The Denver Post’s Seth Klamann reports that Colorado lawmakers killed Senate Bill 176, the so-called “No Kings Act,” on a 4-3 vote in the Senate Judiciary Committee. Two Democrats, Sens. Dylan Roberts and Lindsey Daugherty, joined Republican Sens. John Carson and Byron Pelton to sink the bill, which would have allowed Coloradans to sue federal officials for civil rights violations.
Supporters claimed the bill would fill a legal gap and give residents a way to challenge federal officials who violated their rights. But district attorneys, local governments, counties, and law enforcement groups raised the obvious concern: the bill was written broadly enough that local and state officials could get dragged into the lawsuit swamp too. Denver District Attorney John Walsh warned lawmakers they would spend years litigating the scope of the thing. That is government-speak for “please do not hand every public office a live grenade and call it accountability.”
The Bullet Point Brief
- The “No Kings Act” died in committee after Roberts and Daugherty broke ranks with Democrats and joined Republicans. Somewhere under the gold dome, common sense slipped past security.
- Senate Bill 176 would have allowed lawsuits against federal officials, but to pass constitutional muster, it was drafted to also allow suits against local and state officials. That is how a virtue signal turns into a taxpayer-funded legal bonfire.
- Local government groups, police departments, counties, and elected district attorneys opposed the bill because they feared waves of costly lawsuits. Imagine that: the people who actually run government did not want to become chew toys for activist attorneys.
- Attorney General Phil Weiser, a Democrat whose political brand includes suing the Trump administration, also opposed the bill. When the “sue Trump” guy pumps the brakes, maybe the bill is wearing clown shoes.
- A narrower bill, Senate Bill 5, dealing with lawsuits against some federal officials involved in immigration enforcement, is still moving. So the bad idea did not disappear. It just found a smaller costume.
My Bottom Line
This is great news, and we should celebrate the rare burst of common sense that escaped the state legislature before anyone could form a task force to study it.
The “No Kings Act” was exactly the kind of virtue-signaling, bad legislation we have grown to expect from the far-left, controlling Democrats under the gold dome. Big moral name. Big anti-Trump posture. Big legal mess. It had all the usual ingredients: activist applause lines, courtroom fantasies, and a total disregard for the local officials and taxpayers who would be left cleaning up the spill.
It is no surprise to see Sen. Dylan Roberts break from the ranks of the idiots in his party on this one. Roberts is still a common-sense, good man, and his vote was needed and appreciated here. Daugherty deserves credit too. It takes backbone to tell your own side no when the progressive choir is already warmed up and demanding a solo.
Good legislation solves a problem without creating ten more. Bad legislation lets lawmakers feel brave while local governments get buried in litigation and public officials start making every decision like a deposition is hiding behind the door. SB 176 looked like the second kind.
“No Kings” was a bad bill. Good to see it die. Now maybe the legislature can spend five minutes on things people actually care about: affordability, roads, public safety, water, and not turning every political grievance into a courtroom subscription plan.
Source: The Denver Post
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