News

Celebrating the Class of 2025

Emily Battaglia — Thu, 29 May 2025 21:10:52 +0000

Celebrating the Class of 2025 Emily Battaglia Thu, 05/29/2025 - 15:10

On Friday, May 9, graduates gathered with faculty, family, and dear friends for the 130th commencement ceremony honoring the Colorado Law class of 2025.

Watch the full ceremony.

After the procession concluded, Colorado Law Dean Lolita Buckner Inniss took the podium to recognize graduates and provide her opening remarks. Dean Inniss touched upon the themes of passion, engagement, energy, courage, and resilience – as well as the importance of placing these traits in service of the rule of law.

Dean Inniss also shared an anecdote about a notable Colorado Law alumni, Justice Luis Dario Rovira, who went on to become the first Latino State Court judge in the United States, and eventually the first Latino Chief Justice of a State Supreme Court.

Dean Inniss gives opening remarks at the 2025 Commencement.

Inniss shared, “Justice Rovira’s life teaches us many things, but, above all, it shows us what it means to live by the values we claim to believe in. He lived not for acclaim, but for justice.”

Dean Inniss concluded her remarks with a land acknowledgement, then welcomed Jayson Highwalking to the stage to perform a powerful honor song.

Jayson Highwalking shares his song.

This was followed by welcoming remarks in Spanish given by Prof. Violeta Chapin.

Next, Prof. Blake Reid ’10 had the honor of both recognizing the top fifteen percent of the class as members of the Order of the Coif and presenting this year's recipient of the Honorary Order of the Coif, Judge Elizabeth Brodsky ’97. Brodsky said to graduates, “You are about to embark on your legal careers, you will have the opportunity to protect the rights of the most vulnerable among us and to advocate for justice. This is a tremendous responsibility...one that must be embraced with integrity and compassion.”

Judge Elizabeth Brodsky '97

Class President Pablo Perez took the stage next, sharing with his classmates, “We have all been so lucky to go on this journey in 51��ý... There is a powerful tradition of CU Law grads going on to change the world for the better, and today the class of 2025 proudly follows in their footsteps.”

Class Vice President Mariah Bowman followed, stating, “What I'm most grateful for today, above all else, is for you, my classmates. One of the greatest joys of the past three years of my life has been getting to spend time with all of you. I have learned the most from seeing the world through your eyes. From your vulnerability, bravery, and humor, thank you for sharing yourselves with me.”

Class President Pablo Perez '25

Next, Class Treasurer Libby Gorske announced the class gift: 20 chess sets and 30 board games donated to the library, commemorated with a plaque. Gorske shared that the gifts represent the work life balance the class has come to cherish. And, recognizing those who balanced parenthood with law school, the class also donated comfort items for the nursing mothers’ room on the first floor.

LLM Class Representative Andressa Gonzales de Souza followed, sharing remarks about the journey LLM students went on throughout their time in the program. “Today, we are not just lawyers with a new diploma, we are transformed people—braver, more aware, and forever connected across borders.”

LLM Class Representative Andressa Gonzales de Souza

Class Secretary Linnea Cheek introduced Keynote Speaker, Professor Fred Bloom.

Bloom’s compelling remarks touched upon the bittersweet nature of graduation, pondering, “What is a moment?” and reflecting on this question as it relates to the legal profession. Bloom shared, “In the end, your time, your moments, are the most valuable thing you as lawyers will have to give.”

He also implored graduates to “...think please about what good lawyers can do-- they can give of their moments in ways that make other people's lives better, and there is nothing more sacred than that.”

Professor Fred Bloom

Assistant Dean of Student Services Emily Horowitz announced the hooding of the graduates, and each of the students triumphantly walked across the stage. Law Alumni Board Chair Tim Galluzzi ’15 then welcomed the class to Colorado Law's extraordinary alumni community. As the program drew to a close, Dean Inniss recited the traditional Sears Charge and the audience let loose a final wave of congratulatory applause. Then, attendees headed back to the Wolf Law Building to celebrate at the reception, with a recessional led by Denver-based band, Brothers of Brass

On Friday, May 9, graduates gathered with faculty, family, and dear friends for the 130th commencement ceremony honoring the Colorado Law class of 2025.

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The Sam Cary Bar Association: Colorado’s Vanguard for Black Attorneys

Robyn Munn — Thu, 29 May 2025 16:25:01 +0000

The Sam Cary Bar Association: Colorado’s Vanguard for Black Attorneys Robyn Munn Thu, 05/29/2025 - 10:25

Hon. Gary Jackson '70

The following article, Sam Cary Bar Association: Colorado’s Vanguard of Black Attorneys, originally appeared in The Colorado Magazine, Spring/Summer 2025. It is reprinted here with permission from History Colorado. You can view the original publication on History Colorado’s website.

Originally published online: May 7, 2025
Author: Hon. Gary Jackson ’70

In the spring of 1971, seven young attorneys met in a Denver office and embarked on a singular mission: to advance equal opportunities for Black lawyers and judges.

It is almost commonplace today to see Black prosecutors carrying the torch of democracy and fulfilling the American principle that the rule of law should apply to all people equally. Former Vice President Kamala Harris as San Francisco District Attorney; Alvin Bragg, New York County District Attorney; Fani Willis, District Attorney of Fulton County, Georgia; and Jerry Blackwell, former Minnesota prosecutor in the George Floyd murder trial are all Black prosecutors who gained nationwide media attention in prosecuting celebrity defendants for criminal conduct.

But even in the not-so-distant past, things were so very different.

I graduated from the University of Colorado Law School (CU Law) in 1970. At that time, the nation was divided over the Vietnam War (among other issues), with student protests at Kent State, Jackson State, the University of California at Berkeley, and various other colleges and universities across the nation. The country was still reeling from the untimely deaths of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and presidential candidate Robert Kennedy. The Black Power movement was impacting all aspects of my life. In the legal arena, the death penalty had been declared unconstitutional in the case Furman v. Georgia by the US Supreme Court. The Hon. Thurgood Marshall was the Black Supreme Court justice we had revered since his selection in 1967, when Jim Cotton, Sonny Flowers, and I were admitted to CU Law. Edward Brooks of Massachusetts was the first Black US senator since the Reconstruction years. Shirley Chisholm of New York was the first Black person to run for president of the United States.

In 1970, when I was hired as a deputy Denver district attorney, I was the only Black deputy DA in the state of Colorado. There was one Latino deputy DA—Roy Martinez—but there were no Asian Americans and only four women who held the office: Anne Gorsuch, mother of current US Supreme Court Justice Neil Gorsuch; Ann Allott, sister-in-law of Gordon Allott, a former US senator; Marilyn Wilde; and Orrelle Weeks, who later became our first Denver Juvenile Court woman judge. All four women were siloed into the non-support section of the office, collecting child support payments or practicing law in the juvenile section.

My “welcome” to the Bar of Colorado was a 1969 photograph in The Denver Post with Art Bosworth, David Fisher, and Bob Swanson. We had been hired as legal interns by Mike McKevitt, Denver District Attorney. Each of us wore a suit and tie. The only difference in our appearance was the three-inch afro on my head, the goatee on my chin, and, of course, my skin color. The photograph set off a firestorm of anonymous letters and even a negative editorial comment by a Colorado Supreme Court justice who called my appearance a disgrace to CU Law and the Denver District Attorney’s Office. My moment of celebration for the achievement of academic success initiated me immediately into the resistance that lawyers of color have faced ever since we entered the profession of law and the American Bar Association in 1925.

A gathering of District Attorney's office alumni in 1982. The photograph was taken on the steps of the old District Attorney Building on Speer Blvd and Colfax. At least 10 members of that staff became County, District, and Presiding Disciplinary judges.

Courtesy of Gary M. Jackson

Filling the Need for an Affinity Association

Sometime in the spring of 1971, Billy Lewis called a meeting at his office on 1839 York Street, inviting six other Black attorneys. Lewis, a graduate of Denver’s Manual High School and the first Black scholarship basketball player for the University of Colorado in 1956, was a graduate of Howard University, the historic Black law school in Washington, DC. He had an integrated law firm with Black partners Morris Cole and Phil Jones and white partners Natalie and Hank Ellwood. The other six lawyers who attended the meeting were King Trimble, Raymond Dean Jones, Daniel Muse, Norm Early, Phil Jones, and me.

There were a total of fifteen Black lawyers in the state of Colorado at the time, two of whom were judges. Hon. James C. Flanigan, Denver district judge, was appointed as the first Black judge in 1957 on the Denver Municipal Court bench. Ten long years after Jackie Robinson broke the color line for Blacks in baseball in 1947, Judge Gilbert Alexander was the other Black judge in Colorado.

At that meeting, we decided to create a bar association focusing on the needs of Black attorneys and the issues of our Black community. The organization would be a local one but in the mold of the National Bar Association (NBA), the nation’s oldest and largest national network of predominantly Black attorneys and judges. The NBA was established in 1925 at the convention of the Iowa Colored Bar Association. On August 1, the NBA incorporated in Des Moines, Iowa, as the “Negro Bar Association” after several Black lawyers were denied membership in the American Bar Association. When the number of African American lawyers barely exceeded 1,000 nationwide, the NBA tried to establish “free legal clinics in all cities with a colored population of 5,000 or more.” Its members supported litigation that achieved a US Supreme Court ruling that defendants in criminal cases had to be provided with legal counsel. Members of the NBA were leaders of the pro-bono movement at a time when they could least afford to provide legal services for free. When the Supreme Court outlawed school segregation in Brown v. Board of Education, the NBA was only nineteen years old.

In Colorado, we named our organization the Sam Cary Bar Association (SCBA) after one of Colorado’s first prominent Black lawyers: Samuel Eddy Cary, who had a solo practice in Denver’s Five Points neighborhood. Born in 1886 in Providence, Kentucky, Cary was the first Black graduate of Washburn University School of Law in Topeka, Kansas. Admitted to the Colorado Bar in October 1919, he was known for his outstanding trial abilities and for defending the rights of Black, Brown, and poor people. At the time, he was the only Black attorney practicing law in Colorado. On September 30, 1926, Sam Cary had to endure the harshest jolt of his life and career when he was disbarred by the all-white Colorado Bar Association. Exactly nine years later, on October 1, 1935, he was reinstated to the Colorado Bar; he continued practicing law until June of 1945, when he passed away as a result of throat cancer.

In 1971, the founding members of the SCBA researched the late Sam Cary’s background, including the reason for his disbarment. Founders spoke with former Colorado Chief Justice O. Otto Moore, who advised us that the disbarment was both racially and politically motivated at a time when members of the Ku Klux Klan held positions of power in state and local government, as well as in the judiciary. Thus, the SCBA took Cary’s name and became Colorado’s first minority bar association, or what is now known as a specialty or affinity bar association. We were all under thirty-five years of age, activists, community organizers, and fearless in terms of what we wanted to accomplish: equal opportunities for Black lawyers and judges. With no Black partners in the commercial law firms along Denver’s Seventeenth Street, no Black professors at the law schools, and only two Black judges and one Black deputy district attorney in all of Colorado, it was a profession in which many voices were not being heard and the economic rewards were all directed toward white men.

Samuel Eddy Cary was the first Black man to graduate from Washburn Law School in Kansas. He moved to Colorado and began practicing law here in 1919.

Courtesy of Gary M. Jackson

The Vanguard

The Sam Cary Bar Association became the vanguard organization in advancing the need for more lawyers of color and women attorneys in the state of Colorado. It was our mutual belief that forming a Black bar association was necessary for a multitude of reasons. We came together to create a bar to expand our influence—not through separation but through our need for inclusiveness and equity in the legal profession. Each of us became a leader within the legal profession. SCBA played a significant role in expanding the representation of diverse lawyers to key appointments of judgeships, committees, and associations. Importantly, four of the seven founders went on to become city, state, and federal prosecutors at various times in their careers.

Leaders of SCBA were not only local leaders but rose to national acclaim. Wiley Y. Daniel was our tenth SCBA president in 1981. He accelerated to high public profile as Colorado’s first Black federal court judge in 1995, selected by President Bill Clinton. Before his appointment to the bench, he served as the first and only Black president of the Colorado Bar Association from 1992 to 1993. Born in 1946 in Louisville, Kentucky, Daniel earned his undergraduate and law degrees from Howard University. After practicing law for seven years in Detroit, he moved to Colorado in 1977. He immediately became an active member of the SCBA. Appointed chief judge of the US District of Colorado in 2008, Judge Daniel was the president of the Federal Judges Association from May 2009 to April 2011. In 2013 he was appointed as a special mediator for the City of Detroit’s bankruptcy—the largest municipal bankruptcy at that time, involving approximately 18 billion dollars of debt. Judge Daniel, along with a panel of mediators, helped negotiate a settlement with creditors and with city employees regarding their pensions. According to the Associated Press, the settlement led to about 7 billion dollars of debt being restructured or wiped out, and to other financial relief set aside to improve city services.

Another significant case of Judge Daniel’s was Roy Smith v. Gilpin County, Colorado. This civil rights case involved extraordinary allegations of racially motivated crimes against Roy Smith, an African American man, including torture while hanging from a beam in his house, being shot at, and being assaulted with a vehicle. Among other charges, the case alleged that the Sheriff’s Department failed to investigate Smith’s complaints of ongoing racial harassment and failed to protect him based on racial animus. As The Denver Post reported on December 24, 1996, Judge Daniel stated in a hearing that the case had “the most appalling and reprehensible record I’ve ever seen.” He found that the defendants were not entitled in qualified immunity, stating that Smith “demonstrated not only a pattern of deliberate indifference on the part of the individual officers and the Sheriff’s Department, but also presented direct evidence of racial slurs that was[sic] sanctioned by the Sheriff’s Department.” Settled before trial, the case was featured in an episode of 20/20 with Barbara Walters and was the subject of a documentary screened at the Denver Film Society.

Former presidents of the Sam Cary Bar Association, from left to right, Wally Worthan, Hubert Farbes, Earle Jones, Linda Wade Hurd, William Harold Flowers, Jr., Hon. Ray Dean Jones, Hon. Gary M. Jackson and Hon. Wiley Y. Daniel.

Courtesy of Gary M. Jackson

Lastly, Judge Daniel was an extraordinary leader for the Sam Cary Bar Association. He served as chair of the Sam Cary Convention Committee in hosting the sixty-first Annual Convention of the National Bar Association in July 1986. With more than 1,500 Black lawyers and judges coming to Denver, his leadership put the SCBA on the map of the best Black bar associations in the country. Daniel passed away in May 2019.

Hon. Gregory Kellam Scott was appointed a Colorado Supreme Court justice in 1993 by Governor Roy Romer. Graduating from Rutgers in 1970, Scott earned his law degree with honors at Indiana University Law School. He started his career with the US Securities and Exchange Commission in Denver. Scott moved on to teach law at the University of Denver Law School for more than a decade. On the Colorado Supreme Court, he participated in more than 1,000 cases. Scott authored the opinion in Hill v. Thomas, a landmark case that concluded in early 2000 in which the Supreme Court upheld legislation that allowed a buffer zone around anyone entering or exiting healthcare facilities to avoid violence by picketers. During his time on the bench, Scott issued a concurring opinion in the 1994 decision of Evans v. Romer, in which the court blocked the enforcement of Amendment 2, a 1992 constitutional amendment prohibiting government protections for gays and lesbians. “Amendment 2 effectively denies the right to petition or participate in the political process by voiding…redress from discrimination,” Scott wrote. “[L]ike the right to vote which assumes the right to have one’s vote counted, the right peaceably to assemble and petition is meaningless if by law, government is powerless to act.” Scott resigned from the Supreme Court in 2000 and died on April 1, 2021.

A third leader of SCBA who gained national prominence was Norman Strickland Early Jr. Norm Early attended American University and then obtained his Juris Doctorate at the University of Illinois at Champaign. He came to Colorado in 1970 on a Reginald Heber Smith Community Lawyer Fellowship and worked for the Legal Aid Society of Metropolitan Denver. In 1972 District Attorney Dale Tooley hired Early as a deputy district attorney; he served in the position until 1983, when Governor Richard Lamm appointed him as head of the Denver District Attorney’s Office, a post he held until 1993.

Early became known nationally as a fierce advocate for the rights of victims, and he worked hard to create the most diverse district attorney’s office in the state. He helped establish and lead organizations such as the National Organization for Victim Assistance, for which he served as president. The Colorado Organization for Victim Assistance named its highest honor the “Norm Early Exemplary Leadership Award.” A champion of crime victim’s rights, Early was also co-founder of two premier organizations dedicated to ensuring the success of Black lawyers. He created an organization to unite and advance Black prosecutors in 1983—the National Black Prosecutors Association—with 100 individuals gathered at its first meeting in Chicago, and was elected its first president. In 1971 Early was one of the seven co-founders of the Sam Cary Bar Association. Norm Early passed away on May 5, 2022.

William Harold “Sonny” Flowers, Jr. and Gary M. Jackson in 1991.

Courtesy of Gary M. Jackson

Following in SCBA’s Footsteps

Other specialty bars have followed the lead of the Sam Cary Bar Association. The Colorado Hispanic Bar Association was formed in 1977 with six original incorporators. Today, there are more than 500 Latinx and Hispanic American lawyers—the largest group of attorneys of color in Colorado. The association’s ongoing mission has been to serve Colorado and promote justice by advancing Hispanic interests and issues in the legal profession while seeking equal protection for the Hispanic community before the law.

The Colorado Women’s Bar Association (CWBA) was created in 1978; its first president was Natalie Ellwood, who was employed at the Billy Lewis law firm. The Hon. Zita Weinshienk was the face of the CWBA in the 1970s. She graduated from Harvard summa cum laude in 1958, but, as a Jewish woman, she could not obtain a job with the Seventeenth Street law firms in Denver. In 1964 she became the first woman on the Denver Municipal Court; she was a Denver County Court judge from 1965 to 1971. She was appointed to the Denver District Court in 1972, and in 1979 President Jimmy Carter appointed her as the first woman on the US District Court of Colorado.

The CWBA’s mission has remained the same since its inception: to promote women in the legal profession and the interests of women generally. The founders’ vision has resulted in decades of work promoting gender equality in the legal profession, historic preservation, influencing legislation related to women and children, mentoring, granting scholarships for women law students, fighting discrimination, influencing the selection of judges, and providing training and education. Judge Weinshienk had a personal impact on my own development as a lawyer as well. Serving as her deputy district attorney in Denver County Court in 1971, I was twenty-five years old when I was assigned to her courtroom in the Denver City and County Building and was the only Black state prosecutor in Colorado. At the same time, Judge Weinshienk was the only full-time woman judge, at any level of our state and federal court systems in Colorado.

The Asian American Pacific Bar Association (APABA) was formed in 1990. Its first president, co-founder Lucy Hojo Denson, was an associate in my law firm, DiManna & Jackson, and also became president of the Women’s Bar Association in 2010. APABA is a bar association in Colorado dedicated to advancing Asian-Pacific American lawyers as leaders in the profession. It advocates for issues concerning the Asian American community and spearheads programs benefiting underserved communities, promoting civil justice, and fostering professional development, mentorship, and community.

Formed in 1993, the Colorado LGBTQ+ Bar Association (CLBA) exists to provide a sense of community and belonging for LGBTQ+ individuals in the legal field in Colorado. Through programming and other initiatives, it seeks to provide opportunities for LGBTQ+ legal professionals to interact in safe settings, build meaningful professional relationships, and enhance our members’ community and professional profiles. The CLBA has more than 350 active members and sponsors. Its first president was the Hon. Mary Celeste, a retired presiding judge from the Denver County Court. Luminaries and past presidents include the Hon. Monica Marquez of the Colorado Supreme Court’s incoming Chief Justice; the Hon. Andrew McCallan; and Jon Olofson of the Denver District Court, who has served as secretary of the Sam Cary Bar Association.

The South Asian American Bar Association (SABA) was formed in 2009. Its founder and first president, my former partner Neeti Pawar, was named to the Colorado Court of Appeals and was the first Asian American woman on an appellate court in Colorado. SABA fosters growth and advocacy of justice in the South Asian legal community, serving both the interests of the minority voices it represents and the larger community it serves through programming and community outreach.

Judge Gary M. and Regina Jackson. Judge Jackson won the Hon. Wiley Daniel Lifetime award from the Center for Legal Inclusiveness in 2020.

Courtesy of Gary M. Jackson

A Place for Specialty Associations Today

Today, with no formal barriers for diverse lawyers to become members of the American Bar Association or the Colorado Bar Association, some have questioned whether this array of affinity associations is still necessary. But I believe that the need for specialty bars is strong. Today, eighteen states have no Black state supreme court justices, and, in nineteen there are no state supreme court justices who publicly identify as a person of color.

If we reflect on the criminal prosecutions of President Donald J. Trump and of Hunter Biden, the son of former President Joe Biden, those cases raise the question of how Americans are maintaining and upholding our democratic principle that all are accountable under the rule of law. We are greatly concerned about the massacres of our children at our schools, which raise questions about the interpretation of the Second Amendment of our Constitution and its viability in a world inundated with automatic weapons. Access to the voting booth has become more restricted in some states, and people of color, women, and LGBTQ+ individuals are also underrepresented in many.

The mission of specialty bars today remains the same as always: to overcome barriers and to promote equality in the judicial system so no one, regardless of race, gender, or identity, faces discrimination under the law. Specialty bars are creating great leaders who have reached beyond their associations to make an impact on the legal profession at large, and they have a voice that needs to be heard in the major legal and constitutional questions that the people of this country must answer.

The Sam Cary Bar Association in Colorado began this movement of diverse leaders and associations, and it continues to lead the way on the path to creating a more perfect union.

This article traces the history and legacy of the Sam Cary Bar Association, Colorado’s pioneering organization for Black attorneys. Written by Hon. Gary Jackson ’70, it highlights the association’s vital role in advancing racial justice, professional support, and community leadership since its founding.

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ICYMI: Faculty Publications, Media Mentions, and Faculty & Staff Activities

Emily Battaglia — Mon, 19 May 2025 16:28:33 +0000

ICYMI: Faculty Publications, Media Mentions, and Faculty & Staff Activities Emily Battaglia Mon, 05/19/2025 - 10:28

Widely recognized for its intellectual diversity and originality, the faculty at Colorado Law encompasses an array of prominent legal scholars who are widely cited, both in academia and throughout the national media landscape. We invite you to catch up on the latest faculty publications and media mentions with this weekly round up.

Faculty Publications

T. Markus Funk [Colorado Law adjunct faculty], Criminal Culpability and the Community, Ohio St. L. J. (May 2025).

Media Mentions

[T. Markus Funk], Dane Placko, “Operation Family Secrets': Former Chicago Mobster Reflects on Life After Testifying Against his Father” Fox 32 Chicago Story (April 30, 2025).

[Deep Gulasekaram], Hamed Aleaziz & Michael Crowley, Inside the Extraordinary Contradictions in Trump's Immigration Policies, NY Times (May 13, 2025).

[Blake Reid], Wes Davis, Trump Fires Head of Copyright Office Two Days Following Report That AI Training Might Not be Fair Use, The Verge (May 11, 2025).

Timothy Beck Werth, White House Fires Copyright Office Leaders as Controversial AI Report Surfaces, Mashable (May 12, 2025).

Rob Beschizza, Copyright Office Head Fired After Failing to Bless Copyright Exemption for Big Tech's AI Training, Boing Boing (May 12, 2025).

Simon Sharwood, US Copyright Office found AI companies sometimes breach copyright. Next day its boss was fired, The Register (May 12, 2025).

Maggie Harrison Dupré, The US Copyright Chief Was Fired After Raising Red Flags 51��ý AI Abuse, Futurism (May 13, 2025).

Kyle Jahner, Trump's Firing of Copyright Chief Sparks Constitutional Clash, Bloomberg (May 14, 2025).

Ivan Moreno, Lawmakers Question Legality of Library of Congress Moves, Law360 (May 14, 2025).

Steven Zeitchik & Ethan Millman, Trump May Hurt Hollywood With Remake of Copyright Office, The Hollywood Reporter (May 14, 2025).

[Alan Schieve, Director of Admissions], Erica Bruenlin, Law School Applications are Surging in Colorado This Year; Part of a Nationwide Trend, Colorado Sun (May 16, 2025).

Faculty & Staff Activities

Paul Campos, Lawyers, Guns, & Money (May 9-16), blog posts available here.

[Deep Gulasekaram], Andrew Willinger, Scholarship Highlight: Loyalty Disarmament and "Gun Hunting", Duke Center for Firearms Law blog (May 14, 2025).

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ICYMI: Faculty Publications, Media Mentions, and Faculty & Staff Activities

Emily Battaglia — Mon, 12 May 2025 17:29:56 +0000

ICYMI: Faculty Publications, Media Mentions, and Faculty & Staff Activities Emily Battaglia Mon, 05/12/2025 - 11:29

Faculty Publications

Margot Kaminski, & Helen Norton (with Toni M. Massaro), SIRI-OUSLY 2.0 : What Artificial Intelligence Reveals 51��ý the First Amendment, in Robot Law: Volume II (Ryan Calo, A. Michael Froomkin, & Kristen Thomasen, eds.) 286 (2025).

Helen Norton, Contesting 'Address': Conflicts Over the Words We Use to Address and Refer to Each Other, SSRN.com(forthcoming 62 Hous. L. Rev. 799 (2025)).

Blake Reid, What Copyright Can't Do, 52 Pepp. L. Rev. 519 (2025).

Jonathan Skinner-Thompson, The Idea of Air, SSRN.com (forthcoming, Utah L. Rev.)

James Salzman, Mark Squillace, Sam Kalen, Michael Pappas, & James Rasband, Natural Resources Law & Policy (4th ed., 2025).

Media mentions

[Kristen Carpenter], Anna V. Smith, At U.N., Mining Groups Tout Protections for Indigenous People, High Country News (May 2, 2025).

[Violeta Chapin], Kristian Lopez, 'It's an Insult': Immigrants React to $1,000 Offer from Homeland Security to Self-Deport, Fox 13 (May 7, 2025).

[Deep Gulasekaram], Elliot Wenzler, Legal Experts Say Trump is Unlikely to Win Colorado Lawsuit Against 'Sanctuary' Policies. But He May Not Care, Denver Post (May 8, 2025).

[Doug Spencer], Ross Rosenfeld, Republicans are Already Plotting to Steal the Midterms, The New Republic (May 6, 2025).

[Harry Surden], Liliana Salgado & Andrew Goudsward, Family Creates AI Video to Depict Arizona Man Addressing His Killer in Court, Reuters (May 9, 2025).

Faculty and Staff Activities

Paul Campos, Lawyers, Guns, & Money (May 2-9), blog posts available here.

Shamika Dalton, Member Spotlight, Black Law Librarians SIS blog (May 8, 2025).

Blake Reid's paper NetChoice and Telecom Law's First Amendment, was listed on SSRN's Top Downloads list for: Law & Political Economy eJournal.

Scott Skinner-Thompson (speaker), Law's Gender Ideology (King's College London, May 8, 2025); & Law's Gender Ideology (University of Brighton, May 7, 2025).

Mark Squillace, Water Rights in the United States (Blue History Network, May 9, 2025); & Mark Squillace (panelist), "Public Access to Water Resources," at A Water's History of the United States (Roosevelt Institute for American Studies, upcoming, May 22, 2025, The Netherlands.)

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ICYMI: Faculty Publications, Media Mentions, and Faculty & Staff Activities

Emily Battaglia — Mon, 05 May 2025 17:12:46 +0000

ICYMI: Faculty Publications, Media Mentions, and Faculty & Staff Activities Emily Battaglia Mon, 05/05/2025 - 11:12

Faculty Publications

Maryam Jamshidi, On UNRWA's Immunity, TWAIL Rev. Reflections (May 1, 2025).

AnnaKatherine Wherren, Free Online Tools for Out-of-State Primary Law Research, Colo. L. 14 (Mar. 2025).

Michael Whitlow, A Guide to Free Colorado Legislative History Materials, Colo. L. 14 (May/June 2025).

Media Mentions

[Deep Gulasekaram], Bob Egelko & Sophia Bollag, New Trump Order Seeks to Name and Shame Sanctuary Cities. Can He Go Any Further?, San Francisco Chronicle (April 28, 2025).

Anna Bauman, St. John Barned-Smith, & Bob Egelko, Trump Administration Sows Panic at California Universities After Revoking Over 100 Student Visas, San Francisco Chronicle (April 9, 2025).

[Vivek Krishnamurthy], Tamara Chuang, Colorado Lawmakers, Being Watched Across the Country, Scale Back Artificial Intelligence Law, Colorado Sun (April 29, 2025).

[Jeanne Segil, KWIP], Colton Chavez, After Spending 15 Years in Prison, Colorado Man Has Conviction Overturned, Denver 9 News (April 23, 2025).

Shelly Bradbury, Colorado Judge Erases Man's Conviction in 2009 Triple Shooting, Orders Him Freed, Denver Post (April 23, 2025).

[Mark Squillace], Chris D'Angelo, The Trump Administration's Push to Privatize US Public Lands, Grist (April 29, 2025).

Faculty and Staff Activities

Paul Campos, Lawyers, Guns, & Money (April 25-May 2), blog posts available here.

[Kathleen Lord, Jeanne Segil, KWIP], Erin Calkins, KWIP Welcomes James "Cass" Garner Home!, Colorado Law (April 30, 2025).

Margot Kaminksi (panelist, moderator), Helen Norton (panelist), Yale Freedom of Expression Scholars Conference (April 25-26, 2025).

[Amanda Parsons],28th Annual Critical Tax Conference of Wisconsin (April 25-26, 2025), Tax Prof Blog, presenting Tax Law for Informational Capitalism.

Jonathan Skinner-Thompson, Reimagining the Concept of Air and the Atmosphere as Natural Resources in Law and Policy, Cambridge Centre for Environment, Energy and Natural Resource Governance (Cambridge, UK, May 1, 2025).

Sloan Speck, Speck Reviews "The Past and Future of Taxing 'Incomes' By Wallace & Wells, TaxProf Blog (April 25, 2025).

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KWIP Welcomes James "Cass" Garner Home!

Erin Calkins — Wed, 30 Apr 2025 14:29:20 +0000

KWIP Welcomes James "Cass" Garner Home! Erin Calkins Wed, 04/30/2025 - 08:29

Erin Calkins

Last week, the District Court vacated the conviction of Korey Wise Innocence Project client, James “Cass” Garner, and ordered his immediate release. Remarkably, the same judge who presided over Mr. Garner’s original trial issued the order.

After 15 long years, James Garner is now free — released from Sterling Correctional Facility just after 5:00 p.m. last Wednesday. He is no longer imprisoned for a crime he did not commit.

Mr. Garner was wrongfully convicted in connection with a 2009 non-fatal shooting at a local bar — the same night he was there celebrating his birthday. He has always maintained his innocence. This life-changing outcome was made possible through the relentless work of KWIP attorneys Kathleen Lord and Jeanne Segil. Their case focused on discrediting the unreliable eyewitness identifications that had played a central role in Mr. Garner’s conviction.

In the initial months after the shooting, none of the three victims (all brothers) identified Mr. Garner in photo lineups. But nearly three years later at trial, all three pointed to him in court — a setting that was highly suggestive, especially with Mr. Garner being the only man seated at the defense table alongside two female attorneys. To strengthen their case, Kathleen and Jeanne brought in nationally recognized experts on human memory and eyewitness identification, both of whom concluded that the trial identifications were unreliable.

We’re overjoyed for Mr. Garner and his family. You can watch a short news story about Mr. Garner’s release and see a video of his first moments of freedom on KWIP’s Instagram page. There’s also a great Denver Post article.

“This is why we do this work,” Jeanne Segil said. “Today validates that what we do makes a difference for people.”

Last week, the District Court vacated the conviction of Korey Wise Innocence Project client, James “Cass” Garner, and ordered his immediate release.

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ICYMI: Faculty Publications, Media Mentions, and Faculty & Staff Activities

Emily Battaglia — Mon, 28 Apr 2025 20:50:58 +0000

ICYMI: Faculty Publications, Media Mentions, and Faculty & Staff Activities Emily Battaglia Mon, 04/28/2025 - 14:50

Media Mentions

[Violeta Chapin], Jason Gonzales, Colorado Law Clinic Students get a Firsthand Look at a "Broken" Immigration System, Chalkbeat Colorado (April 24, 2025).

[Dale Hatfield, SFC], FCC Gets Broad Support for Drone Spectrum Proposals, Communications Daily (April 17, 2025)(Lexis login required).

[Margot Kaminski, Vivek Krishnamurthy], Tamara Chuang, Why Colorado's Artificial Intelligence Law is a Big Deal for the Whole Country, Colorado Sun (April 23, 2025)

[Sarah Krakoff], Rachel Cohen, Interior Department Announces Restructuring Led by DOGE Official, KUNC (April 21, 2025).

[Doug Spencer], Moving Gun Ammunition Behind the Counter, Polis' First Veto and More from the Colorado Legislature this Week, Denver Post (April 19, 2025).

Maria Tedesco, Mad at Trump's Losses in Court, Colorado's GOP Members of Congress Vote to Weaken Judges, Colorado Times Recorder (April 18, 2025).

Faculty and Staff Activities

Paul Campos, Lawyers, Guns, & Money (April 18-25), blog posts available here.

[Michael Pappas], Connor Henderson, Insuring the American Dream, The Regulatory Review (April 19, 2025)(featuring article co-authored with Mark Nevitt, Climate Risk, Insurance Retreat, and State Response, 58 Ga. L. Rev. 1603 (2024).

[Deep Gulasekaram, Daria Roithmayr, Chris Winter], M.R. Dickey, Catherine Pursifull, & Virginia Matson, Disentagling Executive Orders: Legal Insights from Colorado Law Faculty, Colorado Law (April 18, 2025).

[Sandra Ristovska, Media Studies,courtesy Law appointment], announces the launch of the Visual Evidence Lab, involving video evidence, law and technology, policing, and criminal justice.

The Visual Evidence Lab will be launched on April 25, 3:30-5:30 pm, at the Institute of Behavioral Science, Room 155A, on campus. The launch will include a screening of the Academy-award nominated documentary, Incident, followed by a Q&A with the filmmakers, and a roundtable discussion with experts from academia, law, and human rights. More info is available here.

Read more about the Visual Evidence Lab here.

[Samuelson-Glushko Technology Law & Policy Clinic], Neven Grigic, TLPC Files Amicus Brief in First U.S. Case to Explore How the First Amendment Applies, TLPC (April 24, 2025).

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ICYMI: Faculty Publications, Media Mentions, and Faculty & Staff Activities

Emily Battaglia — Mon, 21 Apr 2025 16:02:36 +0000

ICYMI: Faculty Publications, Media Mentions, and Faculty & Staff Activities Emily Battaglia Mon, 04/21/2025 - 10:02

Faculty Publications

Jonathon Booth, A New Satanic Panic, SSRN.com (forthcoming, Yale J. L. & Feminism).

Margot Kaminski & Gianclaudio Malgieri, The Right to Explanation in the AI Act, SSRN (abstract available).

Doug Spencer, The New Voter Suppression: Political Campaigns, Social Media, and the Data-Driven Disenfranchisement of the Poor (Cambridge University Press, forthcoming).

Harry Surden, Artificial Intelligence and the Law--An Overview of Recent Technologicial Changes, 96 U. Colo. L. Rev. 376 (2025).

Harry Surden & Andrew Coan, Artificial Intelligence and Constitutional Interpretation, 96 U. Colo. L. Rev. 415 (2025).

Media Mentions

[Deep Gulasekaram], Ryan Fish, Colorado Judge Puts Temporary Hold on Deportations Sought by Trump Under Alien Enemies Act, Associated Press & Denver7 (April 15, 2025).

Hamed Aleaziz, Luke Broadwater, & Stephanie Saul, Trump Threatens to Block International Students Unless Harvard Shares Student Data, NY Times (April 17, 2025).

[Vivek Krishnamurthy], Janyce McGregor, How Safe is Your Vote?, CBC (April 18, 2025).

[Blake Reid], Matt Daneman, FCC and FTC Action on Section 230 Seems Inevitable, Despite Unclear Authority, Communications Daily (Apr. 14, 2025).

[Scott Skinner-Thompson], Zane McNeill, How The Trump Administration is Undermining Civil Rights Law-- and How Nonprofits Can Fight Back, Nonprofit Quarterly (April 14, 2025).

[Doug Spencer], Seth Klamann, Is Colorado Republications' Appeal for Trump Intervention on New Gun-Control Law Symbolic, or Can the Feds Act?, Denver Post (April 17, 2025).

[Mark Squillace], Elise Schmelzer, Denver Water Forges Ahead on Gross Dam Construction--For Now--While Project Remains in Legal Jeopardy,\ Denver Post (April 16, 2025).

Faculty & Staff Activities

Paul Campos, Lawyers, Guns, & Money (April 11-18), blog posts available here.

Silicon Flatirons Center, Challenging in Sustaining Space as a Resource, Inaugural Space and Spectrum Policy Conference (upcoming, June 24-25, 2025, Colorado Law).

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ICYMI: Faculty Publications, Media Mentions, and Faculty & Staff Activities

Emily Battaglia — Mon, 14 Apr 2025 16:51:05 +0000

ICYMI: Faculty Publications, Media Mentions, and Faculty & Staff Activities Emily Battaglia Mon, 04/14/2025 - 10:51

Media Mentions

[Violeta Chapin], Carly Moore, Experts: Immigration Practices Changing Under Trump Administration, KDVR (April 7, 2025).

[Mark Squillace], Bobby Magill, Land Sale Plan's Model Led to Scant Affordable Housing in Nevada, Bloomberg Law (April 7, 2025).

Jeff Horseman, Can President Donald Trump Erase Chuckwalla National Monument? LA Daily News (April 9, 2025).

Austin Corona, How Much Water Flows Down the Colorado River? The Right Answer is More Important Than Ever, Arizona Republic (April 1, 2025).

[Harry Surden], Natalie Musumeci, Don't Get Used to Seeing AI Lawyers in the Courtroom, Business Insider (April 11, 2025).

[Chris Winter], Bobby Magill, Trump Boosts Libertarian Dream of Law-Free Cities on Public Land, Bloomberg Law (April 10, 2025).

Faculty and Staff Activities

Paul Campos, Lawyers, Guns, & Money (April 4-11), blog posts available here.

Maryam Jamshidi (speaker), Do Students Have a Right to Speak and Protest on Campus Can Universities Punish Speech and Protest on Campus?, Byron White Center (upcoming, April 14, 2025).

Margot Kaminski's scholarship was cited twice in the 9th Circuit's recent en banc decision, Project Veritas v. Schmidt, 125 F.4th 929 (9th. Cir. 2025).

[Amanda Parsons], Paul Caron, Thimmesch Reviews Valuing Social Data by Parsons and Viljoen, TaxProf Blog (April 10, 2025).

Harry Surden (moderator), Life in 2045: The Justice-First Future, Stanford Codex Future Law (April 10, 2025).

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ICYMI: Faculty Publications, Media Mentions, and Faculty & Staff Activities

Emily Battaglia — Mon, 07 Apr 2025 19:56:24 +0000

ICYMI: Faculty Publications, Media Mentions, and Faculty & Staff Activities Emily Battaglia Mon, 04/07/2025 - 13:56

Faculty Publications

Deep Gulasekaram, Loyalty Disarmament and the Undocumented, 125 Columbia L. Rev. Forum 29 (Mar. 21, 2025).

Jennifer Hendricks, The (Non-)Marital Bargain, in The Routledge Companion to Gender and Reproduction (Barbara Katz Rothman, Elizabeth Newnham, Rodante van der Waal, & Christie Sillo, eds., 2025).

Vanessa Ann Racehorse, Cultivating Hope: A Future with Ethics Towards People and Places, 96 U. Colo. L. Rev. 594 (2025).

Media Mentions

[Lolita Buckner Inniss], Ellie Silverman, After Pardons, J6ers Take Up a New Cause: Prison Reform, Wash. Post (Mar. 28, 2025).

[Violeta Chapin], Angeline McCall, Trump Seeks to End 'Temporary Protected Status" for Thousands of Immigrants, Denver9 News (Mar. 24, 2025).

Elizabeth Hernandez, Trump Administration Revokes Visas for at Least 10 International Students at Colorado Colleges,Denver Post (April 2, 2025).

[Deep Gulasekaram], Michael Karlick & Carol Mickenley, Jeanette Vizguerra Case on Pause While Federal Judge Awaits New First Amendment Claim, Denver Gazette (Mar. 28, 2025).

Sarah Matusek & Nate Iglehart, More Immigrants Face Deportation: What Due Process are They Owed?, Christian Science Monitor (April 4, 2025).

[Amanda Parsons], Adam Thimmesch, Data, Value, and Power in the Digital Age, JOTWELL (Mar. 25, 2025) (reviewing Amanda Parsons & Salomé Viljoen, Valuing Social Data, 125 Colum. L. Rev. 993 (2024).

Scott Skinner-Thompson, Correcting the Common Sense of "Biological Sex", The Reg Review (Mar. 29, 2025).

[Scott Skinner-Thompson], Texas Resorts to 'Old Playbook' to Institutionalize Bigotry and Sow Fear, Assigned Media (Mar. 26, 2025).

[Mark Squillace], Alexander Nazaryan, What's Happening at the Bureau of Land Management?, Sierra Club Magazine (Mar. 23, 2025).

[Chris Winter, GWC], Wyatt Myskow, Can Colorado Keep Its Momentum on Climate Action as the Trump Administration Pulls Back Federal Support?, Inside Climate News (Mar. 22, 2025).

Rae Solomon, How Trump's Energy Policy Chaos is Leaving Rural Colorado in Limbo, KUNC (Mar. 25, 2025).

Faculty and Staff Activities

[S. James Anaya], GW Hosts Environmental Law Symposium with Keynote and Panels Devoted to Balancing Foreign Investors with Local Communities, GW Law (Mar. 31, 2025)(Anaya delivered the keynote address on balancing foreign investment with the preservation of indigenous rights and culture.)

[Fred Bloom], Emily Battaglia, Professor Fred Bloom to Deliver 2025 Commencement Remarks, Colorado Law (Mar. 27, 2025).

Dean Buckner Inniss (introduction), Margot Kaminski (panelist), Melanie Kay (introduction), & Vivek Krishnamurthy (moderator), The Ethics of AI and Privacy, Silicon Flatirons X Ethics Series (April 1, 2025).

Paul Campos, Lawyers, Guns, & Money (Mar. 21-April 4), blog posts available here.

[Ann England], Erin Calkins, Two Decades of Dedication: Celebrating Professor Ann England's Legacy at Colorado Law, Colorado Law (April 2, 2025).

[Deep Gulasekaram], Immigration Article of the Day: Loyalty Disarmament & the Undocumented by Pratheepan Gulasekaram, Immigration ProfBlog (April 3, 2025).

Blake Reid's paper NetChoice and Telecom Law's First Amendment was listed on SSRN's Top Downloads list today for: Communication & Technology eJournal, Communication Law & Policy eJournal, Emerging Legal Issues in Information Systems eJournal, Law, Politics & the Media eJournal and Telecommunications & Regulated Industries eJournal.

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