Colorado’s Long Path Toward Mental Health Reform
From its founding in the early 1880s to its rebranding in 1991, the Colorado Mental Health Institute at Pueblo was frequently the center of criticism for operational issues and patient welfare. An 1899 investigation had long-lasting impacts on mental health treatment in Colorado.
Thomas Patterson’s Free Speech Battle Against the Colorado Supreme Court
Following the contentious election of 1904, sitting U.S. Senator Thomas Patterson battled the Colorado Supreme Court over contempt charges for his newspapers’ articles and cartoons criticizing the judicial body.
A.J. Sampson, Colorado’s First Attorney General
In his decades long career, A.J. Sampson reached the rank of captain during the Civil War, served as Colorado’s first attorney general and as an ambassador to Ecuador.
When a Colorado Court Ruled that Journalists Couldn’t Speak to Someone
In 1982, two reporters at the Boulder Daily Camera found themselves on the wrong side of the law while covering a first-degree murder case.
Anne Gorsuch, the Woman Whose Work Created the Chevron Deference
In a trailblazing and at times controversial career, Anne Gorsuch was the youngest woman admitted to the Colorado Bar, the first woman to be EPA Administrator and the first cabinet-level official charged with contempt of Congress.
Stanley Biber, a Pioneer of Gender-Affirming Surgery and Trinidad Resident
Stanley Biber performed thousands of gender-affirming surgeries in Trinidad, Colorado, in a career that spanned two continents and several decades.
The Lawyer Who Brought Nikola Tesla to Colorado
The famous inventor spent a brief time experimenting in Colorado, but his lawyer was much more involved in the state.
The Day a Wall of Water Hit Denver
On Aug. 3, 1933, Denver residents scrambled to avoid a 15-foot wall of water unleashed by the collapse of the Castlewood Dam.
The Final Execution Carried Out by Colorado
Gary Lee Davis was the final person executed by the state of Colorado, over two decades before Colorado banned capital punishment.
What’s the Buzz? Colorado’s Precedent-setting ‘Honey Laws’ Dating Back to 1902
Colorado has an interesting history of legislating around critical pollinators like bees, with laws dating back to 1902.