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10th Circuit sends bill for cleaning up old Colorado mine back to court
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Approved, Courthouse News Service, State

10th Circuit sends bill for cleaning up old Colorado mine back to court

By Amanda Pampuro | Courthouse News Finding an oil company’s suit timely if categorized as a contribution action, the 10th Circuit on Wednesday revived a claim asking for a century-old mine’s previous owner to pitch in on a $63.7 million environmental cleanup bill. "Actions for contribution and cost recovery entail separate statutes of limitations,” wrote U.S. Circuit Judge Robert Bacharach in a 15-page opinion. “Choosing between the two options, the district court applied the statute of limitations for cost-recovery actions. We disagree, concluding that the limitations period for contribution actions should apply.” Atlantic Richfield Company initially sued NL Industries in 2020, seeking to recoup cleanup costs for silver mines in southwest Colorado under the Comprehensi...
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Striking Colorado grocery workers can’t block store entrances but may continue speech, judge rules
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Approved, Courthouse News Service, Local

Striking Colorado grocery workers can’t block store entrances but may continue speech, judge rules

By Amanda Pampuro  | Courthouse News A Denver judge on Friday declined Colorado grocery chain King Sooper’s request for a restraining order limiting the number of picketers and their speech outside grocery stores, but granted a plea to prohibit striking union members from blocking entrances to stores or setting up tents. "The balance of equities favors the granting of a limited injunction given the allegations regarding access to ingress and egress,” wrote Second Judicial District Judge Sarah Wallace in an 11-page order. “By narrowly tailoring the temporary restraining order, defendants will still be permitted a broad ability to picket consistent with their First Amendment rights, with only minimum restrictions to protect public and employee safety,” Wallace, an appointee of ...
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In 10th Circuit, case asks can writing a bad check 17 years ago prevent gun ownership today?
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Approved, Courthouse News Service, National

In 10th Circuit, case asks can writing a bad check 17 years ago prevent gun ownership today?

By Amanda Pampuro | Courthouse News The 10th Circuit on Tuesday reaffirmed its decision to deny a firearm to a Utah woman with a decade-old check fraud conviction on her record.   Melynda Vincent wrote a fraudulent check for $498.12 at a grocery store in 2008 when she was homeless and fighting drug addiction. She faced up to 30 years in prison and a $1 million fine but pleaded guilty and was sentenced to probation without imprisonment. Today she is a social worker in private practice who also runs the Utah Harm Reduction Coalition. READ THE FULL STORY AT COURTHOUSE NEWS
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Colorado landlord blocked from discriminating against allegedly illegal tenants: ‘The Does’
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Approved, Courthouse News Service, Local

Colorado landlord blocked from discriminating against allegedly illegal tenants: ‘The Does’

By Amanda Pampuro  | Courthouse News A Colorado judge on Tuesday granted a Venezuelan couple’s request for an injunction barring their landlord from discriminating against them due to their immigration status after their landlord agreed to the stipulations. “Since the Doe family moved in, the defendants have treated them as second-class tenants due to their perceived citizenship and immigration status and that is intolerable under Colorado law,” said the couple’s attorney, Anna Kurtz with the American Civil Liberties Union of Colorado. The couple, who sued their landlord anonymously in the District Court for Arapahoe County on Jan. 28, claimed landlord Avi Schwalb and property manager Nancy Dominguez used their tenants' immigration status to intimidate them. READ THE ...
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Senate Republicans unveil constitutional amendment locking SCOTUS at nine justices
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Approved, Courthouse News Service, National

Senate Republicans unveil constitutional amendment locking SCOTUS at nine justices

By Benjamin S. Weiss  | Courthouse News Senate Republicans on Friday offered a retort to months of Democrat scrutiny on the Supreme Court, introducing a constitutional amendment that would block lawmakers from adding more justices to the high court’s bench. The proposed amendment is the GOP majority’s first major legislative foray into the yearslong debate over the Supreme Court — and one that proponents say is a check on efforts to “pack” the bench with liberal-minded justices. “Democrats’ radical court-packing scheme would erase the legitimacy of the Supreme Court and destroy historic precedent,” said Iowa Senator Chuck Grassley, who joined Texas Senator Ted Cruz in unveiling the measure. READ THE FULL STORY AT COURTHOUSE NEWS
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Tina Peters’ filing argues her actions were protected by the Supremacy Clause
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Approved, Local, Rocky Mountain Voice

Tina Peters’ filing argues her actions were protected by the Supremacy Clause

"She [Peters] is pale, has lost weight, and has difficulties with memory and word-finding," filing reads By Jen Schumann | Contributing Writer, Rocky Mountain Voice Mesa County Clerk Tina Peters has taken her fight to the U.S. District Court in Colorado, claiming her prosecution violated the U.S. Constitution. On Feb. 7, Peters filed a habeas corpus petition to challenge her incarceration, claiming she was simply doing her duty to preserve election data, as required by federal rules. The petition, filed under 28 U.S.C. § 2254, contests Peters’ denial of bond pending appeal and claims multiple constitutional violations in her trial.  It asserts that her prosecution is invalid because 52 U.S.C. § 20701 requires election officials to preserve election records for 22 months...
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For murdering his mother, Greeley man gets life in prison without parole
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Approved, kdvr.com, Local

For murdering his mother, Greeley man gets life in prison without parole

By Brooke Williams | KDVR-TV Fox 31 News A man from Greeley was sentenced to life in prison on Wednesday for shooting and killing his mother over two years ago. Andrew Sweatt, 28, was convicted of first-degree murder by a Weld County jury on Wednesday after an eight-day trial. According to a press release from the 19th Judicial District Attorney’s Office, Sweatt shot his mother 10 times on Dec. 8, 2022. The mother, Angela Eyestone, was found unresponsive when police arrived and was pronounced dead at a hospital. READ THE FULL STORY AT FOX 31 NEWS
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King Soopers claims Colorado union used illegal negotiating tactics, leading to strike, in new lawsuit
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Approved, CBS Colorado, Local

King Soopers claims Colorado union used illegal negotiating tactics, leading to strike, in new lawsuit

By Jack Lowenstein | CBS Colorado King Soopers/City Market filed a federal lawsuit in Colorado against United Food and Commercial Workers Local Union No. 7 (UFCW Local 7) on Friday. This comes amid the beginning of the two-week worker strike across the state.  According to the lawsuit, this action is being taken due to damages King Soopers says it's suffering, "as a result of [the] Defendant's continuing pattern of threatening, coercive, and restraining actions, taken for unlawful purposes in violation of the National Labor Relations Act and actionable in federal court under Section 303(a) of the Labor Management Relations Act." In response to the new lawsuit the workers union released a statement that said in part, "UFCW Local 7 learned that earlier this afternoon King Soopers fi...
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Forest Service defends Montana logging project in grizzly territory before Ninth Circuit
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Approved, Courthouse News Service, National

Forest Service defends Montana logging project in grizzly territory before Ninth Circuit

By Monique Merrill | Courthouse News The approval and subsequent court-ordered obstruction of the U.S. Forest Service’s “Black Ram Project” in Montana’s Kootenai National Forest is up for a panel of the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals to sort out as the court heard from multiple sides on Thursday. The Center for Biological Diversity, Yaak Valley Forest Council and WildEarth Guardians sued the federal government days after it approved the Black Ram Project in the Three Rivers Ranger District of the Kootenai National Forest in northwest Montana in June 2022.  The project would “clearcut forest, destroy and fragment habitat, displace wildlife, alter hydrology and adversely affect the area’s tiny grizzly population,” the groups argue, rather than promote resilient vegetation,...
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Trump admin sues Illinois, Chicago, Cook County over immigrant protection laws on Supremacy Clause grounds
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Approved, Courthouse News Service, National

Trump admin sues Illinois, Chicago, Cook County over immigrant protection laws on Supremacy Clause grounds

By Dave Byrnes  | Courthouse News The Trump administration filed a federal lawsuit against Illinois, Chicago and Cook County on Thursday morning, claiming local laws designed to protect immigrants violate the constitution. The lawsuit declares a "national crisis" of illegal immigration and asserts a need to enforce federal immigration laws. "This action seeks to put an end to one state’s efforts to impede the federal government from doing that," the government writes in the suit. The government specifically claims Illinois' Way Forward Act and TRUST Acts, Chicago's Welcoming City Ordinance and Cook County's Ordinance 11-O-73 all violate the U.S. Constitution's Supremacy Clause, which establishes that federal law takes precedent over state law. READ THE FULL STORY A...
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