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Tag: Crime & Safety

In bipartisan effort, House passes bill to deport illegal immigrants who receive DUIs
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Approved, gazette.com, National

In bipartisan effort, House passes bill to deport illegal immigrants who receive DUIs

By Peyton Sorosinski | GAZETTE.COM The House approved a Republican-proposed bill Thursday with support from 59 Democrats that would indefinitely deport undocumented immigrants who are charged with driving under the influence in the United States. "In the United States, someone dies in a crash with an impaired driver every 45 minutes. I lost two of my young newlywed constituents to an illegal immigrant driving under the influence of alcohol," Rep. Barry Moore (R-AL), who brought forth the legislation, told Fox News. While it was primarily Republicans in favor of the measure, the final tally of votes was 274-150. All Alabama House Republicans voted in support of the bill, and the state's lone Democratic Rep. Terri Sewell opposed it, 1819 News&...
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Kill a police K-9, go to jail: Colorado bill would make harming, killing law enforcement animals a felony
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Approved, kdvr.com, State

Kill a police K-9, go to jail: Colorado bill would make harming, killing law enforcement animals a felony

By Heather Willard | KDVR-TV DENVER (KDVR) — A bill that would increase penalties for individuals who harm law enforcement animals passed through a Colorado House committee Tuesday, bringing it one step closer to becoming a new law. The proposed legislation is moving forward almost a year after the death of K-9 Graffit of the Jefferson County Sheriff’s Office. Graffit was killed chasing a man through a wooded area on Feb. 13, 2023. Police say he had a gun on the School of Mines campus in Golden before the chase. The bill would change the law on aggravated cruelty to animals to become a Class 4 felony. The bill specifies this would apply to anyone who knowingly or recklessly kills or causes physical harm that leads to the animal being decommissioned from acti...
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On the table — a crazy quilt of Dem justice ‘reforms’ | George Brauchler
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Approved, gazette.com, State

On the table — a crazy quilt of Dem justice ‘reforms’ | George Brauchler

By George Brauchler | SOURCE: THE GAZETTE With more than 100 days left in the 2024 legislative session, the Democrat-controlled General Assembly has already revealed its theme for criminal justice reform, and that theme is “bonkers.” A review of the Democrat bills thus far introduced are the kind only conceivable with one party dominance in Colorado government. Many thought it would be impossible for the Democrats to top legislation that mandates a school refer to a child by any name they choose at any time and for any reason. Democrat Rep. Lorena Garcia just said “hold my Bud Lite.” Current Colorado law prohibits convicted felons from legally changing their name — for obvious reasons. Garcia’s HB 1071 seeks to override that long-standing prohibition to permit name changes when...
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What’s next in the Texas border wire legal battle?
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Approved, gazette.com, National

What’s next in the Texas border wire legal battle?

By Kaelan Deese, Washington Examiner | SOURCE: THE GAZETTE Advocates for Texas's efforts to place razor wire fences along the southern border say an appeals court should soon pave the way for such efforts after the Supreme Court ruled federal border agents could cut through them earlier this week. The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday delivered a striking blow to Texas Gov. Greg Abbott (R), who has sought to use his border security program "Operation Lone Star" to block migrants from illegally entering the country. Through a 5-4 vote with no comments, the justices overturned a lower court injunction that permitted Texas to maintain miles of such fences around the southern border, siding with the Biden administration's bid to allow federal ...
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Colorado has the nation’s third-longest waitlist for people charged with crimes and ordered into psychiatric treatment
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Approved, State, The Colorado Sun

Colorado has the nation’s third-longest waitlist for people charged with crimes and ordered into psychiatric treatment

The number of state-run psychiatric beds for people who are civilly committed or ordered by the criminal justice system shrunk by 20% in seven years, according to a new report By Jennifer Brown | SOURCE: THE COLORADO SUN Colorado has for years been short on in-patient psychiatric beds for people with severe mental illness, creating a backlog that means people wait months for care and sit in jail instead of a hospital. The last time the national Treatment Advocacy Center released a status report on the psychiatric bed shortage, Colorado placed 34th among states with 543 beds.  It’s only gotten worse in the past seven years, according to the center’s latest analysis, released Wednesday and based on 2023 data.  The number of psychiatric beds at Colorado...
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The Cost of Doing Business in Denver: Senseless Policies & Band-Aid Bailouts
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Approved, Downtown Denver, Local, thelobby-co.com

The Cost of Doing Business in Denver: Senseless Policies & Band-Aid Bailouts

SOURCE: THELOBBY-CO.COM In a recent report by Axios Denver, the city's laughable attempt to salvage struggling businesses from the impact of nearby homeless encampments has laid bare the failures of Denver's misguided policies on housing immigrants, lax drug regulations, and the acceptance of near-permanent encampments. The situation reveals a city administration more adept at applying band-aids than addressing root issues, leaving businesses to bear the brunt. The controversial grant program, facilitated by the Denver Economic Development & Opportunity (DEDO) Programs since 2022, is nothing short of a desperate move to cover up the city's glaring policy missteps. A total of 69 businesses, teetering on the edge due to encampments, are now recipients of what amounts to...
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Colorado’s Attorney General Grants $3.9M for Opioid Abuse Treatment in Prisons
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Approved, State, thelobby-co.com

Colorado’s Attorney General Grants $3.9M for Opioid Abuse Treatment in Prisons

SOURCE: THELOBBY-CO.COM Colorado Attorney General Phil Weiser has recently come under fire for allocating a staggering $3.94 million grant to the Colorado Department of Corrections (CDOC) for the treatment of opioid addiction. Critics argue that these funds should have been prioritized for law enforcement to prevent the distribution, sale, and use of opioids first. The two-year agreement between the Colorado Department of Law and the CDOC will focus on delivering medications for “opioid use disorder (OUD) treatment,” behavioral health counseling, and care coordination for inmates in state correctional facilities. According to Weiser, "Two-thirds of today's incarcerated population, on a nationwide basis, struggles with a substance use disorder, and that percentage is even higher in...
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State Rep. Epps pushes bill for lethal drug injection centers across Colorado
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Approved, coloradopeakpolitics.com, State

State Rep. Epps pushes bill for lethal drug injection centers across Colorado

SOURCE: COLORADO PEAK POLITICS Insanity is doing the same thing over and over yet expecting different results, which explains why Democrats are once again trying to legalize drug dens across Colorado for hardcore substances like fentanyl, heroin, and meth. The issue was first introduced to the state legislature five years ago by then state Sen. Brittany Pettersen, now Congresswoman Pettersen, who wanted to open a drug injection site across the street from the state Capitol. The idea failed miserably then, and nearly every year since as progressive Democrats intent on dragging the state further into the shitter have tried to legalize lethal drugs using this same backdoor method. This year, it’s state Rep. Elisabeth Epps and Republican-turned-Democrat Kevin Priola who just days a...
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Liberal Democrats Push Failed Drug Policy in Colorado, Ignoring Public Concerns
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Approved, State, thelobby-co.com

Liberal Democrats Push Failed Drug Policy in Colorado, Ignoring Public Concerns

SOURCE: THELOBBY-CO.COM Once again, Denver progressives are pushing for the legalization and funding of "drug shooting galleries" in Colorado. Rep. Elisabeth Epps and Sen. Kevin Priola are making their second attempt to pass legislation that would establish "safe injection sites" for illegal drug users. However, this ultra-liberal program has proven to be a complete failure in other cities and was overwhelmingly rejected by the Democrat majority during the previous legislative session. Epps and Priola were the prime sponsors of a similar effort in 2023, which ultimately failed to gain support in a Democrat-controlled Senate committee after passing in the House. Interestingly, the current 2024 effort only includes the names of Epps and Priola, in contrast to the previous bill t...
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Democrat lawmakers take another stab at state-sanctioned drug injection sites
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Approved, completecolorado.com, State

Democrat lawmakers take another stab at state-sanctioned drug injection sites

By Mike Krause | SOURCE: COMPLETE COLORADO PAGE TWO DENVER–A pair of Colorado lawmakers are making another attempt at sanctioning what are sometimes referred to as “safe injection sites” for illegal drug users, despite their own Democrat colleagues killing off a similar effort during last year’s legislative session. House Bill 24-1028, titled Overdose Prevention Centers, allows Colorado municipalities (cities, towns, as well as a city and county) to authorize “A space for individuals to use previously obtained controlled substances in a monitored setting under the supervision of health care professionals or other trained staff for the purpose of providing life-saving treatment on the event of a potential overdose.”  The bill also allows for such things as distribution of clean n...
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