Harsh sentencing in Colorado municipal courts is unfair and “deeply troubling” (Letters)

Harsh sentencing in municipal courts is unfair and deeply troubling Re Polis signature can end Colorado s two-tier justice system April editorial The Denver Post editorial board is right to urge Gov Jared Polis to sign House Bill and end Colorado s two-tier justice system Before I served in the legislature I was a police officer I ve seen the promise and the pitfalls of our justice system What s happening in chosen of Colorado s municipal courts is deeply troubling Poor people are being jailed for months sometimes nearly a year for things like camping or theft of food These are low-level offenses tied to poverty yet selected municipal courts deny legal counsel and impose -times harsher penalties than state courts allow That s not justice it s a loophole that punishes unhoused Coloradans who are disproportionately Black Brown and disabled HB Fairness Transparency in Municipal Court offers a common-sense response by requiring city courts to follow minimum state standards for sentencing and access to counsel It also brings much-needed daylight to municipal courts that too often operate without scrutiny As a lawyer I encouragement HB because it protects fundamental legal rights As a pastor I backing HB because it reflects the moral character of Colorado We don t lock people away for a year for being poor And we don t ignore injustice just because it s happening in city court rather than state court Cities can be laboratories for new tactics of doing things but not at the expense of Colorado s greater part vulnerable residents The bill builds on Gov Polis work to create consistent fair and just criminal sentencing in Colorado I urge him to finish that work by signing HB Terrance Carroll Denver Editor s note Carroll is president of the Sam Cary Bar Association and former state Speaker of the House The reality of mass animal consumption Re What animals endure before we eat them April commentary Thanks for publishing the article by Nicholas Kristof It takes courage to publish an article about this in a state with such a large livestock industry Largest part of us ostensibly know at several level what happens to animals in the slaughterhouse It s just something we d rather not think about That however does not make it less real Not thinking about it does not make it go away Also very relevant here which Kristof does not mention Raising animals for food is a critical environmental issue as well A slaughterhouse death is now standard recovery for the greater part mammals on the planet just because majority of mammals are livestock There is now more livestock biomass on Earth than there is of all other large animals on the planet combined including humans We have literally obliterated bulk wilderness and replaced it with a massive system of factory farms Related Articles Polis signature can end Colorado s two-tier justice system Editorial Polis threatens to veto bill addressing sentencing disparities between Colorado s state and municipal courts As Arapahoe County struggles with cost Aurora rebuffs request for more time to take its domestic violence cases Opinion Colorado s municipal courts are being abused Here s how to shut down this loophole around justice Keith Akers and Kate Lawrence Denver Leave trans kids alone Re Law to protect transgender pronouns with a steep price free speech April commentary I am writing in response to Krista Kafer s hateful Easter Sunday column against Colorado House Bill Legal Protections for Transgender Individuals Kafer imagines a situation where the father of a gender-dysphoic child purposefully misgenders and misnames his child But Kafer finds it shameful that the father would be held accountable in any way for this abuse Misgendering and misnaming gender-dysphoric children is child abuse It increases anxiety depression and rates of self-harm and suicide among children with gender dysphoria This isn t the opinion of a former Heritage Foundation employee like Kafer Scrutiny after scrutiny has identified that this behavior from parents that Kafer defends is deeply harmful to children Organizations like the Heritage Foundation the people behind Project research and finely tune communications on wedge issues like this These issues are used to divide us for political gain It is not surprising to me that Kafer s individual columns are in lock-step agreement with these calculated positions of the Heritage Foundation What is surprising is that The Denver Post allows people like Kafer to spread these finely-tuned lies in the pages of this newspaper My message to Kafer is Leave trans kids alone They have enough problems without you using them as a pawn for political gain Al Wirtes Broomfield You can t legislate acceptance of an ideology The First Amendment of the Constitution stands firmly against compelling anyone to adopt a national religion or any religion that we are all free to follow our own conscience in this regard and the state shall make no law respecting the establishment of religion or prohibiting the free exercise thereof Yet the legislators of Colorado have seen fit to pass a bill that does just that House Bill would compel all families to adopt the transgender religion and to agree to abide by its rules which interfere with the rights of families and individuals to follow their own religion where their religion says something different It is a blatant violation of the rights of Americans to follow their own conscience and their own religion even where they have no formal religious faith or practice Regardless of one s level of compassion for young persons going through the challenges of youth to have the state interfere with a family s right to guide their own children is not only an egregious use of the power of the state but an obvious violation of our rights as Americans to follow our own conscience and faith whatever it may be Stephen H Murray Castle Pines I am writing with deep concern regarding Colorado House Bill While it asserts to protect children and affirm identities it effectively criminalizes biblical parenting compels speech and undermines both religious liberty and biological reality This bill redefines coercive control in custody disputes to include so-called misgendering or deadnaming In other words if a Christian parent lovingly affirms their son as a boy because that s what God made him they could be punished in court for failing to endorse gender confusion Even more troubling HB extends these ideas into residents accommodation and coaching forcing teachers counselors and even churches to comply with an ideology that directly contradicts our faith and conscience When the state mandates speech that denies biblical truth it ceases to be neutral it becomes a moral tyrant The Bible teaches that God created us male and female Genesis Parents have the God-given responsibility to raise their children in truth not in cultural fads that leave lasting physical and emotional harm This is not about hate or harm it s about refusing to lie No law should require people of faith to speak against their deeply held convictions or threat losing their children for obeying scripture We must love our neighbors by standing for truth HB is a bridge too far I urge our lawmakers and citizens to reject this ordinance and protect the rights of parents children and people of faith Chad McCool Westminster Editor s note McCool is pastor at First Southern Baptist Church of Westminster Oversympathizing with the criminals in police pursuits Re When should police pursue April news story What a shallow slanted story One obviously intended to elicit tears for the criminals who died or were injured during their crimes when the police had the temerity to chase them in an effort to bring them to justice Even with a declining auto theft rate Colorado still ranks in the top in the nation for car thefts Other minor crimes are showing reduced rates apparently because it is not worth the effort to document it no action will be taken nor efforts to apprehend the perpetrators In the reporting of the insufficient pursuits where the police were doing their jobs and there were injuries who was interviewed The criminals families There were no interviews with the families of the innocent casualties who died as a direct aftermath of the irresponsible actions of the perpetrators If there were more pursuits and more direct consequences for the miscreants when apprehended and appropriate publicity of the same word would spread that if you do crime in Colorado you will be run to the ground and face justice The persons responsible for the injuries deaths cited are those who chose to commit the crime not the police John Fechenbach Highlands Ranch Cartoon reflects the legacy of Pope Francis Re Editorial cartoon April Thank you for the present day s op-ed illustration portraying Pope Francis inviting the forgotten to enter the heavenly kingdom ahead of him We live currently in an milieu of global polarization where opinions are divided with regard to the legacy of Francis However there is near unanimity when it comes to describing this man s tender humility This Argentinian Jesuit embraced a servant leadership that shone a bright light on those who are often invisible to multiple of currently s ego-driven leaders Fortunate are the poor in spirit for theirs is the kingdom of heaven Dan Welte Highlands Ranch Do we really need to pay for new stadium Re NWSL stadium Denver to kick in up to M April news story I am having trouble understanding why it is being considered to give million to help build a women s soccer field Children s lunch programs and food for the needy are being cut due to shortages in the budget and other programs are being cut and they want taxpayers money to help pay for this I just don t get it Let them play at Dicks field like everybody else does What are the proprieties here Sandra Day Aurora Sign up for Sound Off to get a weekly roundup of our columns editorials and more To send a letter to 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