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Senator Ken Gordon: Defender of Ward Churchill

Contributed by: Kory Nelson on 9/29/2006

Colorado Senator Ken Gordon thinks he should be the next Colorado Secretary of State. I think that the Secretary of State should be someone who believes in the Rule of Law, and therefore would be protective of the process of electing our law makers. I know Senator Ken Gordon believes that the Rule of Law should only be followed when it suits his political aspirations, so I believe Sen. Gordon should be the last person that Coloradans should elect to be the watchdog over the election process. How do I know this to be true? Because I watched Ken Gordon in his role as Ward Churchill's criminal defense attorney argue that the Rule of Law should be disregarded to favor Ward Churchill.

Come with me and travel back in time to October 1991 -- Christopher Columbus Day in Denver, Colo. The annual parade of Italian heritage through downtown Denver is blocked by protestors connected to the American Indian Movement. Russell Means, Glenn Morris and Ward Churchill are "symbolically" arrested by the Denver Police Department after they sit down on the public parade route, blocking the parade. The arrestees are led away by DPD away from the parade route, where they receive their tickets to appear in court. The protestors cheer and the parade is allowed to continue after being delayed for some time.

Fast forward to spring of 1992. The Denver City and County Building, Denver County Courtroom 150F, presided over by Judge John Marcucci. Trial before a jury of six. Lead counsel for the Defendants - Ken Gordon. The Prosecutor - Assistant City Attorney Kory Nelson. After the jury panel is brought down from the Jury Commissioner's Room after 11 a.m.; the panel members have been recycled from other courtrooms earlier in the morning.

The elected jury foreman - Nelson Rangel, the local jazz musician. The court's ruling: As long as the defendants' start their testimony with the phrase "I as was sitting down on the parade route, I was thinking of . . . ", the defendants were given card blanche to begin their diatribe of a political speech. During closing arguments, criminal defense attorney Ken Gordon stood up and pleaded for the jury to completely disregard the instructions on the applicable law that Judge Marcucci had just given them, suggesting that they follow Gordon's sense of what was "right". This is what legal scholars call a "Jury Nullification Argument"...an argument for the jury to disregard the rule of law. The jury, led by Rangel, followed Gordon's suggestion and acquitted all of the defendants. Not really the best day of my career, but a day I'll never forget.

Fast forward to present time. Former criminal defense attorney Ken Gordon is now Colorado State Senator Ken Gordon - a leader of the Colorado Democratic Party, his party's candidate for the elected position of Colorado Secretary of State.

Ethics. The Rule of Law. These principles are extremely important to me. I may disagree with the laws that are passed by the legislative bodies that are elected by the populace (God knows there are many laws with which I do disagree), but I still honor the oath I took upon admission to the Colorado Bar:

The Colorado Attorney Oath of Admission [Following is the Oath of Admission taken by all individuals at the time of their swearing-in and admission to the practice of law in Colorado]: I DO SOLEMNLY SWEAR by the Everliving God (OR AFFIRM) that I will support the Constitution of the United States and the Constitution of the State of Colorado; I will maintain the respect due to Courts and judicial officers; I will employ only such means as are consistent with truth and honor; I will treat all persons whom I encounter through my practice of law with fairness, courtesy, respect and honesty; I will use my knowledge of the law for the betterment of society and the improvement of the legal system; I will never reject, from any consideration personal to myself, the cause of the defenseless or oppressed; I will at all times faithfully and diligently adhere to the Colorado Rules of Professional Conduct.

I don't know what oath Ken Gordon took, but I do know that I adamently disagree with criminal defense attorney Ken Gordon's use of jury nullification arguments. To suggest that the law, as passed by the duly elected legislative body, should be ignored, should be disregarded, should not be followed, in my opinion is to advocate for the Rule of Anarchy, which disserves the American legal system, and is in disservice of the Constitution of the United States and the Constitution of the State of Colorado. I believe that any licensed attorney that makes a jury nullification argument is advocating for an upheaval of the American system of jurisprudence, with it's trajectory going down a slippery slope into a very dark and deep abyss. To suggest that our communities should be governed by the fickle whims of popular emotional sentiment, rather than the Rule of Law, would harken back to the days of Roman justice in the Coliseum, where the very lives of the gladiators and the Christians were dependent upon the very direction of the fickle mob's thumbs. The rule of the mob. In 1992, Ward Churchill benefited from Gordon's arguments that asked the jury to ride the wave of political correctness against Christopher Columbus to justify Ward Churchill's interference with the Italian community's exercise of their Constitutional 1st amendment rights to engage in a permitted parade. Churchill and his pals may have won that battle in 1992, but their bigger war against the Rule of Law continues, as evidenced by Churchill's recent advocacy for acts of domestic terrorism.

I can't speak for anyone other than myself, but I believe that anyone who openly uses a jury nullification argument to encourage a jury presiding over a criminal trial to ignore the Rule of Law should never be allowed to have any elected position where they are either engaged in the act of passing laws as a member of a legislative body, or as an executive branch official that has any responsibility or oversight over the process in which our legislative officials are elected.

Democrat Senator Ken Gordon now seeks to obtain the votes of good citizens who believe in our constitutional based system of government set on the foundation of the Rule of Law, so that he can oversee the election of individuals to important positions in our state government, including state legislators who labor to enact our state laws - the very laws that Ken Gordon may disregard when it serves his purpose - or at least Ward Churchill's purpose.

Republican candidate Mike Coffman left his position as Colorado Treasurer, left his bride, left his friends and his dog, to travel to war-torn Iraq, risking his very life, to assure that the people of Iraq had the best possible fair election to preserve their opportunity for a democratic republic system of government that would operate under the Rule of Law, rather than the rule of a tyrant. I personally witnessed that type of society when I served in the U.S. Army in West Berlin in the early 80's, where we protected the good free people of West Berlin from those Soviet tryants. You know Berlin -- that place where that other tryant, Hitler, burned those books because he didn't like others to have their freedom of speech.

Which candidate do I trust in this race for Colorado Secretary of State? Which candidate should you trust? I think the answer comes with the answer to the question - to what causes do each candidate put the commitment of his energies and beliefs? Ken Gordon defended Ward Churchill against the Rule of Law to suppress the then politically incorrect speech of the Italian community. Mike Coffman defended the newly acquired freedoms of the formerly politically oppressed Iraquis so they could gain the Rule of Law. Enough said.


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Showing 1-3 of 3 comments
Submitted By: Glenn Morris
posted on 10/19/2006 @ 4:06:20 PM
Rated Story
Kory, you should take your own advice. You lost the case 15 years ago -- get over it. You could really use a remedial CLE course on legal history if you believe your own arguments about jury nullification and the rule of law. In the jury room, THE JURY IS THE LAW. Ken Gordon is a decent and honorable man. Unlike you, he believed in the system, and the system acquitted his clients, including me.You call that hypocrisy; I (and the jurors) call it justice. Your sniveling, psuedo-patriotic, Ward-baiting diatribe will not change that.
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Submitted By: Kory Nelson
posted on 10/9/2006 @ 11:37:38 PM
Rated Story
Paul Thompson: "typical smear"? That's the best you can come up with? I guess the historical facts are something you just can't handle. It doesn't matter to me what public office Ken Gordon runs for - a hypocrite is a hypocrite, and I'll stand on the side of the Rule of Law everytime. Gordon's character, or the lack thereof, is a viable issue anytime he runs for public office. I'm here just speaking the Truth. Deal with it.
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Submitted By: Paul Thompson
posted on 10/6/2006 @ 9:54:46 AM
Rated Story
Typical Republican smear. Can't you think of more than one sentence to say in favor of Mike Coffman?
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Showing 1-3 of 3 comments
CONTRIBUTOR INFORMATION

Kory Nelson

Parker , CO

Kory Nelson has posted 21 stories and 8 comments since joining on 9/25/2006. Kory Nelson 's average story rating is 4.
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