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Lawsuit against Polis over ICE subpoena
A new lawsuit accuses Governor Jared Polis of violating state law by ordering employees to follow a subpoena from U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, or ICE.
Scott Moss filed the whistleblower lawsuit. He’s a director within the state Department of Labor and Employment. Moss is alleging that Polis personally decided to comply with an administrative subpoena from ICE, by directing department employees to turn over personal information about people who are providing shelter for unaccompanied, undocumented children.
According to the lawsuit, ICE framed the subpoena as part of “investigative activities to locate unaccompanied alien children” and ensure they were being cared for. Moss says the federal agency’s actual goal was to find minors to deport.
That’s why Moss is asking a Denver District Court Judge to immediately block Polis’ order insisting state labor department employees hand over the information on sponsors of unaccompanied minors. Moss says he was directed to do so by the end of day last Friday, and that he was told his job would be in danger if he didn’t turn over the information.
Polis’ office had decided in early May that it wouldn’t comply with the subpoena because of state law prohibiting sharing certain information with federal authorities. But, according to the suit, that stance shifted near the end of the month when Polis “personally decided” to reverse course and comply with ICE.
The state still intends to comply with the subpoena, according to a spokesperson for the governor. But, the governor’s attorney clarified he will not fulfill the subpoena until after the judge rules on Moss’ request to block it.
Boulder City Council suspends open comment
Boulder City Council suspended its open comment period for last week’s meeting, in light of the violent Pearl Street attack on supporters of Israeli hostages. Community members were also prohibited from attending the June 5 meeting in person.
Mayor Aaron Brockett said the suspension was needed to come “together as a community” after the attack. He said open comment has grown increasingly dysfunctional over the past year-and-a-half, and “has often left community members feeling unsafe.”
Since the October 7 attacks, community members have used the comment period of meetings to condemn Israel’s genocide in Gaza and urge councilmembers to pass a ceasefire resolution. The city has increased police presence at meetings in recent months, due to alleged personal attacks on specific councilmembers, according to Boulder Reporting Lab.
Taishya Adams and Matt Benjamin were the only two councilmembers who opposed the call to suspend open comment. Adams said at last week’s meeting following the decision that “everybody should have a right to speak to us, especially now,” and that the decision may only elevate people’s anger surrounding the attack. Adams has faced criticism since the attack for not condemning it as antisemitic, as many of her fellow councilmembers have.
In recent months, Council has enacted a series of measures that some pro-Palestine attendees consider censorship. These include banning large signs, temporarily moving meetings online, and suspending people who violate decorum rules.
Denver plane fire investigation
The National Transportation Safety Board found a fuel leak and multiple improperly installed parts in the engine of an American Airlines plane that caught fire after landing in Denver back in March.
The report, released Thursday, identified a loose part that was installed in the wrong direction, and a fuel leak traced back to a different part that was fastened incorrectly.
The investigation likely won’t be completed until sometime next year, so the report doesn’t identify the cause of the fire, according to The Associated Press.
Jeff Guzetti, a former NTSB and FAA investigator, said the problems that the report found seem to be the cause of the fire. Pictures in the NTSB report show streaks of leaking fuel on the outside of the engine. Guzetti believes that when the plane landed at Denver International Airport (DIA), the fuel likely pooled inside the engine and caught fire.
The faulty escape slide, which had jammed the left rear door and caused it to not open when passengers were attempting to use it to escape the plane, is still being investigated.
Colorado gun minimum age upheld by judge
A federal judge has approved a Colorado law changing the minimum age to purchase guns in the state from 18 to 21.
This ruling comes after Rocky Mountain Gun Owners and two individuals under 21 sued Gov. Polis to block the law back in 2023. After granting a temporary injunction to the law and looking into their allegations, Federal judge Philip A. Brimmer sided with Polis, ruling that the plaintiffs could not prove the law violated their rights.
Rocky Mountain Gun Owners executive director Ian Escalante called the ruling disgraceful.
“It’s obviously an activist judge’s ruling,” he said.
Brimmer was appointed by former President George W. Bush, who was a Republican.
Colorado is the eighth state to have raised the age minimum required to buy a gun. Federal law already bans the purchase of handguns by those under 21.
Firearms are the leading cause of death among children and teens. Supporters of the law argue that it will reduce youth suicides and gun violence.
That’s all according to The Colorado Sun.
CPW denies permit for elephants
Colorado Parks and Wildlife (CPW) will not allow elephants at Larkspur’s Renaissance Festival.
State officials denied the permit for the elephant exhibitor Trunks and Humps, because its application did not meet the requirements for CPW’s commercial wildlife program. That’s according to a spokesperson for the state agency.
The decision comes shortly after the Animal Activist Legal Defence Project at the University of Denver Sturm College of Law threatened to sue CPW over the elephant permits. The organization says Colorado’s Traveling Animal Protection Act, which was passed in 2021, prohibits the use of elephants, primates, bears, and other animals in traveling animal acts. Attorneys went on to claim that Trumps and Humps’ shows are solely for entertainment purposes, which would disqualify the show as an educational program under state law.
Jim Paradise, the vice president of the Larkspur festival, said in a statement that his team is still deciding whether to bring the elephants to the event anyway. He said the festival promotes the history, research, and care of elephants through the animal performances, and that they’ve received permits for the past three years.
That’s also all according to The Colorado Sun.
