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Tag: Federal Lawsuit

“Hell No”: Denver Mayor Refuses To Yield On Assault Weapons Restrictions
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CBS Colorado, Approved, Local

“Hell No”: Denver Mayor Refuses To Yield On Assault Weapons Restrictions

By Chierstin Roth | CBS Colorado Denver Mayor Mike Johnston didn't mince words in response to a letter sent last week from the Department of Justice threatening to sue unless the city stops enforcing its so-called ban on "assault weapons." "We're here today to let them know that our answer is 'Hell no,'" said Johnston. "There are too many Coloradans we've had to say goodbye to in too many places because of the impact of assault weapons," he added. Since 1989, city ordinance has made it a crime to carry, store, keep, manufacture, or sell these weapons. Included in the city's definition of an assault weapon is a semiautomatic pistol or rifle with the feeding device capacity of more than 15 rounds, but it's not an outright ban of these types of guns. ...
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DOJ Predicts Supreme Court Will Protect AR 15 Ownership Nationwide
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Just The News, Approved, National

DOJ Predicts Supreme Court Will Protect AR 15 Ownership Nationwide

By John Solomon | Just the News "I think there is going to be a ruling eventually from the Supreme Court that AR-15s are legal for all law-abiding citizens to own and operate," Assistant Attorney General Harmeet Dhillon tells Just the News. The Justice Department's top civil rights lawyer believes the Trump administration's lawsuit this week against the city of Denver's gun ban will one day soon lead to a Supreme Court decision legalizing the AR-15 semiautomatic rifle – revered by gun owners and reviled by liberals – in every jurisdiction in America. "We intend to make sure they do that," Assistant Attorney General Harmeet Dhillon said in an interview set to be aired Wednesday night on the Just the News, No Noise television show. Dhillon spoke just h...
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Trump’s DOJ joins xAI suit against Colorado AI law as Weiser agrees to halt enforcement
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Rocky Mountain Voice, State, Top Stories

Trump’s DOJ joins xAI suit against Colorado AI law as Weiser agrees to halt enforcement

By Shaina Cole | Contributing Writer, Rocky Mountain Voice The Colorado attorney general agreed last week to stop enforcing the state's landmark artificial intelligence law. Not because a court told him to. Because he agreed to it himself. That voluntary freeze, formalized in a joint filing with plaintiff xAI LLC, came the same afternoon the U.S. Department of Justice moved to join the lawsuit challenging SB24-205 — Colorado's AI consumer protection law set to take effect June 30.  Chief Judge Daniel D. Domenico granted both the intervention and the standstill within hours. The scheduling conference set for June 16 is gone. Case deadlines are suspended. The courtroom is waiting on a legislature that has 16 days left in its session and a replacement bill that still hasn't ...
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Free speech or state control?: Elon Musk lawsuit targets Colorado’s AI discrimination law
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Financial Times, Approved, State

Free speech or state control?: Elon Musk lawsuit targets Colorado’s AI discrimination law

By Alex Rogers and George Hammond | Financial Times Elon Musk’s AI lab claims the regulations violate free speech protections Elon Musk’s xAI has filed a lawsuit challenging Colorado’s landmark AI bill as the Trump administration and leading industry players try to stop US states from regulating the technology. Colorado’s bill, set to take effect in the summer, was the first state-level initiative passed to impose protections against “algorithmic discrimination” in AI systems. Musk’s AI lab, which recently merged with rocket group SpaceX, says the bill would force it to “promote the state’s ideological views on various matters, racial justice in particular” rather than its own “disinterested pursuit of truth”. The lawsuit is the latest move in a battle between ...
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A system under scrutiny: Colorado’s election system faces clash over how it’s verified
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Rocky Mountain Voice, State, Top Stories

A system under scrutiny: Colorado’s election system faces clash over how it’s verified

By Jen Schumann | Rocky Mountain Voice When President Trump signed an executive order directing federal agencies to compile a nationwide citizenship list and share it with state election officials, it set off a debate in Colorado that hasn’t slowed. So what does that actually mean for Colorado? RMV asked two people on opposite sides of the issue—and got two very different answers. Matt Crane, executive director of the Colorado County Clerks Association (CCCA), says Colorado’s system is strong, continuously maintained and already uses the federal tools referenced in the order. Bob Cooper, a director with the Colorado Institute for Fair Elections, argues the system cannot be independently audited for accuracy—and that’s the problem. The divide isn’t about whether the system w...
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Former Judicial Discipline Director Files Federal Lawsuit Challenging Colorado Supreme Court Oversight
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Rocky Mountain Voice, State, Top Stories

Former Judicial Discipline Director Files Federal Lawsuit Challenging Colorado Supreme Court Oversight

By Shaina Cole | Contributing Writer, Rocky Mountain Voice A former top official inside Colorado’s judicial discipline system is accusing the state’s highest court of protecting itself — and says he was fired after trying to hold it accountable. Christopher S.P. Gregory’s federal lawsuit names an unusually broad group of defendants: the Colorado Judicial Discipline Rulemaking Committee, the Colorado Supreme Court, Governor Jared Polis, Attorney General Phil Weiser, current and former justices, senior judicial administrators, and other state officials. The breadth of the case is intentional. He is not just accusing individuals of wrongdoing. He is challenging the framework that he says allowed those individuals to influence — and ultimately suppress — the very pr...
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A new session, same defiance: How Colorado’s immigration policy put ideology over enforcement
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Rocky Mountain Voice, State, Top Stories

A new session, same defiance: How Colorado’s immigration policy put ideology over enforcement

By Jen Schumann | Rocky Mountain Voice Colorado lawmakers are walking into the 2026 session with the budget already tight. They’re also bracing for more legal fights with Washington. New bills tied to ICE enforcement are moving early, including one that would expand the state’s ability to sue over immigration-related rights claims. That push comes as Colorado is already in federal court over immigration laws passed last session. In Senate Appropriations on April 11, Sen. Barb Kirkmeyer zeroed in on SB25-276's price tag, asking whether its costs would come out of the legislature's roughly $7.5 million set-aside for new mandates and litigation risks. The answer was a quick "Yes"—no hesitation, no alternative funding source offered. Democrats introduced Senate Bill...
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Colorado Faces Federal Lawsuit as Griswold Refuses to Release Voter Data
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Colorado Politics, Approved, State

Colorado Faces Federal Lawsuit as Griswold Refuses to Release Voter Data

By Marissa Ventrelli | Colorado Politics The U.S. Department of Justice has filed a lawsuit against Colorado Secretary of State Jena Griswold after she refused to provide the agency with certain voter information. Last week, the DOJ’s Civil Rights Division asked Griswold’s office to provide unredacted voter data, including full names, dates of birth, residential addresses, and driver’s license numbers. Federal authorities have sought voter data from more than 20 states, saying it’s part of project to ensure election security. The DOJ lawsuit, filed in U.S. District Court in Denver, alleges that Griswold violated the federal Civil Rights Act by refusing to provide the records. READ THE FULL ARTICLE AT COLORADO POLITICS
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Weiser Sues to Keep U.S. Space Command in Colorado, Claims Political Retaliation
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DENVER7, Approved, State

Weiser Sues to Keep U.S. Space Command in Colorado, Claims Political Retaliation

By: Óscar Contreras | Denver7 The lawsuit, which the AG says is in response to an unconstitutional action by the federal government, is the latest in a series of developments Denver7 has been reporting over the past several years DENVER — Colorado Attorney General Phil Weiser said Wednesday he has filed suit against the Trump administration to prevent it from relocating U.S. Space Command from Colorado Springs to Huntsville, Alabama. At a virtual news conference earlier in the day, Weiser said President Trump’s decision last month to move command headquarters from Colorado was unconstitutional and unlawful as it violates federal law requiring public notices and reports to Congress before moving a major military headquarters location. Weiser the lawsuit was also chal...
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Colorado Sues USDA for Ending Food Assistance to Needy Families
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DENVER7, Approved, State

Colorado Sues USDA for Ending Food Assistance to Needy Families

By: Robert Garrison | Denver7 DENVER — Colorado joined 22 other states in filing a lawsuit against the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) and Secretary Brooke Rollins for suspending during the government shutdown the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP). Colorado Attorney General Phil Weiser made the announcement in a Tuesday press release. The lawsuit argues the USDA acted illegally by halting food assistance despite having access to contingency funds. On Friday, the Trump administration announced it would not use the more than $5 billion in emergency funding the USDA maintains to cover the program, arguing the funds are “not available to support FY 2026 regular benefits, because the appropriation for regular benefits no longer exists.” In an interview with S...
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