DENVER
Activist won't have to serve time over T-shirt
An activist who wore a T-shirt to court bearing the image of an executed street-gang founder won't have to serve the 45 days in jail he was sentenced to, the Colorado Supreme Court ruled Monday.
Justices said Adams County District Court Judge Katherine Delgado should have given Shareef Aleem a warning before holding him in contempt of court for not removing the shirt at a hearing last March.
But they also said Aleem did not have a First Amendment right to wear the shirt, which had the words "should have been saved" and "redemption" above a photo of Stanley Tookie Williams. Williams, the founder of the Crips street gang, was executed in California in 2005 for the 1979 murders of four people.
"As the trial court stated, the courtroom is a place for the presentation of evidence and not for political expression," Justice Michael L. Bender wrote on behalf of himself and five other justices.
Justice Allison Eid did not participate. Justice Nathan B. Coats agreed that the conviction should not stand, but said the court should not have waded into First Amendment waters.
Council OKs pay hikes for elected officials
Denver City Council members approved a 6.34 percent wage increase Monday for elected city officials that will stay in place for four years.
The pay hike, established by City Charter, allows elected officials an increase based on the lower of two measures: the Denver-Boulder- Greeley consumer price index or the pay increases of employees under the city's Career Service Authority. The consumer price index was the lower of the two at 6.34 percent during the past four years.
Here are the annual increases: the mayor's salary goes to $145,601 from $136,920; the auditor's salary climbs to $125,924 from $118,416; the City Council president will make $87,539, up from $82,320; and council members will see their annual pay climb to $78,173 from the current $73,173.
Featured
-
DNC in Denver
Complete coverage of the 2008 Democratic National Convention.
-
The Crevasse
A five-part series that examines one tragic day on Mount Rainier.
-
Deadly denial
Sick nuclear workers applied for government compensation but most haven't seen a dime.
-
Final Salute
The Rocky followed Maj. Steve Beck as he took on the most difficult duty of his career.
-
'Colorado's burning'
Coverage of the state's worst wildfires.
-
Columbine shootings
Coverage of the April 20, 1999, shootings at Littleton's Columbine High School.
-
The Crossing
Colorado's deadliest traffic accident killed 20 children on Dec. 14, 1961.
-
Osveli's journey
Osveli Sales left Guatemala for a better life. Two months later, he came home in a box.
-
Wake for an Indian warrior
Oglala Sioux bestow a tribute to the first tribal fatality in Iraq.
