to indicate the governor's office will hear clemency request for death penalty cases, not the advisory...

Ask The Indy: Why didn’t the judge release Sam Mandez? He'll be out of...

After more than half a lifetime in prison — nearly all of that in solitary confinement — Sam Mandez got some good news last...