Austin Keating

Colorado is now requiring lawyers in the State, as a condition of logging into its court e-filing system, to promise not to cooperate with federal authorities in enforcing federal immigration law. Please understand: - I do not practice immigration law. - I do not practice criminal law. - Nothing about my civil practice has anything to do with this. And yet because I cannot log into the State's official e-filing system without saluting The Resistance, I now cannot represent my clients, file lawsuits, access cases, file documents in existing cases, etc. If I click "Decline," it kicks me out of the system. I must click "Accept" to access the system and continue representing my civil clients -- again, in cases that have absolutely nothing to do with immigration law or policy. I've read SB 25-276 (the law referred to below). It does not regulate me as a private attorney or any of the clients I represent in civil matters. This is outrageous draconian overreach. I have ethical obligations to my clients to represent them competently. My existing cases have running deadlines that I must attend to. Judges issue orders in my cases that I must follow. If I don't click "Accept" in order to access the State's e-filing system, I will harm my clients, torpedo my practice, and probably commit malpractice. So, I have no choice. I'm clicking "Accept" under protest.