Defend Colorado Now ballot initiative (2006)

Although not part of Colorado Alliance for Immigration Reform, Defend Colorado Now (DCN) worked to advance and support immigration reform ballot measures in Colorado. DCN supported an immigration reform initiative in 2006 that ultimately led to legislation being passed in a special legislative session. 

The 2006 Defend Colorado Now citizens' petition process was hugely successful. When it was apparent that the initiative would be placed on the ballot, the Colorado Supreme Court, in a blatant act of judicial political activism, blocked the initiative.

On June 12, 2006, the Colorado Supreme Court issued a ruling on the DCN initiative saying in effect that they did not want Coloradans to vote on the initiative in November. The Court, in a 4-2 ruling, stated that the initiative was not a single subject.

Petitions for rehearing were filed by Defend Colorado Now and by the Colorado Attorney General under the direction of Governor Bill Owens. On June 26, 2006, the Colorado Supreme Court issued a second blow to the rights of the People of Colorado to decide via the initiative process how their tax dollars will be spent. The Court denied the petitions for rehearing. (See the full updated ruling).

In this ruling, the Court tried to modify its embarrassingly inadequate legal reasoning by substituting other inadequate and embarrassingly political reasoning. It is clear to everyone - from the Governor of Colorado to the person on the street - that black robes can not conceal a political agenda.

On June 13, 2006, Governor Bill Owens held a press conference where he derided the Supreme Court for their arbitrary and unfair ruling, and called upon the Colorado Attorney General to support Defend Colorado Now in calling for a rehearing by the Court. In addition, Governor Owens stated that if the court did not consider the motion in a timely manner, he would call for an emergency legislative session in order to vote on referring the initiative to the voters. (There are two ways to get an initiative on the ballot: via the petition process and by the legislature voting to place the measure on the ballot).

On June 29, 2006, Governor Owens called a special legislative session to convene on July 6, 2006.