History

A Colorado Court Case that Strengthened Due Process Rights

In 1962, the Warren Court held that a formal confession obtained during the five-day detention of a 14-year-old child violated his due process rights.

Colorado’s Unique Labor Organizing Law

Colorado’s Labor Peace Act looks likely to stir up controversy in the next legislative session, just like when it passed in 1943.
A lithographic rendering of Colorado City in the 1860s. Some homesteads can be seen, along with the foothills and Pike’s Peak in the background.

Mining Districts, One of the First Outcroppings of Law and Local Government in Colorado

Miners didn’t just dig up gold when they arrived in Colorado, they also set up some of the first courts and local governments in the state.
A long red brick building with grass in the foreground

Colorado’s Long Path Toward Mental Health Reform

From its founding in the early 1880s to its rebranding in 1991, the Colorado Mental Health Institute at Pueblo was frequently the center of criticism for operational issues and patient welfare. An 1899 investigation had long-lasting impacts on mental health treatment in Colorado.
Thomas Patterson.

Thomas Patterson’s Free Speech Battle Against the Colorado Supreme Court

Following the contentious election of 1904, sitting U.S. Senator Thomas Patterson battled the Colorado Supreme Court over contempt charges for his newspapers’ articles and cartoons criticizing the judicial body.
A.J. Sampson.

A.J. Sampson, Colorado’s First Attorney General

In his decades long career, A.J. Sampson reached the rank of captain during the Civil War, served as Colorado’s first attorney general and as an ambassador to Ecuador.

When a Colorado Court Ruled that Journalists Couldn’t Speak to Someone

In 1982, two reporters at the Boulder Daily Camera found themselves on the wrong side of the law while covering a first-degree murder case.
Anne Gorsuch, in formal clothing, sits on a couch in the Oval Office, next to former President Ronald Reagan, who sits in a chair.

Anne Gorsuch, the Woman Whose Work Created the Chevron Deference

In a trailblazing and at times controversial career, Anne Gorsuch was the youngest woman admitted to the Colorado Bar, the first woman to be EPA Administrator and the first cabinet-level official charged with contempt of Congress.

Stanley Biber, a Pioneer of Gender-Affirming Surgery and Trinidad Resident

Stanley Biber performed thousands of gender-affirming surgeries in Trinidad, Colorado, in a career that spanned two continents and several decades.

The Lawyer Who Brought Nikola Tesla to Colorado

The famous inventor spent a brief time experimenting in Colorado, but his lawyer was much more involved in the state.