"The ruling is a significant legal victory that undermines the validity of similar provisions still in force in jurisdictions all over the state," Kurtz told after that decision."These laws exemplify the collateral consequences that attach to criminal conviction, with disproportionate harm to individuals and communities of color.
The Bailey filing pointed out what the ACLU of Colorado considered problematic language in several other city charters statewide. Examples pertaining to ten of the communities that received letters:“No individual shall be eligible to hold the office of City Councilmember, or Mayor, who has been convicted of a felony in any court of the United States within ten years of the date of assuming the office of City Councilmember.
In her letter to Barker, Kurtz cites the ACLU's case against Aurora, noting that the city"immediately conceded the unconstitutionality of its ban; committed not to enforce it; and annotated the charter provision with an 'editor's note' reflecting that the ban must be read to apply only to the felonies listed in all before the ban was formally declared unconstitutional in court.
Article XII, section 4 states that people"convicted of embezzlement of public moneys, bribery, perjury, solicitation of bribery, or subornation of perjury" are disqualified"from holding office of trust or profit," but makes no mention of felonies generally. "We encourage Weld to follow Aurora's good example and take all available steps to align its charter with the Colorado Constitution," Kurtz emphasizes, adding that"we would appreciate a substantive response to this letter within two weeks."