House committee passes measure targeting mug-shot websites
A Colorado legislative committee advanced a bill aimed at stopping Internet sites from publishing mug shots and then charging fees to take them down.
A Colorado legislative committee advanced a bill aimed at stopping Internet sites from publishing mug shots and then charging fees to take them down.
A bill to increase legal protections for Colorado journalists and their sources died in a state Senate committee. The Senate Judiciary Committee also killed another measure that would have opened records kept by private associations of elected officials that get some of their money from public sources.
Records kept by private associations of elected officials that get some of their money from public sources would be open to public scrutiny under legislation proposed by state Sen. Kevin Lundberg.
Journalists in Colorado would have stronger, but not absolute, protections against being compelled to reveal confidential sources and unreported information under an amendment to a reporter’s shield measure proposed by the bill’s sponsor.
Give state Sen. Bernie Herpin of Colorado Springs credit for understanding not just the Second Amendment on guns, but also a critical component of our system of government: A free press, protected from undue influence from prosecutors and others in government, is necessary to act as a watchdog for our government.
State Sen. Bernie Herpin quoted 18th-century English judge William Blackstone in explaining his reasons for introducing a bill to strengthen the Colorado law that protects a journalist’s confidential sources.
A new page on the website of the Colorado Freedom of Information Coalition lets you track bills in the state legislature that could affect the flow or availability of information in Colorado.
HB 14-1047 would require that commercial websites remove a booking photo free of charge if the arrested person makes a request in writing and that person was not charged with a crime, charges were dropped or the person was acquitted.
A plan to regulate fees for public records statewide is expected to be one of at least three bills introduced during the 2014 legislative session that would affect the flow or availability of information in Colorado.
Motivated by the ordeal of a Fox News reporter, who could have been jailed for refusing to reveal sources for a story on the Aurora movie theater gunman, Sen. Bernie Herpin says he wants to model Colorado’s press shield law after New York’s law.