A Disservice To Suicidal Individuals: CO’s Red Flag ERPO Law Will Only Exacerbate A Crisis 02/28/2020 “Red Flag” Extreme Risk Protection Order ERPO laws are picking up steam across the nation. Some states have had them in place for many years, such as Connecticut who implemented theirs in 1999, or Indiana who crafted their law in 2005, and California jumped on the bandwagon in 2014. In the past two years, other states have quickly followed suit including Colorado who passed one of the most egregious in 2019 and it went into effect January 1, 2020. But do they actually help prevent suicide?
“Red Flag” Extreme Risk Protection Order ERPO laws are picking up steam across the nation. Some states have had them in place for many years, such as Connecticut who implemented theirs in 1999, or Indiana who crafted their law in 2005, and California jumped on the bandwagon in 2014. In the past two years, other states have quickly followed suit including Colorado who passed one of the most egregious in 2019 and it went into effect January 1, 2020. But do they actually help prevent suicide?
#LoveWhereYouLive — and get involved there too 01/31/2020 Colorado’s population is changing faster than its weather, and no matter where you live in the state, you have probably noticed those changes in your community, which is why getting involved locally is more important now than ever. Ask a stranger on the street how they feel about politics and you’ll probably get a worse response than if you had asked “is your sister still ugly?” Washington is a dumpster fire, which drives a lot of negative conversations about politics, but it doesn’t have to
Colorado’s population is changing faster than its weather, and no matter where you live in the state, you have probably noticed those changes in your community, which is why getting involved locally is more important now than ever. Ask a stranger on the street how they feel about politics and you’ll probably get a worse response than if you had asked “is your sister still ugly?” Washington is a dumpster fire, which drives a lot of negative conversations about politics, but it doesn’t have to
COYAC Interim Committee 08/08/2019 When you arrive at the Colorado legislature they say “Don’t marry your bills!” It’s really self preservation, to develop some distance between the issues and the process. Sometimes things just don’t work out. Usually it’s just politics, but every so often everything goes according to plan. With all that in mind there are still favorites, and the bill that became my baby last year was to create an interim committee for the students in the Colorado Youth Advisory Council (COYAC). Our committee
When you arrive at the Colorado legislature they say “Don’t marry your bills!” It’s really self preservation, to develop some distance between the issues and the process. Sometimes things just don’t work out. Usually it’s just politics, but every so often everything goes according to plan. With all that in mind there are still favorites, and the bill that became my baby last year was to create an interim committee for the students in the Colorado Youth Advisory Council (COYAC). Our committee
Juvenile Justice Reform Committee 07/05/2019 Sitting in court for a day is a very valuable thing to do. It should be like jury duty, something that every few years is a requirement. Hearing the litany of charges and admissions and excuses is a window into humanity. A police officer once told me that he loves his job partly because he gets to offer compassion on someone’s worst day. Their second worst day is in court. There is a reason I care about these things. The single greatest power we hold as a government is to take someone’s
Sitting in court for a day is a very valuable thing to do. It should be like jury duty, something that every few years is a requirement. Hearing the litany of charges and admissions and excuses is a window into humanity. A police officer once told me that he loves his job partly because he gets to offer compassion on someone’s worst day. Their second worst day is in court. There is a reason I care about these things. The single greatest power we hold as a government is to take someone’s
Criminal Justice Reform 06/01/2019 The Constitution means something to me. It’s not just a little book that I carry in my jacket pocket, it’s the way we organize ourselves, the way that we establish how we will protect one another, the establishment of our rules. There is no place more important to remember our founding document than when we talk about how we dole out punishments for violating our laws. Government has the sole ability to rob someone of their freedom and we should be very careful in how we go about that
The Constitution means something to me. It’s not just a little book that I carry in my jacket pocket, it’s the way we organize ourselves, the way that we establish how we will protect one another, the establishment of our rules. There is no place more important to remember our founding document than when we talk about how we dole out punishments for violating our laws. Government has the sole ability to rob someone of their freedom and we should be very careful in how we go about that
Colorado Red Flag Bill 03/13/2019 They say we don’t get paid enough. After ten hours of testimony, dozens of stories of troubles and tragedies far worse than any of us want to experience the Red Flag bill was voted out of the Colorado House Judiciary Committee. The Extreme Risk Protection Oder bill was offered with assurance that these would be solutions to many of our worst nightmares. I walked in to that hearing with skepticism and I walked out, after voting No, with many of the same concerns. The death of Deputy Zacharia
They say we don’t get paid enough. After ten hours of testimony, dozens of stories of troubles and tragedies far worse than any of us want to experience the Red Flag bill was voted out of the Colorado House Judiciary Committee. The Extreme Risk Protection Oder bill was offered with assurance that these would be solutions to many of our worst nightmares. I walked in to that hearing with skepticism and I walked out, after voting No, with many of the same concerns. The death of Deputy Zacharia
