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Colorado News Miner 118
Transgender suit, prison torture, felonious Tina, Charis Bible College, Teen Rex, stilt farming, Denver police, open records, and more.
Copyright © 2024 by Ari Armstrong
August 17, 2024
School Transgender Suit
Ben Markus writes, "A family in Adams County has filed a federal lawsuit against state and local education authorities, claiming their daughter's high school aided her 'social transition' to a male identity without the parent's knowledge or consent." The child in question "came to realize that she doesn't have a transgender identity," Markus summarizes the lawsuit as claiming.
That [going against parental preferences] is a violation, according to the lawsuit, of the Due Process Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment which, "protects the fundamental rights of parents to direct and control the upbringing of their children." The lawsuit also claims that the district's policy violates the parent's First Amendment right to maintain certain intimate human relationships, including family relationships, without undue interference by the state.
The Constitutional claims are weak. Parents do not have an absolute right to treat their children however they want. Children have rights too. But I agree that schools ought not withhold important information from parents regarding their children. Parents do have substantial rights to raise their children as they want, within reasonable limits. If a child wants to identify as transgender contrary to the parents' wishes, the child could have grounds for government protection, such as legal emancipation.
Another line from Markus: "The lawsuit alleges that the school's actions helped ruin their relationship with their child and eroded trust." It sounds to me like the relationship between the parents and their child already was in pretty rough shape.
Torture Reported at Florence Prison
Jennifer Brown and Olivia Prentzel report:
Inmates caught masturbating inside a federal prison in Florence were pepper-sprayed and placed in restraints, then ordered into a disciplinary program in which they had to wear jumpsuits without pockets and yellow cards on lanyards around their necks, according to a whistleblower case brought to the U.S. Department of Justice.
If these allegations are true, then the actions by prison employees constitute torture, and those responsible should be criminally prosecuted for their heinous crimes.
Notably, these crimes took place within Colorado. But apparently state attorney general Phil Weiser does not believe that Colorado officials should enforce Colorado criminal law at least in some cases where federal employees are concerned.
I emailed Lawrence Pacheco of the AG's office (July 15): "The behavior reported by the Sun clearly falls under the category of torture. I'd like to know if the AG supports criminal prosecution within Colorado of the perpetrators for these [alleged] heinous and unconscionable crimes."
Pacheco replied, "This is a federal matter and I suggest you reach out to the Justice Department or federal Bureau of Prisons for comment."
I replied, "How is it strictly a federal matter when people are in fact [allegedly] committing heinous crimes within the state of Colorado in blatant violation of Colorado law? I would appreciate a real answer from the Attorney General of Colorado on this matter."
I did not hear back.
Quick Takes
Tina Peters Guilty: The former Mesa County clerk and conspiracy monger has been found "guilty of seven of 10 counts related to a 2021 breach of the Mesa County election system."
Charis Bible College: Seems like not a great place. Read (if you have time!) Logan Davis's first, second, and third articles in the series, along with Davis's follow-up piece about the aftermath of Andrew Wommack leaving Charis leadership. Here's a chilling line from the third part: "If the husband is doing something wrong, it's the wife's job to love him out of it."
Cleave Simpson Takes the High Road: Good for State Senator Simpson for condemning a bigoted, anti-transgender email from the state Republican Party targeting Simpson's opponent, Vivian Smotherman. See also Colorado Pols.
Capitol Dress Code: Hannah Metzger: Jeff Hunt went into the Senate gallery "wearing a pro-life sweatshirt." Officials kicked him out based on the restriction on political apparel. FIRE threatened to sue. The Capitol removed the clothing rules. That's fine. But, just so we're all clear, that means anything goes. You can't allow some forms of expression and ban others, on government property.
Trump on Colorado Mail Elections: Trump lied about them. Big surprise. See also Alex Griffing's take.
Teen Rex: Children fossil hunting in North Dakota found fossilized bones that turned out to belong to a juvenile T-Rex. The bones are now on display at the Denver Museum of Nature and Science, and a film on the T-Rex features the people involved. See a DMNS media release, a short video about the find, and a longer presentation about it. Super cool.
Stilt Walking for Peaches: KSUT has a story (with video) about Palisade stilt walkers. People would (crazily!) strap on stilts to thin peaches (and I think also to prune trees). A photo of my grandfather appears briefly in the story from when he walked stilts in a parade. The story notes that peach trees have come down in size dramatically. I remember as a child my grandfather grew massive trees; today at least one farm intentionally keeps its trees short enough that they can be reached entirely from the ground. I'm not sure if this is partly a product of tree variety (that's what the story suggests) or purely a result the way trees are pruned.
Fish Out: Colorado Sun journalist Sandra Fish is retiring. Hopefully great for her; unfortunate for news readers.
Nature School: These are a good idea. Even better: Just drop the "school" part and let kids play out in nature.
Zebra Mussels: They're in the Colorado River. Bad!
Another Fatal I-70 Crash: A truck crash caused the death of a newlywed couple and the bride's mother, leaving their child an orphan. This stretch of road is very dangerous. A trucker recently nearly ran me off the road along this stretch of road. I hope road managers improve safety.
Drinking Age: Andrew Kenney tells the story of changing laws.
Denver Police: Joe Rubino: Denver "police officers struck and arrested a 60-year-old man who was not suspected of a crime," resulting in a payout. Colleen Slevin: "A Denver Police Department recruit who had to have both of his legs amputated after losing consciousness and repeatedly collapsing during fight training at the city's police academy is suing those who allegedly forced him to continue the 'barbaric hazing ritual' after paramedics ignored warning signs." Where are the criminal charges? Kyle Harris: "The City of Denver will pay $350,000 to a delivery driver injured after a Denver Police officer speeding on the wrong side of the road, without sirens or emergency lights, crashed into his truck."
Pueblo Criminal Justice: Denver Post: "Pueblo weaponizes contempt of court to inflate jail time for minor crimes." I do think government should take the crime of shoplifting (one of the underlying accusations) seriously.
Abuse Alleged in Juvenile Detention: Allison Sherry: "The Child Protection Ombudsman of Colorado said in an alarming new report that incarcerated youth have reported abusive treatment and misconduct from staffers guarding the youth detention facilities run by the Colorado Department of Human Services."
Legislative Secrecy: I still am not convinced that legislators must make all of their conversations public when they are not conducting official state business. Legislators have rights of free speech, free association, and privacy too.
Open Records: At the same time, government records generally should be public. Jeffrey Roberts: "Despite a 2019 state statute requiring the public disclosure of police internal affairs files in Colorado, the town of Ouray for months released only heavily blacked-out copies of records concerning excessive-force allegations against officers. It took the involvement of an attorney, Colorado Freedom of Information Coalition president Steve Zansberg, for the Ouray County Plaindealer to finally obtain less-redacted documents that could be understood when read."
Property Taxes: There's an ongoing fight. Nobody likes my idea to simply abolish property taxes, but that's the best approach.
AI in Schools Various Colorado schools are embracing various AI technologies, including Khan Academy's "Khanmigo."
Must Accept Cash: Yes, there's a law. Yes, the law is stupid and a flagrant violation of contract rights.
Native American Boarding Schools: Colorado had five of them, where abuse and poor conditions were common.