Jerry Kopel Home Page

The Gerald Kopel Papers, which cover Kopel's entire legislative career from 1964 to 1992, are housed in the Denver Public Library's Western History Collection. The papers are perhaps the most extensive archive of the public career of any American state legislator from the 20th century. For more information on the collection, and a link to an HTML table of contents, click here. For the Denver Public Library's online Table of Contents and information, click here.

Most of the articles on this website were originally published in the Colorado Statesman, a weekly newspaper for which Jerry Kopel has been an award-winning columnist since 1992.

Colorado State Capitol building

Jerry's latest article

Finally, a landlord-tenant measure providing for warranty of habitability has been introduced by Democrats Rep, Mike Merrifield and Sen. Ron Tupa. HB 1356 begins life in House Business Affairs.

The definition, in this 18-page measure, of warranty of habitability is:

"In every rental agreement , the landlord is deemed to warrant that the residential premises is fit for human habitation and the uses reasonably intended by the parties."

The reason why a definition is needed is because the Colorado Supreme Court has consistently held there is no "common law" right in Colorado to warranty of habitability. The court stated we are still covered by the feudal of England (land is held from a Lord on condition of rendering his feudal services) going back to medieval times under the doctrine of "caveat emptor" or "buyer beware".

This 2008 bill actually has eight concepts which makes it easier for opponents to raise objection to one concept and feel good about themselves. On the other hand, it makes it easier to remove portions and thus turn the objector into a proponent.

The concepts are (1) loser pays attorney fees (2) warranty of habitability (3) tenant's right to repair (4) mobile housing rights and duties (5) damages for breach of warranty and landlord's defenses (6) prohibition of retaliation for tenant's actions (7) unlawful removal or exclusion of tenant (8) and exemptions from the new law.

Colorado is one of only two states, the other being Arkansas, not to have either a statutory warranty law or one well-developed by a state's judiciary, providing that right for tenants who pay rent. Even Wyoming has a warranty of habitability statute.

This type of bill will cross party lines. Legislators, whether Democrats or Republicans, might vote for or against such a measure based on whether they are landlords or tenants.

In 1975, I was chief sponsor and with Sens. Dennis Gallagher (D) and Barbara Holme (D) introduced the landlord-tenant bill based in large part on the 1974 Uniform Commissioners Residential Landlord-Tenant Act. That Act did become law in about 15 states, but not in Colorado in 1975, nor in 1976.

In 1979, 80, and 81, the tenant bill was carried unsuccessfully by Kopel and Holme. In 1982, 83, 84, and 85, bills supporting tenants rights were introduced by the following Republicans: Sens. Martha Ezzard and Jim Beatty, Rep. Bill Artist and Sens. Claire Traylor and Bonnie Allison, and Sen. Sally Hopper. In 2001 and 2002, the tenant bill was carried by Rep. Richard Decker, which should have provided credibility, since he was listed in the press directory as a landlord.

The 1983 bill by Rep. Artist died by one vote in the House, cast by David Bath, who was then a Democrat. After he voted, fortunately for the Democrats, Bath switched parties.

In 2002, Sen. Mary Ellen Epps, shaken by viewing a Colorado Springs TV documentary entitled "Hall of Shame" introduced SB 118 which would allow tenants (such as families of soldiers stationed in El Paso county) unaware of major defects in the space they were renting, to terminate the lease 15 days after the landlord was notified and failed to remedy the defects.

The Epps bill wasn't a strong bill, but it was better than nothing. Sen. Epps met her match in Freda Poundstone, lobbyist for the Apartment Owners Assn., who stopped the Epps bill on a 36 to 27 vote in the House, with 34 Republicans and two Democrats voting to kill it. From 1975 on, almost all of the dead landlord-tenant bills through 2002 were on Poundstone's plate.

Bills seeking rights for tenants in Colorado have a history going back to one in1969, sponsored by Sen. Joe Shoemaker (R) and Sen. John Birminghan (R). It got nowhere.

In 1971, three Legal Aid attorneys, including future state Supreme Court Justice Jean Dubofsky, asked me to carry a tenant measure. I divided it up into four parts: (1) Security deposits carried by Rep. Reuben Valdez (D), (2) landlord's lien not allowed to cover tenant's personal exempt property, carried by Rep. Dennis Gallagher (D), (3) longer period for notice for eviction carried by Rep. Leo Lucero (D), and (4) warranty of habitability, carried by myself.

The Valdez bill was placed under a Rep. Wad Hinman (R) bill title, and the Gallagher bill under the title of a Rep., Lowell Sonnenberg (R) measure. Both passed. The other two did not.

The habitability bill of 1971 actually died in a closed Republican House caucus (there was no Sunshine law then) at the instigation of Rep. Ralph Cole (R). While there was a second reading in the House right after the caucus, there was no debate from opponents and the bill died 28 to 32, basically dying by negative votes from Republicans printed on the bill as House sponsors.

In total, between 1969 and 2007, there have been 17 to 20 tries, Democrat and Republican, but no winners on habitability, tenant repair, etc.

The courts do recognize "constructive eviction" in the 1984 case of Kirkland vs. Allen by the state Court of Appeals. The case provided the tenant with the right to damages, stating being bitten at night by rats triggered the right to withhold rent based on constructive eviction because the landlord failed to provide basic necessities.

Another recent Jerry article

March madness? Maybe it refers to New York's past and present governors, Eliot Spitzer and David Paterson, both admitting directly or indirectly to adultery. Yes, a married person having sex with a prostitute does, under present Colorado law, commit adultery.

For most of Colorado's history as a territory and state, adultery and fornication were crimes. The statute was passed in 1861, when Colorado's territorial legislature met for the first time. And the statute never changed until 1971. For 110 years, the definitions and punishments were never amended. The statute read:

"Any man or woman who shall live together in an open state of adultery or fornication, or adultery and fornication, every such man or woman shall be indicted, and on conviction be fined in any sum not exceeding two hundred dollars each or imprisonment in the county jail not exceeding six months.

"This offense shall be sufficiently proved by circumstances which raise the presumption of cohabitation and unlawful intimacy; and for a second offense such man or woman shall be severally punished twice as much as the former punishment , and for a third offense treble, and thus increasing the punishment for each succeeding offense .

"It shall be in the power of the parties offending to prevent or suspend the prosecution by their intermarriage, if such marriage can be legally solemnized, upon the payment of the costs of such prosecution."

Let's suppose an habitual fornication offender is hit with six months in the county jail. If my arithmetic is accurate, and if "former" means "the last prior", the fourth offense could bring 12 years in the county jail.

The "live together" presumption in the statute was held by the courts to be the job of the jury to determine.

The statute appeared more for "show" than use. And "lewd houses" were also banned in 1861, always disappearing and reappearing in corrupt fashion.

Prostitutes defined? The statute read: "Any prostitute, courtesan, or lewd woman, who, by word, gesture or action, shall endeavor to ply her vocation upon the street ... house ... or public place, or who, for such purpose, shall make a bold or meretricious display of herself ...." Actually the Latin word for prostitute is meretrix.

Punishment was a $100 fine and 10 days to three months in the county jail.

In 1971, the state legislature became deeply involved in a massive rewrite of the state's criminal laws, sponsored by Sen. John Birmingham (R) and Rep. Ralph Cole (R). Helping to guide the revision was Denver District Attorney Dale Tooley.

Fornication was dropped from the statute. The statute defining adultery dropped any reference to living together and is presently CRS 18-6-501: "Any sexual intercourse by a married person other than with that person's spouse is adultery, which is prohibited."

"Prohibited" is a legal term as in "trespassing prohibited". According to Black's law Dictionary, prohibited means "to forbid by law".

Since we did not call adultery a felony, misdemeanor, or petty offense, we avoided triggering penalties presently found in 18-1.3-503 to 505, and 18-1.3-402 for offenses lacking specific penalties.

I was a member of the House Judiciary Committee when we discussed the criminal law revision sponsored by Birmingham and Cole. One witness testifying at length on the bill was now-deceased, but then retired state Supreme Court Justice O. Otto Moore, who was working with DA Tooley, on the measure.

I threw Justice Moore the biggest interrogatory softball I have ever thrown. "Justice Moore" I asked "can you explain to the committee the difference between adultery and fornication?"

The retired justice paused, and then with a straight poker face, said "Well, I have tried both and did not notice any difference."

The bill passed committee without dissent.

(Jerry Kopel served 22 years in the Colorado House)