Second Regular Session Sixty-seventh General Assembly STATE OF COLORADO INTRODUCED LLS NO. 10-0024.01 Michael Dohr HOUSE BILL 10-1294 HOUSE SPONSORSHIP Looper, Balmer, Baumgardner, Casso, DelGrosso, Gardner C., Kerr J., Lambert, Liston, McKinley, Murray, Priola, Stephens, Summers, Swalm, Tipton, Vaad SENATE SPONSORSHIP King K., House Committees Senate Committees Judiciary A BILL FOR AN ACT Concerning a prohibition on the transfer of detainees from the Guantanamo bay detention facility to a correctional facility in the state of Colorado. Bill Summary (Note: This summary applies to this bill as introduced and does not reflect any amendments that may be subsequently adopted. If this bill passes third reading in the house of introduction, a bill summary that applies to the reengrossed version of this bill will be available at http://www.leg.state.co.us/billsummaries.) The bill directs the attorney general to oppose any attempt by the federal government to transfer Guantanamo bay detainees to a federal correctional facility in Colorado or to try any detainee in Colorado. The bill prohibits the state or any political subdivision of the state from providing resources to the federal bureau of prisons if a federal correctional facility in Colorado houses a detainee who was originally detained at Guantanamo bay. The bill prohibits the state from selling any property to the federal government for the purpose of housing Guantanamo bay detainees. Be it enacted by the General Assembly of the State of Colorado: SECTION 1. Legislative declaration. (1) The general assembly finds and declares that: (a) On January 22, 2009, President Barack Obama, in an executive order, instructed the Department of Defense to close the detention facilities at Guantanamo Bay as soon as possible, no later than one year from the date of the order. The order states, "If any individuals covered by this order remain in detention at Guantanamo at the time of closure of those detention facilities, they shall be returned to their home, released, transferred to a third country, or transferred to another United States detention facility in a manner consistent with law and the national security and foreign policy interest of the United States". (b) While the current headcount of persons who will be treated indefinitely as detainees subject to the federal "Military Commissions Act of 2006" is not public information, a press account published in the New York Times on May 21, 2009, indicates that more than one hundred Guantanamo Bay detainees are scheduled, under the current policy of the administration of President Barack Obama, to be moved to the United States, and, of that number, between fifty and one hundred of the detainees are likely to be classified as being too dangerous to ever release; (c) The placement of this group of Guantanamo Bay detainees, classified as "unlawful enemy combatants" subject to the federal "Military Commissions Act of 2006", should be of great concern to the people of the United States; (d) There is ongoing concern that the persons detained at Guantanamo Bay still have terrorist allies around the world who may respond to these detentions with the ongoing threat of homicidal violence that may stretch indefinitely into the future; (e) The decision to close the current detention facility at Guantanamo Bay and transfer the detainees to the populated territory of the United States, and the potential that these individuals may be detained in Colorado, demonstrates no regard for the ongoing and indefinite threat to the people of Colorado and the United States; (f) It is of statewide concern that detainees currently located at Guantanamo Bay, if moved to or tried in a facility in Colorado, would introduce serious and catastrophic risks to many communities in the state, including the cities of Aurora, Colorado Springs, Denver, Florence, Fountain, and Pueblo; (g) The possibility of Guantanamo Bay detainees being tried in the Denver federal court for their terrorist acts poses potentially insurmountable risks to the citizens of Denver and the surrounding area, and such a possibility shall be opposed by the Colorado attorney general; (h) If Guantanomo Bay detainees are allowed to be tranferred to any of the federal or state prisons in the state of Colorado, or tried in the Denver federal court, Colorado's five million citizens will be subject to the unwanted scrutiny of other countries and terrorist organizations throughout the world; (i) Colorado's five million citizens are relying on the members of the general assembly to consider the following: (I) That Arapahoe county is home to more than 554,000 citizens and Buckley Air Force Base; (II) That the city and county of Denver is home to nearly 600,000 citizens and the Rocky Mountain Arsenal; (III) That El Paso county is home to more than 596,000 citizens, the Fort Carson Army Post, Peterson Air Force Base, Schriever Air Force Base, North American Radar Defense, and the United States Air Force Academy; (IV) That Fremont county is home to more than 47,000 citizens; and (V) That Pueblo county is home to nearly 157,000 citizens, the Pueblo Army Depot, the United States Air Force Initial Flight Screening program and Air Education and Training Command, and the Pueblo Reservoir; (j) The military installations in Pueblo and El Paso counties are within an hour's drive of the United States Penitentiary Administrative Maximum Facility, or Supermax-ADX, and the Fremont Correctional Facility, and a Guantanamo Bay detainee transferred to either of those facilities would pose a danger to the area's military installations and their surrounding communities; and (k) The tenth amendment of the United States constitution reserves for the states any powers not expressly granted to the federal government by the constitution and prohibits the federal government from compelling the states to enforce federal regulations. (2) Therefore, the general assembly finds and declares that it is necessary for the safety of the citizens of Colorado to prevent the transfer of a Guantanamo Bay detainee to a federal or state correctional facility in Colorado and to prevent a Guantanamo Bay detainee from being tried in the federal court in Denver. SECTION 2. Article 2 of title 3, Colorado Revised Statutes, is amended BY THE ADDITION OF A NEW SECTION to read: 3-2-102. State jurisdiction over correctional facilities housing international terrorists - attorney general - prohibit state resources. (1) As used in this section, unless the context otherwise requires, "Guantanamo bay detainees" means persons who were originally detained at the Guantanamo bay detention facility and who are being transferred to another federal detention or correctional facility. (2) (a) The attorney general of the state of Colorado shall oppose any attempt by the federal bureau of prisons or any other unit of the federal government to relocate any Guantanamo bay detainees to any federal or state correctional facility located in Colorado. The opposition shall be made a priority by the attorney general and, whenever feasible, take precedence over any other matters. (b) The attorney general of the state of Colorado shall oppose any attempt by the president of the United States, the United States congress, the federal bureau of prisons, or any other unit of government to relocate a Guantanamo bay detainee to Colorado for the purpose of trying a detainee in the federal court located in Denver, Colorado. The opposition shall be made a priority by the attorney general and, whenever feasible, take precedence over any other matters. (3) (a) A state governmental entity or a political subdivision of the state shall not provide resources of any nature to the federal bureau of prisons if a federal correctional facility in the state of Colorado houses any Guantanamo bay detainees. (b) A state governmental entity or a political subdivision of the state shall not sell, lease, or transfer any real property to the federal bureau of prisons if the federal bureau of prisons plans to use the property to house a Guantanamo bay detainee. (c) A state governmental entity or a political subdivision of the state shall not provide resources of any nature to the federal bureau of prisons or a unit of the federal government to house, transfer, or detain in a federal correctional facility in the state of Colorado a Guantanamo bay detainee for purposes of trying the detainee in the federal court in Denver, Colorado. (4) If any provision of this section or the application thereof to any person or circumstance is held invalid, such invalidity shall not affect other provisions or applications of this section that can be given effect without the invalid provision or application, and, to this end, the provisions of this section are declared to be severable. SECTION 3. Safety clause. The general assembly hereby finds, determines, and declares that this act is necessary for the immediate preservation of the public peace, health, and safety.