Rocky Mountain Voice

Tag: First amendment

Federal Judge Rules Parents Must Be Informed on Student Gender Changes
I Stand for Freedom, Approved, National

Federal Judge Rules Parents Must Be Informed on Student Gender Changes

By Noah Stanton | I Stand for Freedom There’s something uniquely corrosive about a secret kept between a child and an institution, especially when that secret is deliberately hidden from the child’s own parents. It’s the kind of arrangement that should make any reasonable person uncomfortable. And yet, for years, that’s exactly what California’s public schools were doing, though most families had no idea. Under guidance from the California Department of Education, adopted by more than half the state’s school districts, teachers were explicitly prohibited from telling parents if their child began identifying as a different gender at school. A student could change their name, change their pronouns, and undergo what educators called “social transition”—all while mo...
Court Halts Colorado Effort to Mandate Gas Stove Health Warnings
Uncategorized, Approved, Complete Colorado, State

Court Halts Colorado Effort to Mandate Gas Stove Health Warnings

By Savana Kascak | Complete Colorado DENVER–A federal judge on Friday sided with an appliance manufacturing trade group in pausing enforcement of a Colorado law requiring consumer warning labels on gas stove appliances. Plaintiffs see the ruling as a win against state compelled speech, albeit a temporary one, as the litigation will likely continue. The Association of Home Appliance Manufacturers (AHAM) filed a complaint in August against the state regarding House Bill 25-1161. In effect since Aug. 6, the law requires retailers to attach air quality warning labels to gas-fueled stoves sold in Colorado. The yellow label reads: “Understand the air quality implications of having an indoor gas stove.” It includes a QR code linking to a Colorado Department of ...
Fort Lewis College Student Stands Firm After Turning Point USA Chapter Sparks Backlash
Colorado Politics, Approved, Local

Fort Lewis College Student Stands Firm After Turning Point USA Chapter Sparks Backlash

By Elizabeth Pond | Colorado Politics Before Fort Lewis College senior Jonah Flynn became president of the newly formed FLC Turning Point USA chapter, he described himself as a liberal-leaning atheist. Flynn, a senior studying philosophy and Spanish, gained local and national attention after the Associated Students of Fort Lewis College initially denied his request to start a Turning Point chapter at an Oct. 29 meeting. Outcry from conservative students and community members led to an emergency on Nov. 7 meeting, where the Associated Students decision was reversed. Since then, the 25-year-old has appeared in numerous news outlets, including CBS and Fox News, where he spoke on a panel alongside activist Jack Posobiec. Flynn said he has been heckled on campus and ...
Colorado’s systems have failed Tina Peters again and again
Rocky Mountain Voice, Commentary, State, Top Stories

Colorado’s systems have failed Tina Peters again and again

By RMV Editorial Board On December 8, 2025, three events collided in Colorado that no honest observer can dismiss as coincidence. A federal judge dismissed Tina Peters’ habeas corpus petition, admitting she raised “important constitutional questions” about whether a state court punished her for her speech, then refused to consider those questions because of the Younger doctrine. Hours later, Colorado’s Department of Corrections moved Peters into Isolation Detention Observation: twenty-two hours a day in a concrete cell, lights on around the clock, no yard time and a single explanation—“this is for your safety.”  That same afternoon, the United States Department of Justice opened a civil-rights investigation into Colorado’s prisons and youth facilities, citing po...
Federal Judge Says Colorado Health Officials Not Liable in Gas Stove Label Fight
Colorado Politics, Approved, State

Federal Judge Says Colorado Health Officials Not Liable in Gas Stove Label Fight

By Michael Karlik | Colorado Politics A federal judge last week dismissed the constitutional claim against leaders of the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment over a 2025 law requiring health disclosures on new gas-fueled stoves. In June, Gov. Jared Polis signed House Bill 1161 into law, which requires retailers of gas stoves to affix a “yellow adhesive label” that reads “UNDERSTAND THE AIR QUALITY IMPLICATIONS OF HAVING AN INDOOR GAS STOVE.” The label must also include a URL or QR code to a webpage created by the health department that provides “credible, evidence-based information on the health impacts of gas-fueled stoves.” The Association of Home Appliance Manufacturers filed a complaint asserting a single First Amendment vi...
Clerks vs. the Constitution: Why the CCCA’s Letter to Polis Gets It Wrong
Rocky Mountain Voice, Commentary, State, Top Stories

Clerks vs. the Constitution: Why the CCCA’s Letter to Polis Gets It Wrong

By A.L. Goodwin | Guest Commentary, Rocky Mountain Voice The Colorado County Clerks Association (CCCA) sent a letter urging Governor Polis to block the potential transfer of Tina Peters to federal custody. That request rests on unconstitutional assumptions and a series of demonstrably false claims—many of which CCCA Director Matt Crane repeated in his November 24, 2025 interview on 710 KNUS, spread across two morning segments — Let My Tina Go! and Should Tina Peters Be Pardoned? 1. Matt Crane falsely asserted that Tina was a flight risk and should not be out on bond pending appeal. “Tina certainly demonstrated before that she's a flight risk, right? So after the cyber symposium, in 2021 where she went and, you know, hid out … she was gone for at least a month after tha...
Colorado’s clash with federal law: Why Tina Peters’ case poses a Supreme Court question
Rocky Mountain Voice, Commentary, National, Top Stories

Colorado’s clash with federal law: Why Tina Peters’ case poses a Supreme Court question

By RMV Editorial Board What began as a state prosecution of former Mesa County Clerk Tina Peters now sits at the junction of presidential pardon pertaining to federal election law and state authority. Colorado barred key evidence from the jury, sealed portions of the grand jury record, then fought to keep those materials from appellate review.  A recent analysis by Amuse asserts that the Supreme Court has never ruled on whether a presidential pardon can neutralize a state conviction when the conduct arises from a federal duty. Amuse also argues that when a state interferes with administering a federal election, those prosecutions become offenses against the United States—whatever the state calls them. https://twitter.com/amuse/status/1989394815616770528?s=46 Appe...
Tina Peters Placed in Solitary as Officials Warn Polis Against Federal Intervention
The Gateway Pundit, Approved, State

Tina Peters Placed in Solitary as Officials Warn Polis Against Federal Intervention

By: Brian Lupo | The Gateway Pundit In a disturbing update shared on X, the official account for 70-year-old Gold Star mother Tina Peters announced that she has been transferred to solitary confinement in the Colorado prison where she has been held for the past year. According to the post, Peters filed a grievance after a prison teacher allegedly told inmates that Peters “was never going to leave prison” and that the state would “never let her out.” When Peters confronted the teacher in the hallway, the teacher and several inmates reportedly began “antagonizing” her and “ganging up on her verbally.” https://twitter.com/realtinapeters/status/1991721475565343225?s=20 Colorado Officials Urge Gov. Polis to Block Federal Transfer At the suggestion of another inmate, Peters file...
What unfolded during the uncertified transition
Rocky Mountain Voice, Local, Top Stories

What unfolded during the uncertified transition

By Jen Schumann | Rocky Mountain Voice Actions taken before the board was sworn in Florissant’s May 2, 2023 election put five new people on the fire district board, and the change was obvious right away. The newcomers had run together as a coordinated slate. Within weeks, their actions toward Fire Chief Erik Holt sparked a sequence of events that ended with his firing, a criminal investigation left on the floor—and a lawsuit now sitting before the Tenth Circuit Court of Appeals. This is what happened after the election—most of which voters never saw.  For details on the election-day conduct that triggered Holt’s report to prosecutors, see our companion investigation. A board acting before it was seated The election hadn’t been certified yet because a civil challe...
Clear on camera, dismissed on paper
Rocky Mountain Voice, Local, Top Stories

Clear on camera, dismissed on paper

By Jen Schumann | Rocky Mountain Voice Inside the election case DA investigators said showed “clear violations”—and why the same office that prosecuted election fraud refused to touch it A fire chief knows what a five-alarm emergency looks like. When something is burning, he responds. He doesn’t wait for someone else to handle it. That was the mindset Erik Holt carried in 2023 when the security cameras inside his fire station began showing behavior that made him stop, rewind the footage, and stare. He believed he had uncovered an emergency worth reporting. He did not know that the alarm he pulled would be the only one the system refused to answer. The fire chief who didn’t look away Before Teller County voters ever heard his name, Holt was a fireman and a father. A caree...