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Tag: Constitutional rights

Court Rules ICE Failed To Follow Warrantless Arrest Limits In Colorado
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DENVER7, Approved, State

Court Rules ICE Failed To Follow Warrantless Arrest Limits In Colorado

By Jessica Porter | Denver7 Agents are now barred from warrantless arrests pending mandatory training. DENVER — A federal judge has ruled that ICE violated a court order and the law by continuing to make unlawful warrantless arrests in Colorado. The ACLU of Colorado filed a lawsuit in October 2025 on behalf of four plaintiffs, alleging Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents arrested and detained people without warrants to fulfill quotas set by the Trump administration. Federal law only allows ICE agents to make warrantless arrests if an individual is a flight risk. In November 2025, a federal judge granted a preliminary injunction barring ICE from making warrantless arrests in Colorado. On May 12, a Colorado District Court judge ruled that...
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A Rodney King-era civil rights law drives the federal lawsuit over Colorado’s magazine ban
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Rocky Mountain Voice, State, Top Stories

A Rodney King-era civil rights law drives the federal lawsuit over Colorado’s magazine ban

By Jen Schumann | Rocky Mountain Voice Colorado's magazine ban has been challenged before. The surprise this time is not the Second Amendment argument. It is the DOJ’s decision to use a federal civil-rights law traditionally aimed at police misconduct investigations to make it. On May 5, federal attorneys filed against Denver over its assault-weapons ban. The next morning, they were back in court with another complaint—this one against the state, over the 15-round magazine limit. The law driving both lawsuits came out of the aftermath of Rodney King. Congress passed §12601 in 1994 after Los Angeles erupted in riots, giving the federal government authority to intervene when police departments repeatedly violated constitutional rights. DOJ has used the law fewer than 100 times in t...
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Polis Faces Decision On Bill Allowing Lawsuits Against Immigration Agents
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The Colorado Sun, Approved, State

Polis Faces Decision On Bill Allowing Lawsuits Against Immigration Agents

By Lucas Brady Woods | The Colorado Sun The measure would allow lawsuits in state court over alleged constitutional violations by federal immigration agents. The state legislature passed a bill Thursday that allows Colorado residents to sue federal immigration officers in state court over alleged constitutional rights violations. Supporters say the measure, Senate Bill 5, would fill a gap in the law that largely does not include a pathway for challenging conduct by federal officials, including immigration authorities like U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement or ICE. The bill still needs to be signed by Gov. Jared Polis before it becomes law “We’re creating a circumstance where, if ICE is violating your constitutional rights by unlawfully search...
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Senate Democrats Advance Plan To Redirect Millions In TABOR Refunds
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Colorado Politics, Approved, State

Senate Democrats Advance Plan To Redirect Millions In TABOR Refunds

By Marianne Goodland | Colorado Politics Despite objections from legislative staff and Republican opposition, Senate Democrats on Friday moved forward with a proposal to reroute $306 million in taxpayer refunds. Already, critics are preparing to sue over the proposal that seeks to take $300 million in Taxpayer’s Bill of Rights refunds over the next two years to cover what Democratic lawmakers believe is an overpayment from a previous fiscal year. House Bill 1419 won preliminary approval from the state Senate on Friday. It now awaits a final vote in the chamber and will then go back to the House, which must concur with any amendments adopted. The alleged overpayments in 2024–25 TABOR refunds were never reflected in the state’s 2024–25 budget because they stemmed ...
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Senate Panel Blocks Bill Expanding Lawsuits Against Government Officials
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Colorado Politics, Approved, State

Senate Panel Blocks Bill Expanding Lawsuits Against Government Officials

By Marissa Ventrelli | Colorado Politics A panel of Colorado legislators on Tuesday rejected legislation that would have allowed residents to sue federal and local officials in state court for alleged constitutional violations. Senate Bill 176 would have allowed individuals who have been subjected to a “deprivation of any rights, privileges, or immunities” afforded in the U.S. Constitution to sue for civil damages within two years of the alleged violation. The bill — sponsored by Sens. Mike Weissman, D-Aurora, and Julie Gonzales, D-Denver — included exceptions for federal officials with absolute or qualified immunity. Both forms of immunity come with exceptions. The measure, dubbed the “No Kings Act” by supporters, piggybacked off another measure sponsored ...
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“Hell No”: Denver Mayor Refuses To Yield On Assault Weapons Restrictions
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CBS Colorado, Approved, Local

“Hell No”: Denver Mayor Refuses To Yield On Assault Weapons Restrictions

By Chierstin Roth | CBS Colorado Denver Mayor Mike Johnston didn't mince words in response to a letter sent last week from the Department of Justice threatening to sue unless the city stops enforcing its so-called ban on "assault weapons." "We're here today to let them know that our answer is 'Hell no,'" said Johnston. "There are too many Coloradans we've had to say goodbye to in too many places because of the impact of assault weapons," he added. Since 1989, city ordinance has made it a crime to carry, store, keep, manufacture, or sell these weapons. Included in the city's definition of an assault weapon is a semiautomatic pistol or rifle with the feeding device capacity of more than 15 rounds, but it's not an outright ban of these types of guns. ...
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DOJ Predicts Supreme Court Will Protect AR 15 Ownership Nationwide
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Just The News, Approved, National

DOJ Predicts Supreme Court Will Protect AR 15 Ownership Nationwide

By John Solomon | Just the News "I think there is going to be a ruling eventually from the Supreme Court that AR-15s are legal for all law-abiding citizens to own and operate," Assistant Attorney General Harmeet Dhillon tells Just the News. The Justice Department's top civil rights lawyer believes the Trump administration's lawsuit this week against the city of Denver's gun ban will one day soon lead to a Supreme Court decision legalizing the AR-15 semiautomatic rifle – revered by gun owners and reviled by liberals – in every jurisdiction in America. "We intend to make sure they do that," Assistant Attorney General Harmeet Dhillon said in an interview set to be aired Wednesday night on the Just the News, No Noise television show. Dhillon spoke just h...
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Citizenship requires more than showing up angry
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Undercurrent, Approved, Commentary, National

Citizenship requires more than showing up angry

By Michael Hancock | Commentary, Undercurrent Substack There is a strange contradiction in American life. We have never had more access to political information, yet we seem to understand government less. We have never had more ways to speak, yet we seem less capable of persuasion. We invoke rights constantly, yet we speak less often of duties. We demand accountability from every institution except, perhaps, ourselves. This is the condition of modern citizenship: loud, aggrieved, suspicious, emotional — and often poorly formed. The usual diagnosis is apathy. Americans do not vote enough. They do not attend local meetings. They cannot name their representatives. They do not understand the difference between a city council and a county commission, a school board and a state legislat...
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If the state can take property without a conviction, no property is safe
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Rocky Mountain Voice, Commentary, State, Top Stories

If the state can take property without a conviction, no property is safe

By Rep. Ken DeGraaf | Guest Commentary, Rocky Mountain Voice Civil asset forfeiture began as a narrow exception in colonial maritime law, not as a general tool of domestic policing. In those early admiralty cases, the government often had jurisdiction over the ship or cargo, but not over the owner. The vessel might be in port, but the owner could be overseas, unknown, or beyond the reach of the court. In that circumstance, proceeding against the property itself—an action in rem—was often the only practical way to enforce customs law.  Justice Neil Gorsuch recently highlighted this history in his concurrence in Culley v. Marshall and asked the obvious question: if the government today has full jurisdiction over the person—if it can arrest, charge, and prosecute them directly—...
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Colorado Democrats Push Bill Expanding Lawsuits Against Public Officials
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The Denver Gazette, Approved, State

Colorado Democrats Push Bill Expanding Lawsuits Against Public Officials

By Marissa Ventrelli | The Denver Gazette Colorado Democrats are considering a bill that would let people sue federal, state, and local officials for alleged constitutional violations — a change supporters say would check government power, while critics warn it could trigger a surge of lawsuits against public employees. Senate Bill 176, dubbed the “No Kings Act,” is sponsored by Sens. Mike Weissman, D-Aurora, and Julie Gonzales, D-Denver, and Reps. Javier Mabrey, D-Denver, and Yara Zokaie, D-Fort Collins, would allow individuals who have been subjected to a “deprivation of any rights, privileges, or immunities” afforded in the U.S. Constitution to sue for civil damages within two years of the alleged violation. The bill still permits federal officials to claim absolute...
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