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MorningMagazine_2024-01-31 Franziska Stangl
Conservative group sends doxxing truck to CU campus
A so-called “doxxing truck” was seen on CU Boulder’s campus, displaying images and names of faculty members and accusing them of anti-Semitism.
The Daily Camera says the truck was on campus yesterday, and was sent by the conservative group “Accuracy In Media.” It had a digital billboard with pictures and names of members of CU’s Ethnic Studies Department, under a headline calling them, quote, “Boulder’s leading antisemites.”
Similar trucks have shown up at college campuses across the country since November.
The truck’s appearance at CU came after a controversial statement released by its Ethnic Studies Department back in October, shortly after the start of the Israel-Hamas war. The statement voiced support for Palestine, but was promptly retracted and replaced following concerns raised over its accuracy.
Neither the university nor the Boulder Police have commented on the doxxing truck, according to the Camera. The publication is not making public the names or images of the CU faculty members displayed on the truck.
Denver City Council prohibits freezing sweeps
The Denver City Council has voted to prohibit city agencies from sweeping homeless encampments during freezing weather, by passing Council Bill 1960.
City Council member Sarah Parady has been a staunch supporter of efforts to ban these sweeps. Parady spoke at Monday’s council meeting just before the vote.
“At the end of the day, it’s a really modest bill,” said Parady. “What it says is, let’s pause the removal of a shelter that someone is living in, um, at times when it’s freezing outside, 32 degrees or below… under the three forms of authority that the city has most commonly used to do that. It doesn’t touch the authority of the fire department, it doesn’t touch the authority of Denver Health. It doesn’t touch the entirety of the criminal code aside from the urban camping ban.”
On the flip side, city Council member Darrell Watson has spoken against the bill.
“Council Bill 1960 by any measurement, makes a very complex, very emotional, a life impacting process, more difficult,” said Watson. “It is why the public health department that will be required by this bill to implement the outcomes of this bill consistently has stated that it is too complex and these are the folks that are gonna be asked. to actually execute on the outcomes of this bill, if this bill is passed.”
The 7-6 vote Monday could still be reversed by mayor Mike Johnston. According to FOX31 Denver, Mayor Johnston’s office said the proposal will limit the actions the city can take to keep people safe. They also said he’ll make a final decision in the coming days.
The bill prohibits the Denver Department of Public Health and Environment, Department of Transportation and Infrastructure, and Denver Police Department officials from breaking up encampments if temperatures fall to 32 degrees or lower.
According to the Denver Post, officials must check the weather forecast two days before scheduling a sweep.
Boulder lawmakers discuss sodium nitrite ban
State lawmakers are weighing a proposed new bill that would ban the sale of a deadly substance that has been linked to at least twenty-nine suicides in Colorado since 2018.
House Bill 24-1081 would severely limit the availability of highly concentrated sodium nitrite, which is currently easy to order online and inexpensive.
Boulder Democrat Judy Amabile, a co-sponsor of the bill, said it is incumbent on lawmakers to do what they can to save lives.
The Daily Camera says the measure would limit the sale of concentrated sodium nitrite to approved commercial business, and also require warning labels on the packaging where it can be legally sold.
The bill passed out of committee on a unanimous and bi-partisan vote last week. Data from the Colorado Secretary of State shows there’s no organized opposition at this time.
Colorado searches for ways to reduce recidivism
Colorado is exploring innovative ways to reduce the number of people sent back to prison after getting out.
Pilot programs show cash assistance may cut recidivism by over 30%. A possible new state-funded cash grant program could provide parolees with as much as $3,000 upon release, to be used for basic living expenses.
Democratic State Senator Dylan Roberts, who opposes the bill, says a problem with the idea in its current form is a lack of oversight. It could also cost taxpayers up to $15 million a year.
Supporters say that cash assistance would help people just out of prison get their lives back on track, by helping them avoid behaviors that first got them in trouble with the law. They also say the $100 that released prisoners currently receive isn’t enough. But they also concede that there isn’t enough data yet to conclude more cash assistance would make a significant difference.
Colorado’s current recidivism rate ranges from 31% to 50%, according to the state’s Department of Corrections.
