Harsh sentencing in municipal courts is unfair and “deeply troubling”
Re: “Polis’ signature can end Colorado’s two-tier justice system,” April 20 editorial
The Denver Post editorial board is right to urge Gov. Jared Polis to sign House Bill 1147 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 some 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 some municipal courts deny legal counsel and impose 30-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 1147, Fairness & Transparency in Municipal Court, offers a common-sense solution 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 support HB 1147 because it protects fundamental legal rights. As a pastor, I support HB 1147 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 ways of doing things — but not at the expense of Colorado’s most 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 1147.
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 20 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.
Most of us probably know, at some 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 treatment for most mammals on the planet, just because most 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 most wilderness and replaced it with a massive system of factory farms.
Keith Akers and Kate Lawrence, Denver
‘Leave trans kids alone!’
Re: “Law to protect transgender pronouns with a steep price – free speech,” April 20 commentary
I am writing in response to Krista Kafer’s hateful Easter Sunday column against Colorado House Bill 1312, “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. Study after study has found that this behavior from parents that Kafer defends is deeply harmful to children.
Organizations like the Heritage Foundation — the people behind Project 2025 — 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 1312 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 1312. While it claims 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 1312 extends these ideas into public accommodation and education, 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 1:27). 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 risk losing their children for obeying scripture.
We must love our neighbors by standing for truth. HB 1312 is a bridge too far. I urge our lawmakers and citizens to reject this legislation 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 20 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 5 in the nation for car thefts. Other minor crimes are showing reduced rates probably because it is not worth the effort to report it – no action will be taken, nor efforts to apprehend the perpetrators.
In the reporting of the few 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 victims who died as a direct result 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 23
Thank you for today’s op-ed illustration portraying Pope Francis inviting the forgotten to enter the heavenly kingdom ahead of him. We live today in an environment 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 many of today’s ego-driven leaders. “Blessed 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 $70M,” April 10 news story
I am having trouble understanding why it is being considered to give $70 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 the editor about this article, submit online or check out our guidelines for how to submit by email or mail.