Public bodies must not be permitted to “cure” infringements of the Colorado Open Meetings Law without being held accountable to the citizens who file lawsuits to enforce compliance, the Colorado Freedom of Information Coalition argues in a brief submitted to the state’s highest court.
The Colorado Freedom of Information Coalition presented its Jean Otto Friend of Freedom Award to Erin McIntyre and Mike Wiggins, owners and co-publishers of the weekly Ouray County Plaindealer since 2019.
It could have been worse. While open-government losses far outnumbered wins in the 2024 session of the Colorado General Assembly, the death of a burdensome Colorado Open Records Act bill in the closing days helped make the final tally a little less one-sided.
A bill advanced by state senators would give county clerks up to 20 working days to comply with Colorado Open Records Act requests during election seasons, except for requests made by journalists.
State lawmakers made significant adjustments to a bill that closes autopsy reports on minors, adding a deceased child’s name to the summary of information that must be released to the public following a death.
Journalism serves as the cornerstone of a vibrant and functioning democracy, providing citizens with the information necessary to make informed decisions. The forcible removal of Ms. Fish from the assembly, under the pretext that her reporting was unfavorably viewed by the party’s chairman, stands in stark contrast to the principles of freedom of speech and the press enshrined in our Constitution.
A committee of state senators endorsed major changes to the way the open meetings law affects the Colorado General Assembly, approving a bill that narrows the definition of “public business” and lets lawmakers communicate by email and text message without it being a “meeting” under the law.
More than two months after BusinessDen asked a judge to set aside her contempt threat against reporter Justin Wingerter, the judge responded to the motion with three words, “NO ACTION TAKEN,” and no further explanation.
Lawmakers did not, however, tackle the No. 1 barrier to obtaining public records in Colorado — exorbitant fees. And that problem will only get worse on July 1, 2024, when inflation boosts the maximum-allowable hourly rate to process CORA requests from $33.58 to a whopping $40 or $41.
A Denver attorney’s comments to the press about a federal class-action lawsuit were protected by the litigation privilege, which immunizes a lawyer who makes allegedly defamatory statements related to a civil court case, the Colorado Supreme Court decided, reversing a 2021 ruling by the Court of Appeals.
