A recent Colorado Supreme Court ruling re. charter schools, and a law to tame asset forfeiture.
Let's take a quick break from the legislature and talk the judicial branch and school choice.
A recent Colorado Supreme Court ruling came down that has implications for fans of school choice (like myself, and I figure, many of you).
First, let me back up a step and quickly give some context.
If you are wanting to start a charter school (or renew the charter you already have), the first step is to your local school board. If they do not allow it (and there are some districts that are notorious for this), you do have the right to appeal. As you might expect there are a series of dates and steps in the appeals process, but, ultimately, you would end up in front of the State Board of Education.
No one involved in the court dispute from the article below disagreed that the State Board of Education's decision on the charter school was final. The dispute was whether (and when) judicial review could enter into the process; i.e. would the courts get a say?
The answer, in brief, is no. No they do not.
More context in the article below.
Frankly, I'm glad they ruled the way they did. There are good arguments to be made (and you'll note this in the article) about stability and predictability, and thus the law appears to be pointedly written to not allow review. I'm glad the State Supreme Court decided not to be as creative with this ruling as they have been in the past with things like TABOR.
https://www.coloradopolitics.com/courts/all-charter-school-decisions-from-state-board-are-final-supreme-court-rules/article_30107234-bc40-11ed-a146-f7d92d4a924a.html
Do you share my concerns over asset forfeiture laws?
I have mellowed greatly with age (and with having other, more immediate concerns), but I have not been a big fan of asset forfeiture laws since I was a teen and first started reading about them: way to much potential for abuse and due process concerns.
I thought of that when I saw the bill below and wanted to share with you in case you had similar feelings.
This bill puts some much-needed guardrails on asset forfeiture in this state. To get a sense, look at the screenshot attached (from the bill summary--take note: the bill page said it was amended, but when I checked the bill text, I didn't see any House amendments, so I'm not sure how it was amended).
This bill has passed its first House committee reading and is on its way to the Appropriations Committee. I added it to my list of bills to support and will pick it up when and if it makes its first Senate appearance.
If you want to support this bill too, your next step would be to write your State Rep and ask him or her for their thoughts. You could also watch and wait like I am, catching it in the Senate.
https://leg.colorado.gov/bills/hb23-1086