Civil and Human Rights

Prop 8 protests evoke memories of Colorado’s Amendment 2 fight

Reports on the numbers in Colorado were varied: between 500 and 1,000 in Denver ; 300 in Fort Collins, a hundred in Colorado Springs; several hundred in Boulder; two dozen in Aspen. The numbers weren’t huge, but the passion — in response to California’s anti-gay Proposition 8 — has been tremendous.

More layoffs at Focus on the Family

UPDATE: Focus on the Family announced this afternoon that 202 jobs will be cut companywide — an estimated 20 percent of its workforce. Initial reports bring the total number of remaining employees to around 950.

Focus on the Family is poised to announce major employee layoffs today from its Colorado Springs-based ministry and media empire. The cutbacks come just weeks after the group pumped more than half a million dollars into the successful effort to pass a gay marriage ban in California.

Critics are holding up the layoffs, which come just two months after the last round of dismissals in the organization, as a sad commentary on the priorities of the families on which the ministry is truly focusing.

Rallies to protest Prop 8, marriage bans set for Saturday across Colorado

A nationwide day of protest against California’s Proposition 8 and other measures in last week’s election that banned same-sex marriage includes rallies planned in Denver, Boulder, Fort Collins, Colorado Springs, Durango and Aspen. Organized through the Join the Impact! Web site, simultaneous protests aim to call attention to the issue as a civil rights issue at 11:30 a.m. MST Saturday as hundreds of gatherings take place across the country.

Historic $3 million settlement in Emily Rice case; horror lingers

On Thursday, news broke that the City of Denver is poised to pay a record $3 million to settle the two-year old case involving Emily Rice, the 24-year old who suffered a lacerated liver and spleen and bled to death in the city jail.

The proposed settlement includes a laundry list of policy changes that must be installed at the jail, including sensitivity and other training, and establishes what is known as “Emily’s Rights” to dictate patient care at the jail.

Denver man appeals Dick Cheney subpoena ruling in First Amendment lawsuit

Fresh off delivering what some pundits say was the kiss of death for John McCain by endorsing the senator just before the Nov. 4 election, lame-duck Vice President Dick Cheney may be a bit distracted from trying to cement the Bush legacy in the administration’s final 100 days.

‘Misled’ petition signers say Amendment 46 defeat brings relief

The Vote No on Amendment 46 campaign isn’t the only group pleased to see the anti-affirmative action measure lose, albeit on a teensy margin Thursday afternoon.

Several people who launched complaints that they were misled into signing onto the proposal have also expressed happiness that the measure flopped.

Military command casts broad net with homeland security operations

A recent article by The Colorado Independent reported that the U.S. Northern Command, a military entity created in 2002 for homeland defense missions and based in Colorado Springs, plans to activate and train an estimated 4,700 service members for specialized domestic operations inside the United States.

Amendment 46 to repeal affirmative action loses despite hefty odds

After a two day post-election limbo, Colorado’s Amendment 46 failed yesterday on a slim margin. The so-called Colorado Civil Rights Initiative is the first anti-affirmative action amendment propped by California businessman Ward Connerly to make it onto a state ballot and flop.

The significance is not lost on Amendment 46’s detractors. “I am thrilled,” says Melissa Hart, a University of Colorado law professor who co-ran the Vote No on 46 campaign. “Given that everyone kept telling us we couldn’t do it, it is exciting that we did.”

After Colorado loss, Ward Connerly may pull the plug on affirmative-action bans

Anti-affirmative-action guru Ward Connerly will likely halt his nationwide push to end race and gender preferences. Connerly, a part black California businessman, spoke with the Colorado Independent an hour after Amendment 46 toppled by an extremely thin margin.

The so-called Colorado Civil Rights Initiative was the first Connerly amendment to flop after making it onto a state ballot. It was also a key measure in Connerly’s Super Tuesday for Equal Rights campaign, a nationwide thrust to dismantle affirmative action programs in five states this year. In three of those states, the measure failed to make it onto the ballot, and Thursday, after a feverishly close tally, it collapsed in Colorado. Nebraska was the only state this year to approve the proposal.

BREAKING: Amendment 46 shot down

Amendment 46, the Colorado Civil Rights Initiative, has failed. The Rocky Mountain News just posted the outcome of the race on its election results page; the contest was in limbo for the past day and a half.