Tag: eighth amendment
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Colorado Supreme Court identifies potential red flag in state’s sex offender sentencing law
The Colorado Supreme Court on Monday suggested the 25-year-old law governing criminal sentences for sex offenders might run afoul of the constitutional prohibition on cruel and unusual punishment when applied to juveniles serving lengthy terms of incarceration. The ultimate question of whether the Sex Offender Lifetime Supervision Act, or SOLSA, is unconstitutional in the case of…
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10th Circuit opens door wider for courts to dismiss prisoners’ civil rights lawsuits
The federal appeals court based in Denver made it easier on Tuesday for prison officials to defeat lawsuits from incarcerated plaintiffs by moving them to a different facility outside a circuit court’s jurisdiction before judges have a chance to rule. Michael Bacote Jr., a prisoner with an intellectual disability and history of mental illness, spent…
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Federal judge finds no constitutional violation in requiring illegal pot growers to forfeit house
Requiring an Aurora couple to forfeit their home to the government after using it to illegally grow marijuana does not violate the constitutional prohibition against excessive fines, a federal judge ruled last month. In 2019, the U.S. Department of Justice petitioned to take possession of a home in the 23000 block of East Wagontrail Avenue…
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10th Circuit underscores limited path federal prisoners face in suing government
The federal appeals court based in Denver underscored last month that incarcerated plaintiffs have essentially no path to suing federal officials for money for violating their constitutional rights. A three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 10th Circuit explained that the U.S. Supreme Court’s precedent, as well as its own, meant prisoners…