Litigation
As another advocacy tool, the Colorado Center on Law and Policy employs strategic litigation to protect and enhance the rights of Coloradans, particularly lower-income individuals and families.
During the mid-1990s Congress imposed significant restrictions on the activities of federally funded legal services programs. Some of the most problematic of these restrictions prevented civil legal aid programs, such as Colorado Legal Services, from engaging in legislative or administrative advocacy, including class-action litigation challenging the validity of welfare reform laws and regulations. Shortly after imposing these restrictions, Congress initiated sweeping reforms of the welfare system, allowing states to design their own welfare programs. Colorado’s legal aid community created CCLP to serve as Colorado’s unrestricted legal services program to protect justice for the poor in Colorado despite Congressional restrictions.
Details about the major cases CCLP has worked on are available from the links above, including the proposed Exempla hospital sale and the Colorado Benefits Management System. Older cases include the Blue Cross Blue Shield Conversion, and Weston V. Hammons, the welfare notice case.
