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Data Shows Fewer Repeat Offenders Yet More Violent Crime in Colorado
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The Denver Gazette, Approved, State

Data Shows Fewer Repeat Offenders Yet More Violent Crime in Colorado

By Marissa Ventrelli | The Denver Gazette Colorado’s latest justice data reveals an apparent contradiction: while fewer offenders are returning to prison, violent crime is climbing across the state. A detailed analysis released this month shows Colorado’s recidivism rate has fallen sharply—among the steepest declines nationwide. Yet the same dataset shows that violent offenses, including assault and homicide, have steadily increased since 2013. Analysts point to bail reforms, reduced arrests, and shifting sentencing priorities as major contributors. Supporters of these policies say they prevent unnecessary incarceration, while critics contend they have weakened accountability and deterrence. The findings come as Colorado lawmakers continue to debate whether recent justice refor...
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Gov. Polis Reassesses AI Regulations After Business Backlash
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Colorado Politics, Approved, State

Gov. Polis Reassesses AI Regulations After Business Backlash

By: Marianne Goodland | Colorado Politics For the second time in as many years, Gov. Jared Polis has appointed a working group to address the issues around the state’s 2024 law on artificial intelligence. The law, which Polis signed despite major misgivings last year, is still not ready for prime time. The implementation date for the new law, as set by lawmakers in the August special session, was moved from Feb. 1, 2026, to June 30, 2026, providing a little more time for the tech industry and consumer groups that have been at odds over the law to come to a consensus. Whether that’s doable is another question, given that the first working group spent the last half of 2024 trying to work out differences. The working group’s final report indicated more areas of disagreem...
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Aurora Pushes Back on Polis’ Power Play Over Local Housing
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The Denver Gazette, Approved, Commentary, Local

Aurora Pushes Back on Polis’ Power Play Over Local Housing

By: Michael A. Hancock | Commentary, The Denver Gazette Aurora has experienced rapid growth in recent decades. With new neighborhoods, transit corridors and shifting demographics come tough land-use choices: where to build housing, protect open space, manage traffic, and preserve neighborhood character. We understand our communities better than distant state bureaucrats ever could. That’s what home rule is meant to guarantee. But today, Gov. Jared Polis and the Colorado legislature are challenging that guarantee – not with persuasion, but with edicts and threats of financial punishment. Aurora can’t stand silent. Colorado’s Constitution enshrines home rule in Article XX, Section 6, which grants municipalities the right to govern “matters of local concern,” including planning, zoni...
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Colorado Justices Say Old Statute Didn’t Cover AI-Generated Child Pornography
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The Denver Gazette, Approved, State

Colorado Justices Say Old Statute Didn’t Cover AI-Generated Child Pornography

By: Michael Karlik | The Denver Gazette Colorado law prior to 2025 did not criminalize, as a means of sexually exploiting a child, the use of artificial intelligence to generate nude images depicting real children, the state Supreme Court concluded on Monday. The legislature acted this year to clearly establish a crime for someone to have or share fake, yet “highly realistic,” images of children that are explicitly sexual. However, the Supreme Court was asked to decide whether a teenager’s 2023 creation of “deepfake” porn was also illegal at the time. No, it was not, the court concluded. “Unfortunately, it took our legislature time to catch up to the recent advances in generative-AI technology,” wrote Justice Carlos A. Samour Jr. in the Oct. 13 opinion. Therefore...
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When the prosecutor is also the judge: Colorado’s due process problem under Griswold’s watch
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Colorado Accountability Project, Approved, Commentary, State

When the prosecutor is also the judge: Colorado’s due process problem under Griswold’s watch

By Cory Gaines | Commentary, Colorado Accountability Project I wouldn’t blame someone for thinking the fix is in at a Colorado Administrative Law hearing (especially in the SOS’s Office). If you break one of our state regulatory agencies’ copious rules, the process for our state’s administrative hearings bears little resemblance to a real trial. I recently did some looking into the state’s administrative hearings process, and was disappointed in what I found.The idea of this being a hearing in front of an independent, nominally-impartial, and disinterested judge is decidedly NOT what the process looks like.This goes, as you might imagine for an office run by Jena Griswold, double for the Secretary of State’s Office.More in the op ed below.https://completecolorado.com/2025/09/22/p...
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Can Colorado local or state governments be held liable for car damage from potholes?
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The Colorado Sun, Approved, State

Can Colorado local or state governments be held liable for car damage from potholes?

BY TYLER HICKMAN | THE COLORADO SUN A road crew can repair a pothole in 30 minutes or less, at the cost of about $60 per square yard, officials say Yes. Colorado local and state governments can be forced to pay for car damage resulting from dangerous road conditions, including potholes. Anyone whose vehicle is damaged by a pothole on a public road can file a claim with the state, county or city that manages the property. Public entities can only be held responsible if they were previously notified of the pothole and had the resources for repairs and sufficient time to fix it, but didn’t.  After damage occurs, drivers have 182 days to file a claim, though it’s rare for claimants to be paid out. A 2024 news report revealed that of 1,300 pothole damage claims filed with th...
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When will the health-related employment bubble burst?
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Rocky Mountain Voice, Commentary, State, Top Stories

When will the health-related employment bubble burst?

By Mike O’Donnell | Guest Commentary, Rocky Mountain Voice A few weeks ago, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) announced that it had inadvertently overstated—by more than 100%—the number of new jobs created across the United States during the last full year of the Biden/Harris Administration. The BLS also noted that corrected industry and state-specific numbers won’t be available until early next year, although no changes are expected to previously published numbers for new jobs created in the “Health Care & Social Assistance” and “Government” industry categories. The overstatement means that the number of new jobs reportedly created in Colorado since the start of the current post-COVID economy (January 2023) will likely end up lower than the published 78,900, although ...
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Freedom, Our Forgotten Birthright: Dogged Vaccine Rejection Should Stimulate Curiosity
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Substack, Approved, Commentary, National

Freedom, Our Forgotten Birthright: Dogged Vaccine Rejection Should Stimulate Curiosity

By Brianna Ladapo | Commentary, Embracing the Light Substack Wednesday marked a momentous event that will undoubtedly change the course of history. When Dr. Joseph Ladapo, Florida’s courageous and brilliant Surgeon General (and yes, my wonderful husband) announced Florida’s intention to end all vaccine mandates, it was a pivotal and long-awaited victory for health freedom. At the moment of announcement, the crowd erupted with a liberated jubilance that only manifests when souls have finally broken free of their bondage after years of desperation, determination, and defiance. The wild cheering and applause was deafening, matched only by the sobs of relief and gratitude. It was a truly beautiful moment of divinity, and a welcome harbinger of things to come. However, not everyone is hap...
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Texas takes bold stand against radical teachers after 100+ hit list discovered
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The Western Journal, Approved, Commentary, National

Texas takes bold stand against radical teachers after 100+ hit list discovered

By Johnathan Jones | Commentary, The Western Journal Republican Texas Governor Greg Abbott confirmed on social media Monday that more than 100 teachers in his state are being removed from the classroom. These educators will lose their jobs, their teaching certificates, and the ability to ever lead students astray in Texas again. Their offense? Glorifying or celebrating the horrific assassination of Charlie Kirk last week. Abbott responded to a post on X that claimed Texas Education Agency Commissioner Mike Morath was investigating teachers. Morath made clear where the state stands. “While all educators are held to a high standard of professionalism, there is a difference between comments made in poor taste and those that call for and incite further violence — th...
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State school trust lands were meant to fund education, not environmental agendas
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GregWalcher.com, Approved, Commentary, State

State school trust lands were meant to fund education, not environmental agendas

By Greg Walcher | GregWalcher.com A land ownership checkerboard exists in nearly every state because of an oddity called “state school trust lands.” The federal government granted those lands at the time of statehood, under the Land Ordinance of 1785. Thomas Jefferson’s system divides and records land into townships, each with 36 one-square-mile sections. New states entering the union were each given 2 sections per township, to be held in trust to fund public schools. State Land Boards were created to manage those lands – in my state of Colorado it’s 4 million acres. The Board was charged with administering the lands “in such a manner as will secure the maximum possible amount” for the school fund. The Lincoln Institute of Public Lands explains, “That singularity of purpose continues...
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