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Our mission is to reverse the trend of mass incarceration in Colorado. We are a coalition of nearly 7,000 individual members and over 100 faith and community organizations who have united to stop perpetual prison expansion in Colorado through policy and sentence reform.

Our chief areas of interest include drug policy reform, women in prison, racial injustice, the impact of incarceration on children and families, the problems associated with re-entry and stopping the practice of using private prisons in our state.

If you would like to be involved please go to our website and become a member.


Sunday, November 01, 2009

David Lane Takes On the Government

David fought a very difficult case for me and won.  That didn't matter as much as the fact that his passion for my case and so many like mine truly validate those who are unable to fight for themselves...

The Denver Post
If the case is big and controversial and involves the government and the Bill of Rights — even, and maybe especially, if television cameras are around — Denver attorney David Lane is a good bet to end up in the middle of things.
He is the attorney who gets enough hate mail to fuel a nice bonfire — the attorney for Ward Churchill. And, now, he is the attorney for Richard Heene, the father of "Balloon Boy" — and he wasted no time speaking publicly about the case.
But don't be confused. He isn't a blow-dried, tassel-loafered television talking head. He's a courtroom grunt, an attorney admired for his workload and his intellect, a lawyer who isn't afraid of unsavory clients or worried about what anyone thinks of him.
And he's a true believer.
That everyone — everyone — deserves an attorney. That the horrors visited on his Jewish family in Nazi Germany could happen in the United States. That no criminal is as dangerous as a government that can do whatever it wants.
Some attorneys are loath to take on certain clients.
"I certainly believe that anybody accused of a crime deserves to have a lawyer — and that is constitutional — but there's nothing in the Constitution that says it has to be me," said attorney, talk-show host and former prosecutor Craig Silverman. "If a guy is a mad-dog vicious rapist killer, you can find somebody other than me to be his lawyer."
Lane sees redeeming value in everyone, a view that was forged during seven years spent as a public defender in Brooklyn, N.Y.
"When you're working as a public defender, and you see the things that your clients do, you can't help but understand — not necessarily excuse what they do — but understand how they got to where they got, and that's a life-changing insight," Lane said. "When you see the problems of poverty and race and just the despair in the ghettos of Brooklyn for seven years, you come away with different insights into the world than people who are not exposed to those things."

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

I remember going to a meeting in Colorado Springs years ago and hearing David speak against the death penalty.
I believe that Smith was the DA at the time and she was in total disagreement with him.
We need more David Lanes in the world.

Unknown said...

I have read many, many posts and thought about leaving a comment but never did. This time I will. DAVID LANE IS ONE OF MY HEROES. He keeps us safe from those with an inflated sense of power. This world is a better place with him here. I truly hope that there are young attorneys that will go to him to be mentored.

Unknown said...

Much of his work must be done pro bono, as many of the defendants mentioned in the Denver Post article clearly do not have funds to hire a private attorney (much less and top quality private attorney). Kudos for him!!!