The ACLU of Colorado began an investigation into unlawful practices occurring in the Pueblo Municipal Court after learning about a unique “Contempt of Court” crime, “charged” against people who miss their court dates (“Municipal Contempt”). The crime of “Municipal Contempt” carries up to 364 days in jail. Unlike ordinary municipal crimes which are charged by the City Attorney, Municipal Contempt prosecutions are initiated by the Municipal Court judge. The Pueblo Municipal Court routinely jails people for missing a court date, even when the alleged offense that brought them to court carried no jail time, including extremely minor poverty crimes like loitering or trespassing.
In the vast majority of Colorado courts, both municipal and state, a missed court date results in a warrant, not a new criminal charge. In Pueblo, however, when a person misses a court date, non-jailable charges can balloon into sentences of months or even years. Criminalizing missing court, and imposing extreme punishments for it, disproportionately impacts people who are unhoused, people living in extreme poverty, and people with substance use disorder.
People accused of crimes have the constitutional right to charging documents that give them fair notice of the charges they face and allow them to defend themselves against future prosecution for the same act. Municipal Contempt is charged by notations made by the court clerk: people never receive sufficient charging documents to protect their constitutional rights.
On October 2, 2024, we filed a habeas petition on behalf of Dean Lopez. Mr. Lopez was sentenced to 575 days in county jail, based on charges of Municipal Contempt. On October 8, 2024, we also filed habeas petitions on behalf of Lyrcis Martinez and Michael Tafoya. Ms. Martinez was sentenced to 240 days in county jail and Mr. Tafoya was sentenced to 315 days, both based on charges of Municipal Contempt. Mr. Lopez, Mr. Tafoya, and Ms. Martinez are not the only people who have endured irreversible damage due to this contempt scheme. The ACLU of Colorado spoke with a custodial father of eight who was taken from his children for months, a young woman who spent the last months of her pregnancy in jail, a grandmother in her seventies forced to sleep on a thin jail mattress, and many others, all serving long jail sentences for missing court.
The three petitions allege that the Pueblo Municipal Court charged these people with crimes through short notations on the court docket. The City of Pueblo then unconstitutionally prosecuted each of them without issuing the constitutionally required charging documents that would give them notice of the charges they would need to prepare defenses for and allow protection from subsequent prosecution for the same acts. Without these charging documents, the court had no jurisdiction over these cases, and their convictions and sentences are unlawful and void.
The ACLU sought writs requiring Pueblo County Sheriff David Lucero, the Colorado official holding Mr. Lopez, Mr. Tafoya, and Ms. Martinez in custody, to bring each incarcerated person before the Pueblo District Court for a hearing on their illegal incarceration and an order for their immediate release. The Court ordered a hearing on Mr. Lopez's writ for October 4, 2024 and a hearing for Ms. Martinez and Mr. Tafoya on October 11, 2024. On October 4, 2024, the Court ordered Mr. Lopez’s immediate release and on October 11, 2024, the Court ordered Mr. Tafoya's and Ms. Martinez's immediate release from custody. The Court set a hearing on the merits of the cases for November 1, 2024.
At the November 1 hearing, the judge gave an order from the bench in favor of our clients. The judge ruled that the contempt convictions were void and discharged Mr. Lopez's, Mr. Tafoya's, and Ms. Martinez's sentences. The Pueblo District Court agreed that the Municipal Court's failure to provide a complaint, citation, or other charging document with respect to contempt charges violated procedural due process and deprived the Municipal Court jurisdiction to charge and impose the contempt sentences. Thus, the judge granted the Writs of Habeas Corpus and made the Writs absolute.
ACLU PRESS RELEASES:
ACLU Demands Release of Grandfather Unlawfully Detained by City of Pueblo for Missing Court Dates, October 2, 2024
MEDIA:
"Pueblo Man Illegally Jailed for Municipal Contempt of Court, ACLU Alleges", The Denver Post, October 2, 2024
"Judge Releases Pueblo Man Jailed on Municipal Court Charges Since January", La Cucaracha, October 6, 2024
"Pueblo Judge Orders Release of 2 More Poeple Jailed on Contempt of Court Charges", Denver Post, October 11, 2024
"Judge Finds Pueblo Illegally Jailed 3 Defendants for Contempt of Court, Voids Convictions and Sentences", Denver Post, November 1, 2024
