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He Loved This City. Then It Nearly Killed Him.
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Rocky Mountain Voice, Local, Top Stories

He Loved This City. Then It Nearly Killed Him.

By Shaina Cole | Contributing Writer, Rocky Mountain Voice Nico Francis had spent the early part of the evening on April 3 at the First Friday ArtWalk on Santa Fe, and with friends waiting on Colfax, he grabbed a Lime scooter just after 11:30 p.m. and took what he called the scenic route. It was a night like dozens of others for the Ohio transplant, who moved to Denver in 2020 — a man who had long been something of a downtown defender, someone who pushed back every time a friend called the area dangerous.  "I love 16th street. I love downtown. I like just riding through there and seeing what's going on — seeing all the people, seeing everything going on," Francis said. That comfort level would not survive the night. Then something felt off  A white SUV conta...
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HB26-1276 faces hearing today as Rep. Slaugh warns sanctuary policies could cut federal jail funding
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Rocky Mountain Voice, Commentary, State, Top Stories

HB26-1276 faces hearing today as Rep. Slaugh warns sanctuary policies could cut federal jail funding

By Rep. Scott Slaugh | Guest Commentary, Rocky Mountain Voice Editor’s update: HB26-1276 is scheduled to be heard today at 1:30 p.m. in the House Finance Committee (HCR 0112). Readers can listen to the hearing live here or sign up to testify here. Since the year 2000, by Act of Congress the federal Department of Justice’s has annually reimbursed state prisons and thousands of local county jails across the nation for the documented costs of incarcerating convicted criminal aliens –persons not lawfully present in the United States and convicted of a felony crime or two misdemeanors under a state’s criminal code. That decades-old federal program is called the State Criminal Alien Assistance Program, or simply, “SCAAP.”   From its inception the federal SCAAP program ...
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Colorado Lawmakers Advance Felony Option For Deadly Negligent Driving
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DENVER7, Approved, State

Colorado Lawmakers Advance Felony Option For Deadly Negligent Driving

By Colette Bordelon | Denver7 Senate Bill 26-072 passed unanimously out of its first committee hearing, but only after a sweeping amendment removed a portion that would have made vehicular homicide or assault a crime of violence. DENVER — Over the years, Denver7 has listened to countless families who have lost loved ones on Colorado roads and believe the penalties for vehicular homicide and other related charges are too lenient. On Monday, state lawmakers voted unanimously to advance a bill that would give district attorneys the option to charge negligent drivers who kill someone with a Class 5 felony — a step above the misdemeanor charge of careless driving resulting in death, and a step below vehicular homicide. Supporters argued Senate Bill 26-072 ...
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Proposed Law Could Expose Colorado Prosecutors to Civil Lawsuits
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DENVER7, Approved, State

Proposed Law Could Expose Colorado Prosecutors to Civil Lawsuits

By Colette Bordelon | Denver7 A bill that could be introduced in the Colorado legislature is already drawing strong opinions on what prosecutorial immunity should look like. DENVER — In Colorado, prosecutors can face criminal ramifications if their actions while working on a case warrant such a charge — but they cannot be sued in civil court for damages caused to a defendant. The concept is called prosecutorial immunity, something the district attorney for the First Judicial District, Alexis King, explained to Denver7 The Colorado Attorney Regulation Counsel addresses ethics concerns as an independent body that can review attorney conduct and licensure. "Not only do I believe the checks and balances are there, I believe that prosecutors as a p...
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20 Years Probation For Sexual Assault On a Child
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Jeffco Kids First, Approved, Commentary, Local

20 Years Probation For Sexual Assault On a Child

By Ben Brickweg | Commentary, Jeffco Kids First A Jeffco father and attorney answered our call to help fill the courtroom for the Chloe Castro sentencing (Jeffco Schools social worker who admitted to sexual assault on a child by one in a position of trust—her own IEP special needs student). This is what he shared on social media when he returned home. I was in the Jefferson County Courthouse earlier this afternoon, and the world doesn’t make sense anymore. I watched a school social worker admit to sexual assault of a student and get sentenced to probation with zero prison time. I don’t spend time in court. I’m a transaction guy. People hear “lawyer” and assume I live in a courtroom, but that’s not my world. Maybe in another life I would have been good at it, but not this o...
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Polis pushes for new prison as critics question Colorado spending priorities
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Colorado Accountability Project, Approved, Commentary, State

Polis pushes for new prison as critics question Colorado spending priorities

By Cory Gaines | Commentary, Colorado Accountability Project Does Colorado need to open (or build) a new prison? Governor Polis’ office seems to think so. Per the Sun article linked at bottom (quoted with links left intact): “Gov. Jared Polis’ office told state lawmakers Wednesday that Colorado must immediately move to open a new prison to handle projected growth in inmate numbers, a revelation that comes as the legislature is cutting social services to address a $1 billion state budget shortfall and despite the General Assembly’s pushback on much smaller funding requests for more beds at existing prisons.” Given what I’d seen before about asking for more beds, I’m betting wanting a whole new prison made some jaws drop alright. I’ll leave it to you to read th...
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Colorado Lawmakers Clash Over Prison Spending As State Budget Tightens
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The Denver Gazette, Approved, State

Colorado Lawmakers Clash Over Prison Spending As State Budget Tightens

By Marianne Goodland | The Denver Gazette The Polis administration is asking for hundreds of millions of dollars to expand the state’s prison system, just as Colorado’s legislators are bracing for a worsening fiscal outlook. The request sets up a clash over priorities at a time when the state faces a nearly $1.5 billion shortfall. The administration is seeking to add prison beds amid overcrowding, though advocates on both sides of the spectrum disagree over its cause. Some advocates have argued that the crisis is partly the result of a backlog of inmates awaiting parole placement. Others maintained that the “crisis” resulted from Democrats’ policies that ultimately seek to release offenders back into communities. On Wednesday, the governor asked budget writers f...
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Colorado Lawmakers Reject ICE Oversight Bill After Bipartisan Pushback
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The Colorado Sun, Approved, State

Colorado Lawmakers Reject ICE Oversight Bill After Bipartisan Pushback

By Taylor Dolven and Olivia Prentzel | The Colorado Sun Local police chiefs opposed the bill. Two Democrats voted with Republicans to reject it. Colorado lawmakers rejected a bill Tuesday that would have required state and local police to intervene when federal immigration agents use excessive force. The bill would have also prohibited state and local police officers from hiding their identities, subjected federal officers to state criminal and civil penalties and required police officers to attend training on immigration enforcement. Two Democrats — Rep. Chad Clifford of Centennial and Rep. Cecelia Espenoza of Denver — joined the Republicans on the House Judiciary Committee to kill House Bill 1275 after hours of testimony against it from police...
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Colorado Democrat Shelves Prostitution Decriminalization Effort Amid Growing Criticism
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The Daily Signal, Approved, State

Colorado Democrat Shelves Prostitution Decriminalization Effort Amid Growing Criticism

By: Tyler O'Neil | The Daily Signal Colorado’s Republican House leader is calling foul after a Colorado state senator says he is effectively killing his own bill to decriminalize prostitution—in order to protect “sex workers” from the trauma of having to testify. State Sen. Nick Hinrichsen, the main sponsor of SB26-097, told the Colorado Sun that his bill lacks the necessary support to clear the Senate Judiciary Committee, so he will ask to delay the measure until after the 2026 legislative session, effectively killing the bill. He said the “sex workers” who persuaded him to bring the bill also persuaded him to effectively kill it. “Ultimately, we all decided that having a very tense, long committee hearing, where they’d have to be in a room with a ...
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Violent Crime Spree Allegations Follow Release Of High Risk Colorado Parolee
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Fox News, Approved, Local

Violent Crime Spree Allegations Follow Release Of High Risk Colorado Parolee

By Stepheny Price | Fox News Ricky Lee Roybal-Smith faces four murder charges, including three deaths in 2025 and one from 2022. A Colorado parolee once classified as a "very high" risk of reoffending is now charged in four separate killings across three counties — including three counts of first-degree murder tied to an alleged 2025 crime spree. Ricky Lee Roybal-Smith, 38, faces two counts of first-degree murder in Adams County, one count of first-degree murder in Denver and a newly filed second-degree murder charge in Arapahoe County connected to a 2022 death. He is being held without bond in the Denver jail, prosecutors confirmed. In 2022, Roybal-Smith was accused of threatening customers at a retail store. One day later, a woman named...
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