Rocky Mountain Voice

Tag: Constitutional rights

Colorado ACLU takes aim at Trump bond restrictions for immigrants
CBS News, Approved, State

Colorado ACLU takes aim at Trump bond restrictions for immigrants

By Anna Alejo | CBS News A new suit filed in the U.S. District Court of Colorado challenges a Trump administration policy that denies bond hearings to immigrants who entered the country without authorization. The class action suit filed by the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) of Colorado calls the policy "a far-reaching departure from longstanding immigration law," and seeks to represent the entire class of individuals subject to the new bond policy in Colorado.   The ACLU says the detention of immigrants at the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) detention facility in Aurora without eligibility for bond raises serious constitutional concerns, adding "the Constitution doesn't allow the government to lock people up without due process." "The law says that they're...
Transgenderism, Firearms, and the Conservative Dilemma
Rocky Mountain Voice, Approved, Commentary, National, Top Stories

Transgenderism, Firearms, and the Conservative Dilemma

By C.J. Garbo | Guest Commentary, Rocky Mountain Voice Rumors are circulating across social media that a future Trump administration might consider restricting firearm ownership for individuals who identify as transgender. These claims, unverified as of now, have sparked sharp reactions on both sides of the aisle. It is worth addressing them not just on the surface, but in depth (philosophically, constitutionally, and morally) because the core issues involved go far beyond gun rights or gender identity. They reach into what it means to be a free people governed by law, not emotion or political fear. The Conservative Tension: Rights vs. Reality Conservatives are rightfully proud defenders of the Second Amendment. We assert that the right to bear arms is a fundamental protection aga...
Colorado sheriffs warn new gun licensing law threatens constitutional rights
Complete Colorado, Approved, State

Colorado sheriffs warn new gun licensing law threatens constitutional rights

-By Sherrie Peif | Complete Colorado DENVER – A major gun licensing law enacted by the Colorado legislature during the 2025 session is leaving some Colorado sheriffs with a bit of heartburn. Although Senate Bill 25-003 won’t take effect until Aug. 1, 2026, the sweeping changes to how Colorado residents can purchase certain firearms puts the onus on local sheriffs to enforce, but no help with funding of the new state mandates. Weld County Sheriff Steve Reams said all this bill has done is put him in a situation where his constituents think he is helping Democrats enforce a violation of their Second Amendment rights. “They ask me all the time why I just don’t refuse to enforce it,” said Reams, who has previously refused to enforce gun laws enacted during his time as she...
Colorado election results may violate 1946 Secret Ballots Amendment
Rocky Mountain Voice, Approved, Commentary, State, Top Stories

Colorado election results may violate 1946 Secret Ballots Amendment

By Mike O’Donnell | Guest Commentary, Rocky Mountain Voice The Colorado Constitution guarantees the right for citizens to vote in secret.  Article VII, Section 8 states that all elections by the people shall be by ballot, and no ballots shall be marked in any way that would allow the ballot to be identified as the ballot of a particular person. And in 1946, Colorado voters approved the Secret Ballots Amendment that explicitly provided for secret ballots.  However, if a voter voluntarily shares how he or she voted, they may do so. Colorado Revised Statute §1-13-712 says that any voter who makes available an image of the voter’s own ballot through electronic means, after it is prepared for voting, is deemed to have consented to the transmittal of that image. So i...
The man Polis vowed to destroy: Kevin Kauffman’s final fight for truth and legacy
Rocky Mountain Voice, Approved, State, Top Stories

The man Polis vowed to destroy: Kevin Kauffman’s final fight for truth and legacy

By Jen Schumann | Rocky Mountain Voice They tried to bury him. He’s still standing—with the paperwork to prove it. On his 50th birthday, Kevin Kauffman stood waist-deep in the waters off Eilat, Israel. His son handed him a sealed envelope his accountant asked him to deliver on this day. He opened it, read what was inside and stood in silence. It wasn’t just a numerical milestone in that envelope—it carried the weight of a life built by a self-made man. Kauffman had earned every cent the hard way, guided by mentors, not inheritance.  What he saw didn’t make him feel powerful. It made him reflect. “The achievement led me to a deeply felt realization—I had a responsibility to my family and my community,” Kauffman said. “So I started thinking about how to give some of it ba...
Daniel: Colorado’s political ruling class has turned common sense upside down
Rocky Mountain Voice, Approved, Commentary, State, Top Stories

Daniel: Colorado’s political ruling class has turned common sense upside down

By Bobbie Daniel | Guest Commentary, Rocky Mountain Voice There was a time when Colorado ran on common sense. We valued hard work, local control, and the idea that if you played by the rules, you’d get a fair shake. But somewhere along the way, the folks running this state traded those values for political theater and personal ambition. Today, agriculture, coal mining, oil and gas, small businesses, and law enforcement — the very things that help keep our state running — are treated like the enemy. The latest example proves just how upside‑down things have gotten: the Attorney General of Colorado is suing a Mesa County deputy… for doing his job. Now, I don’t know about you, but where I come from, you don’t punish the people who keep you safe. Yet here we are — living in a state wh...
Sullivan: Ticktin’s legal maneuver revives Tina Peters’ constitutional challenge
Gateway Pundit, Approved, Commentary, National

Sullivan: Ticktin’s legal maneuver revives Tina Peters’ constitutional challenge

By Jason Sullivan | Commentary, The Gateway Pundit What was expected to be the quiet dismissal of Tina Peters’ federal habeas petition — challenging a state court ruling that denied her bond — became one of the most dramatic legal turnarounds in recent memory, as Trump attorney Peter Ticktin and his team delivered a precise, devastating First Amendment argument that stopped the court in its tracks. The federal court in Colorado — now entertaining jurisdiction under a habeas corpus petition — has formally agreed to receive refined constitutional arguments by this Friday, July 25, focused exclusively on whether Tina Peters is being unlawfully imprisoned for her political speech — a violation of her First Amendment rights that, if confirmed, could result in her immediate release on bond...
Victory for the pulpit: Religious leaders no longer face tax threats for political speech
I Stand for Freedom, Approved, National

Victory for the pulpit: Religious leaders no longer face tax threats for political speech

By Noah Stanton | I Stand For Freedom Every Sunday, millions of Americans go to church hoping to learn how to live better lives. For years, pastors have had to watch their words carefully. Say something about who to vote for, and the government might show up and take away the church’s special tax status. It’s like having a referee who can throw you out of the game for saying certain words. This hidden muzzle on church leaders has been around since 1954. Americans can speak freely almost everywhere else. But in church, the IRS could punish certain kinds of talk. Many religious people wondered: How can we have true religious freedom if our pastors can’t speak freely about today’s big issues? That question now has an answer. The Internal Revenue Service told a federal court on Monday...
O’Donnell: The Strategic Plan that turned patriots into suspects remains unresolved
Rocky Mountain Voice, Approved, Commentary, National, Top Stories

O’Donnell: The Strategic Plan that turned patriots into suspects remains unresolved

By Mike O’Donnell | Guest Commentary, Rocky Mountain Voice In April of this year, the Director of National Intelligence, Tulsi Gabbard, declassified a June 2021 plan by the previous Biden administration to counter domestic terrorism. During his four-year term, President Biden repeatedly stated that “Domestic terrorism from white supremacists is the most lethal terrorist threat in the homeland.” Variations on this catchphrase were parroted by other senior politicians in the Biden circle—although never with any corroborating evidence. The declassified 15-page document, titled the Strategic Implementation Plan for Countering Domestic Terrorism, was intended to confront this supposedly lethal threat. This came even as the administration simultaneously opened the gates at the southern ...