Victory for Attorney Threatened With Jail for Talking to Westword
On March 11, a federal court judge found subsections of the Colorado statute collectively known as the Children's Code to be unconstitutional, largely on First Amendment grounds. The far-reaching order, which is expected to necessitate new legislation to address the issue, sprang from a lawsuit filed around fifteen months ago against Denver District Attorney Beth McCann and Colorado Department of Human Services Executive Director Michelle Barnes by attorney Jessica Peck, who faced the prospect of being jailed after speaking to Westword for a January 2019 story.
The article's subject: a mother at risk of having her toddler daughter taken away from her by the state because she supported her ex-husband, accused murderer John Affourtit.
Peck was represented in the case by Killmer, Lane & Newman LLP. As attorney David Lane sums up the situation, Peck "tried to blow the whistle on some grossly incompetent government employees of the Department of Human Services, charged with protecting children from child abuse. A judge threatened her with jail if she divulged any aspects of the reports on the case." Lane credits attorney Tom Kelley, one of Colorado's most acclaimed First Amendment experts, for achieving what he sees as "a huge win for transparency in government and in protecting abused kids from further abuse at the hands of incompetent government bureaucrats."
But the work doesn't end with the win. "We have to rewrite our law, which is both exciting and challenging," says Peck. "Now's when the hard work begins."
Read more: https://www.westword.com/news/jessica-peck-threatened-with-jail-for-talking-to-westword-11919104
