See Full Article at Colorado Politics
In a landmark ruling, the Colorado Court of Appeals ruled the Governor may be sued when Colorado prison conditions violate the state Constitution. Maxted Law LLC, with the ACLU and a team of law firms, sued the Governor for failing to protect people in prison from infection and death from COVID-19.
Governor Polis, defended by Attorney General Weiser, claimed he could not be sued, even if prison conditions violated the Colorado Constitution. This extreme position was rejected by the Court of Appeals. The governor "does not have the discretion to violate the Colorado Constitution," wrote Judge Terry Fox in the opinion.
"This important decision by the Court of Appeals confirms what should've been obvious," said David Maxted of Maxted Law, who argued the case to the appellate panel. "The governor is never above the law. The constitution guarantees people in prison the right to be protected from infectious disease and death. A prison sentence is not a death sentence."
Maxted told Colorado Politics that the governor's position against judicial review was more akin to that of former presidents Richard Nixon and Donald Trump, and "not politicians claiming to be progressive."
"In the meantime, our clients and people in prison suffered massive outbreaks in Colorado prisons and a string of preventable deaths occurred as a result of the governor's failures," he added.
The panel sent the lawsuit back to Denver District Court for further proceedings.