Just ask the former college student who got in trouble for poking fun at a college professor online. Or a man who faced jail time after making nasty comments about an ex-girlfriend online.

Few states still have criminal libel provisions, which can land someone in the slammer for publishing or broadcasting false and defamatory statements about another. Libel is far more often a civil matter.

And a Colorado state senator is looking to get the little-used law tossed, saying it dates back to the late 19th century and is woefully out of date. “I think it tramples on the First Amendment rights of people to write, and or post online things that they want to post, and so I’m just seeking to strike the statute. Pretty plain and simple,” said Sen. Greg Brophy, a Republican from Colorado’s Eastern Plains.

He has support from the ACLU and Colorado Press Association.

But the District Attorney’s Council is remaining neutral on the legislation. Tom Raynes, the organization’s executive director, said the law sometimes has a place.

“If I sue somebody who has nothing, that’s not much of a remedy for me,” he said.

In Colorado the law has been used seven times in the last two years and in some cases, the original charge of libel is changed to something else, like harassment.

J.P. Weichel was charged in 2008 with felony criminal libel and faced 18 months in prison.

Prosecutors said Weichel posted about his ex-girlfriend on Craigslist, saying she traded sexual favors for legal services from her attorney. Weichel told authorities he was just venting.

He ultimately pleaded guilty to harassment, a misdemeanor, and was sentenced to 60 hours of community service and four years of probation.

Brophy, the bill’s sponsor, also cites the case involving Tom Mink as an example of why criminal libel should be repealed.

Mink and some friends at the University of Northern Colorado wrote a satirical blog about a decade ago, featuring columns supposedly written by finance professor Junius Peake – whom Mink and his friends renamed “Junius Puke” and made him their newsletter’s “mascot.”

Peake had nothing to do with the site or its content.

“And of course he caught wind of the fact that we were using him as a mascot, and he got super tweezed about it and tried to pursue charges,” said Mink, now 32.

Authorities showed up with a search warrant at his mother’s house and took his computer, threatening criminal libel charges.

The American Civil Liberties Union in Colorado stepped in to get Mink’s computer back and prosecutors chose not to file charges. Mink also sued the Weld County District Attorney’s office through the ACLU and got a $425,000 settlement last year.

Denise Maes, ACLU public policy director, said the dozen or so states that still have criminal libel statutes rarely use them and that the laws challenge free speech.

“That statute has clearly run its course,” she said.

Steve Zansberg, an attorney for the Colorado Press Association, said that even if the law is rarely used, the fact that it exists and can be used at any time creates a chilling effect.

Zansberg said Colorado’s criminal libel law is “hopelessly vague” and unconstitutional because it allows for prosecutors to potentially charge someone for making an opinion. He also notes that the most recent criminal libel cases in Colorado involved people who posted something online.

“We think it’s completely contrary our modern notions of freedom of speech,” he said.

LINK: Read Senate Bill 102

- By Ivan Moreno, AP Writer

(© Copyright 2012 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.)

DENVER (AP) – A Democratic Senator wants to prohibit Colorado employers from using consumer credit information in hiring decisions, joining more than a dozen states considering similar legislation this year.

Sen. Morgan Carroll told lawmakers Monday that the bad economy means more people who are unemployed have built up bad credit and that holding that against them creates a barrier.

“Do we want a permanently unemployed and unemployable class of people in this state?” Carroll, from Aurora, asked lawmakers on a committee voting on the bill.

Republican lawmakers are not sold on Carroll’s idea, and questioned whether it’s the state’s role to be involved in private hiring decisions.

“In a free market capitalist system, shouldn’t it be the employer, not the state government to decide what weight or a lack of weight to give one small aspect of the hiring process?” asked Mesa County Republican Sen. Steve King.

Carroll’s proposal would require employers who use credit information to give potential employees a chance to explain any negative information. Employers who take action based on credit information would have to inform job applicants. The legislation would allow people to pursue civil action if an employer unfairly used their credit information against them.

Under the bill, employers could only use consumer credit information if someone is applying for a job that involves making financial decisions.

Nineteen states and the District of Columbia have introduced legislation this year dealing with credit checks in employment, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures. Of 34 bills being considered, 32 deal with restrictions on the use of credit information for employment decisions.

Florida, Georgia, Massachusetts, New York and Wisconsin are among the states considering legislation.
LINK: Senate Bill 3

(© Copyright 2012 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.)

With no primaries to worry about, Democrats have been able to skip on the fundraising until now. They’ll need to save. Colorado is expected to be a swing state and the scene of a vicious battle.

“We have a lot of organizing to do,” Colorado Democratic Party Chairman Rick Palacio said.

A Saturday fundraiser is how Colorado Democrats say they’re revving up for the 2012 campaign. But they’re still unsure exactly who will benefit from their campaign.

“The bad part of this for Republicans is that they still have not galvanized around a single candidate,” Palacio said. “Right now the show is anyone but Mitt Romney.”

Colorado Republicans surprised everyone last week as former Pennsylvania Sen. Rick Santorum won the state, but he’s far from locking up the nomination. There is still a lot of time for the candidates to damage each other.

“I don’t think the Republican primary process has helped the ultimate nominee,” Sen. Michael Bennet said.

The Republican race has dominated the news with who’s up and who’s down. Bennet says the lack of attention could hurt Democrats needing coverage.

“I don’t think the president should wait. I think he should spend every minute he can outside Washington having a conversation with real Americans about what it is they’re going through,” Bennet said.

Democrats wouldn’t say how much they need to raise to win Colorado. With no major primary contests, they’re behind Republicans in setting up a national campaign. For now they’re message is still based in Washington.

“We’ve got to keep the eye on the ball. The eye on the ball right now for the president and for Democrats is making sure we continue to move the economy forward and we continue to create jobs,” Palacio said.

Democrats say they’ll be watching the results of the coming primaries closely. They say the debate on the Republican side hasn’t addressed what they call the real issues, so far.

Democrats have won national offices in Colorado in the last two major elections, electing Bennet to the U.S. Senate in 2010 and voting for President Barack Obama in 2008.

Jenna Breen was struck and killed last month in Westminster and Timothy Albo was injured last October. On Saturday their mothers met outside an Adams County courthouse. Both families want the laws to change and justice to be served.

Breen’s family walked quietly out of court Friday. They successfully argued why the suspect, Viet Nguyen, charged with killing their daughter in a DUI and hit-and-run crash, should not have his bond lowered.

“He’s a flight risk. He left my daughter dying and ran and he has a record of running. I think the judge made the right decision,” Breen’s mother Gail Parrish said.

Nguyen has been in jail on a $250,000 bond ever since his car crashed into Breen’s last month. Surveillance video captured the suspects running from the scene. His family members had nothing to say as they left the courtroom.

Also in the courtroom Friday was Albo’s mother, Cynthia.

“We mostly want to be here to support them and let them know we know what they’re going through,” Cynthia Albo said.

In October of 2010 Albo and another passenger were hit by a car. The driver fled and later pleaded guilty.

“We were very unfortunate with my son. We didn’t get a very stiff sentence,” Cynthia Albo said.

The two mother’s embraced outside the courtroom. Cynthia Albo plans to testify before lawmakers this Thursday asking for stiffer penalties for convicted hit-and-run drivers. She hopes Breen’s mother will join her.

“Right now it’s kind of like an incentive for them to run from the scene of an accident because the penalty is not as serious as drunk driving,” Cynthia Albo said.

Cynthia’s son survived the hit-and-run crash but Breen did not. Her mother carries around her ashes in a heart-shaped container waiting for justice to be served.

Right now drivers involved in hit-and-run crashes where the victim dies face up to 12 years in jail. If the victim lives the drivers face a 3-year maximum sentence.

The new bill at the Capitol would increase jail time in crashes where there’s a serious injury by up to 6 more years.

“I think that this is unfair to be treating poor people like criminals,” said Rep. Rhonda Fields, D-Aurora.

“If you have enough money to buy drugs you don’t need the money from the state or the federal government,” said Rep. Jerry Sonnenberg, R-Sterling.

The bill was introduced this week by Sonnenberg, who says the bill makes sense, ensuring those who really need welfare get the benefits.

“Essentially in order for you to get your check you have to be drug free,” Sonnenberg said. “If you are drug free, we will pay for that drug test we’ll reimburse that drug test.”

Fields says the $45 test forces those already in need to pay for help.

“What if they don’t have the $45 to pay for the drug test, does that mean that we will not feed and provide assistance to that family?” Fields said.

If someone fails they are ineligible to reapply for a full year, unless they seek treatment.

“We want you in treatment; get off the drug and once you complete that then in 6 months you can reapply and then we can get you the money,” Sonnenberg said.

Fields says the program would be costly and if the poor should be drug tested to receive government money, then so should state lawmakers.

“As an elected official whose salary is paid by taxpayers, then I think everyone in the House of Representatives and the Senate should also be required,” Fields said.

Fields says the estimated cost is $200,000 to administer the program but she believes it would cost much more.

The bill moves to the Finance Committee next week.

Thirty-six states are considering similar measures. Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney recently voiced support for such laws. Twelve states are looking at drug testing for unemployment benefits.

On Friday, President Barack Obama announced a compromise to the policy. Obama said women working at religious organizations will still be able to get free birth control, but their employers will not have to pay for it, the insurance companies will.

When the original plan was announced, Colorado Christian University filed a lawsuit against the Obama Administration, charging “… a deliberate attack by the government on the religious beliefs of Colorado Christian and millions of other Americans.”

“Whether or not people or in our case universities who have moral convictions against abortions should be required to endorse it, in effect,” said Colorado Christian University Bill Armstrong.

While contraceptives are not an issue at the university, abortion drugs are. University legal counsel Steve Miller said they’re not withdrawing their lawsuit. He said even though its the insurance providers that will provide the drugs for employees and the few students on their plan, that’s not satisfactory.

Currently public universities in Colorado have two tuition levels for in-state and out-of-state students. Senate bill 12-015, passed by the state Senate Friday, creates a third level of tuition. It’s called Colorado ASSET or “standard” tuition and would be available to illegal immigrants.

This is the 6th version of such bill that would create the new tuition bracket for illegal immigrants who make their home in Colorado. This version found enough votes but not without some heated debate on the floor of the Senate at the state Capitol.

“The message is that it is okay to commit felonies in the United States,” said Sen. Nancy Spence, a Republican representing Centennial.

“I’m painfully aware that I serve here in the Senate, not just under the weight of my own expectations, but also under the weight and expectations of an entire community,” said Sen. Angela Giron, the bill’s sponsor and a Democrat representing Pueblo.

Democrats said finding an affordable rate for illegal immigrants earns money for Colorado for the tuition from students who otherwise would not go to school. They believe those students would move on to states with more favorable laws.

“Why on earth would we let Kansas take our kids. Our very and brightest kids regardlesss of where they came from,” said one Democrat lawmaker.

“I want to go to Metro, Metro State, but because of the lack of money I had to go to community college,” said college student Isaias Vasquez. “I’m not asking for money, I’m just asking for the opportunity to pay a lower tuition.”

Republicans argue the time isn’t right for the bill. They said the federal government should address immigration first and pass the Dream Act. In the 20 to 15 vote, not one Republican voted to support the tuition bill.

“We should be talking to our federal government about these students, about the problems a non-secured border have created for Colorado and other states,” said Sen. Steve King, a Republican representing Grand Junction.

There are strict guidelines for a student to qualify for the program.

For students to be eligible for the standard rate a student will have to attend three or more years of high school in Colorado and graduate or obtain a GED. The student will then have to apply and be accepted at one of Colorado’s institutions of higher learning within 12 months after graduating from high school or earning a GED.

Colorado ASSET students will not be eligible for any state or federal financial aid. This means that no Colorado taxpayer dollars will go towards this program. Instead the colleges and universities in our state will see increased revenue from additional students attending our schools.

Institutions of higher education are allowed to opt-out of creating a standard-rate tuition category.

The tuition bill moves on to the state House where Republicans maintain control. The bill’s sponsor believes there are Republicans who will support the bill.

A House panel decided Friday to drop the complaint because there was no evidence she used her position to influence police.

Collbran Rep. Laura Bradford’s traffic stop on Jan. 25 became media fodder because it raised questions about whether she received preferential treatment when Denver police suspected her of driving drunk. She was not cited for DUI.

But police later said they gave the false impression she used a state constitutional clause that prevents lawmakers from being detained during session.

Bradford’s attorney says the ethics complaint was meritless.

The ethics complaint has exposed a rocky relationship between Bradford and Republicans who supported the review.

In a statement, Bradford said, “I am happy that the Ethics Committee dismissed the complaint against me and I am ready to continue working on behalf of my constituents on the Western Slope.”

(TM and © Copyright 2012 CBS Radio Inc. and its relevant subsidiaries. CBS RADIO and EYE Logo TM and Copyright 2012 CBS Broadcasting Inc. Used under license. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The Associated Press contributed to this report.)

College student Peter Smith, 20, was fired Thursday afternoon. Police say Smith threw glitter at Romney as the candidate greeted supporters in Denver Tuesday night.

Smith is a student at the University of Colorado Denver who was interning in the Democratic Senate as part of a college course. Smith’s boss, Senate majority office chief of staff John Cevette, says that Smith was terminated after a staffer alerted him to the incident.

Cevette said student interns are not chosen by Senate President Brandon Shaffer, a Longmont Democrat. He could not say whether Smith would lose course credit.

Smith faces charges of causing a disturbance, throwing a missile and unlawful acts.

(© Copyright 2012 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.)

Some believe recent actions of some states, including a court ruling California’s ban on gay marriage unconstitutional and Washington becoming the seventh state to allow gay marriage, will spur the debate in Colorado.

“I can only hope that it adds to the momentum that the momentum can come to Colorado,” said civil union supporter Courtney Law.

“It’s difficult to imagine bringing a child into our family without having legal recognition for our relationship,” said civil union supporter Sonja Semion.

There’s a bill in the state Senate that would allow for civil unions in Colorado.

A spokesman with One Colorado, a gay rights organization, believes California’s ruling will help their cause.

“Increasingly all across the country we’re seeing more and more supports for equal protection for gay and lesbian couples,” said One Colorado spokesman Brad Clark.

Not everyone believes the issue is pressing at the state Capitol. Rep. BJ Nikkels, the Majority Whip, is taking a wait and see approach.

“I don’t think it comes as a shock to anyone that the notoriously liberal 9th Circuit Court ruled as they did,” said Nikkels. “When it comes to the house we’ll definitely give it a fair hearing and see what proponents have to say and go from there.”

“I think that it is only a matter of time before relationships like ours are recognized,” said Semion.

Colorado law defines marriage as between a man and a woman. The bill being proposed in the Senate wouldn’t change that but it would afford gay couples similar rights as married couples.