The head of the Southern Ute Indian Tribe called on the Colorado legislature to support a state constitutional amendment aimed at rectifying decades-old cases of child sexual assault during tribal leaders’ annual address to lawmakers Thursday.
That proposed amendment was defeated in a partisan vote last year, but Democratic lawmakers plan to bring it back for fresh consideration.
Melvin J. Baker, the chair of the Southern Ute Indian Tribe, called the crisis particularly important to the tribes. Indigenous children suffer sexual abuse at a rate three to four times higher than the general population, he said, and it has “plagued Indigenous youth for generations.” American Indian and Alaska Native children suffer the highest rate of abuse in the country, according to the National Children’s Alliance.
More than 1,000 cases alone were tied to Native American boarding schools, Baker said, especially from the 1950s and 1960s — far outside the statute of limitations for civil cases.
“Colorado should not be a safe haven for child abusers and those who support them,” Baker said. “Child abuse is not a partisan issue. Please pass the Child Sexual Abuse Accountability Amendment so the trauma that Native children have suffered can come to an end.”
Baker leads one of two federally recognized tribes in Colorado. The other is the Ute Mountain Ute Tribe, led by Manuel Heart. In their speeches, the two tribal leaders largely celebrated the relationships between their sovereign governments and Colorado state government, along with identifying areas where they want to strengthen their partnerships.
Baker also asked lawmakers to support Senate Bill 9, which would require the state to give full recognition to tribal courts’ arrest warrants. Heart called on lawmakers to strengthen the Colorado Commission of Indian Affairs and to hold a joint caucus day for lawmakers and the tribes.
The leaders also highlighted ongoing concerns about drought in the Colorado River basin and housing.
The proposed child sexual abuse amendment will be carried this year by Sens. Jessie Danielson and Dafna Michaelson Jenet and Rep. Monica Duran, all Democrats. It has not yet been introduced but will be the same language as the proposed amendment that Republicans stopped in 2024, Michaelson Jenet said.
That proposed amendment, if approved by voters, would allow lawmakers to pass laws permitting survivors of childhood sexual abuse that happened decades ago to bring civil claims, regardless of when the abuse happened. The legislature passed a law to that effect in 2021, but it was later struck down by the Colorado Supreme Court as unconstitutional, necessitating the amendment.
Baker said such a law would give “those that have suffered abuse as children the opportunity to confront their abusers and those who facilitated that in state court.”
It takes a two-thirds majority of the legislature to refer a constitutional amendment to voters, who then would need to approve it with 55% support.
Senate Republicans united to oppose the amendment last year, citing concerns about upending established case law and opening up a flood of lawsuits against institutions for decades-old allegations. Even with Democrats’ wide majorities, backers of the amendment would need the support of at least one Republican in each of the Senate and the House, plus all Democrats, to refer the measure.
Michaelson Jenet said sponsors had not secured any Republican support yet but noted there were several new members of the minority caucus. She hoped people would see the measure as “a desperate need in Colorado.”
“(It’s) very exciting,” Michaelson Jenet said. “We can’t wait another year.”
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