Mark Waller And “Commie Cowboys” On Devil’s Advocate This Week

by Mike Krause | 5:22 pm, January 10, 2013

Be sure and tune in to the Independence Institute’s public affairs television show Devil’s Advocate this week. First, Colorado House Minority Leader Mark Waller sits down with host Jon Caldara to talk about why it has been so hard to cut the Colorado corrections budget and close empty prisons, even as the prison population [...]

Independence Institute Writers in the News

by Mike Krause | 3:34 pm, August 13, 2012

Gun laws, tax increases and the Californication of Republicans are all topics of recently published works by Independence Institute writers.
In USA Today, the Denver Post and National Review Online, Independence Institute research director Dave Kopel makes the case for both resisting calls for expanded gun control in the wake of the Aurora theater shooting and [...]

Independence Institute Writers In The News

by Mike Krause | 2:38 pm, June 25, 2012

Pleas bargains, corporate welfare, twinkie taxes and fracking are all topics of recently published works by Independence Institute writers.
In the Colorado Springs Gazette, frequent Independence Institute guest author Ari Armstrong examines the consequences to the right of a jury trial from having over 97 percent of Colorado’s criminal convictions be from plea bargains.  Writes Ari:

Colorado [...]

Colorado Senators Prefer Warantless Federal Raids

by Mike Krause | 3:49 pm, May 27, 2012

Reason magazine’s Mike Riggs reports that the U.S. Senate on Thursday voted 78-15 to table an amendment offered by Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY.) to basically demilitarize the Food and Drug Administration. As Riggs describes it Paul’s amendment would have, among other things, “prohibited FDA employees (as well as all other Health and Human Services [...]

Are Opponents Of Drug Law Reform Dishonest, Ignorant, Or Both?

by Mike Krause | 3:22 pm, April 17, 2012

Senate Bill 163 is a modest but important next step in scaling back the worst excesses of the expensive, intrusive and counter-productive War on Drugs in Colorado. The bill would lower the penalty for simple drug possession from a Class 6 Felony to a Class 1 Misdemeanor. In other words, possessing small amounts [...]

Direct File Review In Colorado Good For Juvenile Justice

by Mike Krause | 10:46 pm, March 9, 2012

On March 7, House Bill 1271 passed out of the Colorado House Judiciary Committee by a 9-2 vote. The bill would allow, with certain exceptions, judicial review of district attorneys’ decisions to charge juveniles as adults in criminal cases. Currently, DAs have unlimited discretion to “direct file” against juveniles without review by a [...]

2011 drug law reform in Colorado a mixed bag

by Mike Krause | 1:59 pm, December 2, 2011

In 2010, Colorado lawmakers took a meaningful step towards drug law reform by passing House Bill 1352, which nibbles at the edges of the disastrous War on Drugs by amending some of Colorado’s controlled substance statutes (see my HuffPost Denver piece on HB 1352).
And while lawmakers continued that reform momentum this year, those efforts were [...]

Criminal Justice Bills in 2011

by Jon Caldara | 5:11 pm, July 21, 2011

For those that couldn’t make it to their TV last Friday and missed this riveting episode of Devils Advocate starring yours truly, public defender Doug Wilson, and District Attorney Don Quick on where criminal justice has been and where it’s…

Criminal Justice Bills in 2011

by Jon Caldara | 12:29 pm, July 14, 2011

Hey, break out the handcuffs for this Friday’s episode of Devil’s Advocate as I am joined by Colorado State Public Defender Doug Wilson and Adams/Broomfield District Attorney Don Quick for a discussion on criminal justice related bills in the 2011 General Assembly and the ongoing work of the Colorado Commission on Criminal and Juvenile justice. [...]

Podcast On Drug Law Reform In The 2011 Colorado legislature

by Mike Krause | 5:39 pm, July 1, 2011

In this ivoices.org podcast, I interview Christie Donner about three drug law and drug offense sentencing related bills passed in the 2011 Colorado legislative session. Besides being the Executive Director of the Colorado Criminal Justice Reform Coalition, Christie is also on the Drug Policy Task Force of the Colorado Commission on Criminal and Juvenile [...]

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