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Federal Judge Pauses Boulder County Gun Ban Case Pending Supreme Court Ruling
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Colorado Politics, Approved, State

Federal Judge Pauses Boulder County Gun Ban Case Pending Supreme Court Ruling

By Michael Karlik | Colorado Politics A federal judge agreed on Friday that she would await the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision in an upcoming Second Amendment case before she addresses the constitutionality of similar gun ordinances in multiple Boulder County jurisdictions. Rocky Mountain Gun Owners, the National Association for Gun Rights, and several individual Coloradans filed suit in 2022 over local firearms ordinances that generally prohibited the sale, transfer, and possession of large-capacity magazines and semi-automatic guns deemed “assault weapons,” with some variation. As defendants, they named the town of Superior, the cities of Louisville and Boulder, and Boulder County. In July 2025, U.S. District Court Judge Nina Y. Wang clarified which claims could ...
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Federal Judge Dismisses Lawsuit as Colorado School Districts Lack Standing in Transgender Sports Case
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Greeley Tribune, Approved, State

Federal Judge Dismisses Lawsuit as Colorado School Districts Lack Standing in Transgender Sports Case

By Ann Schimke | Greeley Tribune Federal judge rules districts don’t have standing to sue the state, in part because they aren’t facing clear harm. A federal judge has dismissed a lawsuit brought by several Colorado school districts and charter schools over policies related to transgender student athletes. Senior U.S. District Court Judge John Kane ruled Wednesday that the districts and schools don’t have standing to sue the state, in part because they aren’t facing clear harm. The ruling is a win for the state and a loss for the conservative-leaning districts and schools that had challenged the state’s non-discrimination law, specifically its gender identity protections. Kane’s decision affirmed a January recommendation by a magistrate judge, a type...
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Judge Finds Key Provision Of Colorado Detention Law Conflicts With Federal Authority
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The Center Square, Approved, State

Judge Finds Key Provision Of Colorado Detention Law Conflicts With Federal Authority

By Joelle Webb | The Center Square (The Center Square) - A Trump-appointed federal judge has ruled in favor of a private prison company in its legal battle against a new Colorado law requiring more health and safety inspections for immigration detention facilities.  The lawsuit, brought in June to the U.S. District Court in Denver, was initiated by the GEO Group. The private for-profit prison company alleged that a new Colorado law that went into effect this month conflicts with its contract with the federal government. The law is House Bill 26-1276, which requires an increase of inspections for federal immigration detention facilities in the state. Though there are plans to build more immigration detention facilities in the stat...
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Federal Court Weighs Fate Of Colorado’s Three-Day Gun Purchase Waiting Period
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Colorado Politics, Approved, State

Federal Court Weighs Fate Of Colorado’s Three-Day Gun Purchase Waiting Period

By Michael Karlik | Colorado Politics A federal judge heard arguments on Monday about the constitutionality of a 2023 Colorado law that generally imposes a three-day waiting period on firearm purchases after the initiation of a background check. The test that the U.S. Supreme Courtcreated in 2022 for assessing firearm regulations’ compliance with the Second Amendment occurs in two phases. First, judges must determine if the constitutional text applies to the regulation at issue, and then the government must show that the policy is consistent with similar regulations throughout the country’s history — in particular, around the time of the Second Amendment’s adoption. “The first ‘cooling off’-style waiting period did not come into existence until the ...
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Former Durango Teacher Gets 40 Years For Sex Crimes Against 37 Teenage Boys
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CBS Colorado, Approved, Local

Former Durango Teacher Gets 40 Years For Sex Crimes Against 37 Teenage Boys

By Logan Smith | CBS Colorado A former Durango middle school teacher who obtained sexual images from more than three dozen teenage boys by pretending to be a 16-year-old girl on social media was sentenced last week to four decades in prison.  Benjamin Smith was sentenced in a Denver federal courtroom Tuesday. The judge ordered lifetime supervision, too, once Smith is released from prison.  Smith, 30, posed as "Kristin" on Snapchat under the username "MTNCHICK69," according to evidence presented by federal prosecutors. Behind that identity, Smith reached out to boys in the Durango area as young as 12. He started conversations, sent out photos of a naked girl, then asked the boys to send back photos of themselves in return, prosecutors stated. Smith ...
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Federal Judge Blocks Colorado Law Expanding State Oversight of ICE Facility
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Courthouse News Service, Approved, State

Federal Judge Blocks Colorado Law Expanding State Oversight of ICE Facility

By Amanda Pampuro | Courthouse News Service Months before reports of tuberculosis infecting a detainee at an immigration detention center in Aurora, state lawmakers sought to expand the public health department’s ability to inspect the facility. DENVER (CN) — A federal judge granted a preliminary injunction Thursday blocking a Colorado law that sought to expand the state public health agency’s ability to inspect an immigrant detention facility in Aurora. “HB-1276 applies only to civilian detention centers, of which there is one,” Chief U.S. District Judge Daniel Domenico wrote in the opinion. “Though Colorado argues that the law only brings GEO into compliance with existing state regulations applied to other detention facilities, that law singles out this o...
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Federal Court Asked to Block Colorado’s New Semiautomatic Firearm Requirements
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Colorado Politics, Approved, State

Federal Court Asked to Block Colorado’s New Semiautomatic Firearm Requirements

By Marissa Ventrelli | Colorado Politics The Colorado chapter of the National Rifle Association is seeking an injunction to stop the state from enforcing a new law that took effect earlier this month. The new law requires anyone buying or selling certain firearms to first complete a safety training course offered through Colorado Parks and Wildlife. Under Senate Bill 003, the course is mandatory for anyone planning to purchase a semiautomatic rifle, shotgun or handgun with a detachable magazine. The Colorado State Shooting Association had filed a lawsuit last September, challenging the law’s constitutionality and arguing it places “unlawful burdens on the rights of law-abiding Coloradans.” “A government that makes you ask permission to buy a firearm ...
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Federal Judge Blocks DOJ Bid for Colorado’s Unredacted Voter Rolls
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DENVER7, Approved, State

Federal Judge Blocks DOJ Bid for Colorado’s Unredacted Voter Rolls

By: Jessica Porter | Denver7 DENVER — A federal judge ruled the Trump administration cannot access Colorado's unredacted voter rolls, marking the Justice Department's 20th consecutive legal loss on the issue. U.S. District Judge Philip Brimmer dismissed the case Monday, saying the DOJ did not have a valid purpose for obtaining the information and is not legally entitled to the records. The case was dismissed with prejudice, meaning it cannot be filed again. "This is one more victory against an attempt to take control by Trump and the federal government over our nation's elections, and it's one more loss for Trump and the DOJ," Colorado Secretary of State Jena Griswold said. READ THE FULL ARTICLE AT DENVER7
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Federal Judge Dismisses Mesa Sheriff Challenge to Colorado Immigration Law
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The Denver Gazette, Approved, Local

Federal Judge Dismisses Mesa Sheriff Challenge to Colorado Immigration Law

By Michael Karlik | The Denver Gazette A federal judge dismissed a challenge from Mesa County Sheriff’s Office leaders last week to a Colorado law limiting public employees’ cooperation with immigration authorities, concluding that the plaintiffs did not allege they engage in any conduct that the law would prohibit. In a July 17 order, U.S. District Court Judge Gordon P. Gallagher noted that lawmakers only forbade the sharing of personal information “for the purpose of” immigration enforcement. Even then, the law contains exceptions for authorized criminal investigations or necessary duties. “The Court respects that Plaintiffs’ wish to ensure they understand, both for individual reasons and on behalf of the agencies they head or work for, the current bounds of the law ...
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Federal Judge Clears Path for Release of Biden Interview Tapes
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The Federalist, Approved, National

Federal Judge Clears Path for Release of Biden Interview Tapes

By: Luke Miller | The Federalist The DOJ ‘explicitly relied on the Zwonitzer materials in deciding not to prosecute Biden because of his mental state.’ A United States District Court judge released an opinion on Friday denying former President Joe Biden’s request for a preliminary injunction to block the release of tapes and transcripts from a set of 2016-2017 interviews that reportedly show Biden’s illegal handling of classified materials. In May 2026, Biden sued the U.S. Department of Justice to block the release of more than 70 hours of audio recordings of conversations between himself and his biographer, Mark Zwonitzer. After making redactions for privacy purposes, the DOJ was set to release the tapes to The Heritage Foundation as a result of a 2024 Fre...
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