In re People v. Crawford.

2025 CO 22. No. 24SA226. Stalking—First Amendment—Counterman v. Colorado—Contents of Speech.

May 12, 2025

In this opinion, the supreme court considered whether the US Supreme Court’s holding in Counterman v. Colorado, 600 U.S. 66 (2023), applies to a case where the prosecution’s charges under Colorado’s stalking statute, CRS § 18-3-602(1)(c), were based on the fact of the defendant’s repetitive contacts with the victim, not on the contents of his speech. The court concluded that stalking charges not rooted in the contents of any communications do not trigger First Amendment protections and therefore do not require proof that the defendant communicated with a reckless state of mind.