Shawn Mitchell was elected to Senate District 23 in the Colorado General Assembly in November of 2004. Shawn is an attorney at private practice in Denver and Adams County. Previously, Shawn served as Special Counsel to the Attorney General, where he was a legal policy advisor and one of the top aids to former Colorado Attorney General Gale Norton. In that position, Shawn worked on significant constitutional litigation, including the Amendment 2 case and First Amendment litigation on issues of church and state. Shawn also represented Colorado in fighting criminal appeals in the Colorado Court of Appeals and the Supreme Court. Shawn is a former Senior Fellow at the Independence Institute, a conservative and free-market think tank in Golden, CO. He continues to write and speak often on public policy issues. Shawn is the president of the Colorado Chapter of the Federalist Society, a national organization of scholars, judges, and lawyers that promotes limited government and legal reform. He also served 3 years on the Denver Rocky Mountain News Board of Editorial Contributors. http://www.townhall.com/columnists/ShawnMitchell http://media.townhall.com/TownHall/icons/TH-feed-icon-128x128.gif http://www.townhall.com/columnists/ShawnMitchell TownHall.com, Where your opinion counts. 128 Copyright (c) 2013 Townhall.com, A Salem Communications Web. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED jim.dearras@townhall.com (Jim De Arras) Mon, 20 May 2013 04:01:00 GMT Mon, 20 May 2013 04:01:00 GMT http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/tech/rss RSS.NET: http://www.rssdotnet.com/ How many thousands of Americans unknowingly carry an internal death sentence, maybe an aneurysm or cancer that is beyond treating? Only the tragic time and circumstances of demise await recording. Is our nation... http://www.townhall.com/columnists/ShawnMitchell/2013/05/20/listening-to-the-pimp-with-the-limp-n1600950 815c5a5e-69fa-4118-9d56-97df487867dd Mon, 20 May 2013 04:01:00 GMT Not too long ago, trashing George Bush was a Hillary-approved form of patriotic dissent. Back in the day, progressives and Move On types competed proudly and exuberantly to vocalize their Bush hate, all to the... http://www.townhall.com/columnists/ShawnMitchell/2013/05/13/if-criticism-means-we-hate-obama-then-how-many-americans-does-obama-hate-n1593492 5c1cd6d1-1fe5-4b7e-9b5a-48cae4c46b9c Mon, 13 May 2013 04:01:00 GMT What difference does it make if they drew down his security while England and other nations read the leaves of terror intelligence and withdrew their embassies from the region altogether? Or that he begged repeatedly... http://www.townhall.com/columnists/ShawnMitchell/2013/05/09/when-a-question-is-a-lie-it-makes-all-the-difference-n1591461 f244acdb-69e6-4706-8c9c-93a5a49e9039 Thu, 09 May 2013 04:01:00 GMT The movie 42, about Jackie Robinson, the first black man to play Major League Baseball is an inspiring triumph that strangely made me want to go punch a liberal.or to be more precise, to punch liberal moral bullies. http://www.townhall.com/columnists/ShawnMitchell/2013/04/29/to-punch-a-liberal-n1581285 f666799b-bb11-4527-9c61-a09c31ef342b Mon, 29 Apr 2013 04:01:00 GMT It’s too soon to make sense of anything, but too hard to focus on anything else. Please consider the following thoughts about the horror, kindness, hope, and courage we all witnessed, which I posted as events... http://www.townhall.com/columnists/ShawnMitchell/2013/04/22/laundering-terror-n1574561 40816f8b-2fc8-4171-83bb-5c8f5e2d9d69 Mon, 22 Apr 2013 04:01:00 GMT Our professional talking class wasn’t particularly interested in an infanticidist butcher with an astonishing rap sheet: He gave preferential treatment to whites over blacks; he infected women with venereal... http://www.townhall.com/columnists/ShawnMitchell/2013/04/15/media-hides-auschwitz-of-the-innocents-n1567628 d6227776-346a-44d4-9e41-a31bf3451faf Mon, 15 Apr 2013 04:01:00 GMT Our government says it absolutely cannot keep track of its own borders or the 12 million people who live here illegally, but, it absolutely can keep track of the purchases, transfers, and components of hundreds of... http://www.townhall.com/columnists/ShawnMitchell/2013/04/08/idiocies-in-the-gun-control-debate-n1560819 e3d54e53-e3e7-429d-8644-114b1945f71a Mon, 08 Apr 2013 04:01:00 GMT Google scrambled some Easter eggs yesterday. Or, more precisely, it didn’t. It would be silly and counterproductive to exaggerate Google’s eye-poke at Christians, but it would be a mistake not to consider... http://www.townhall.com/columnists/ShawnMitchell/2013/04/01/ponder-christian-soldiers-googles-smirking-war-on-you-n1554133 fe1c6092-94fd-46c2-8c19-201ff9518a10 Mon, 01 Apr 2013 04:01:00 GMT Look at England. Self defense is all but illegal. "Call the Constable, lad. He'll file a report." Guns are rare, but violent crime is rampant. Everyone depends on the government for health... http://www.townhall.com/columnists/ShawnMitchell/2013/03/25/look-at-england-n1548008 2c3c54f8-2ab2-4c39-9946-35c6c1aa487e Mon, 25 Mar 2013 04:01:00 GMT Part of Ronald Reagan’s brilliance was not apologizing to critics. Instead, he explained confidently and cheerfully why limiting government is a better approach than growing it, and would produce better results... http://www.townhall.com/columnists/ShawnMitchell/2013/03/18/gop-readies-for-race-for-distinction-n1537454 1457325a-0823-425d-a2f8-179f47a4e7ef Mon, 18 Mar 2013 23:32:00 GMT Bob Woodward may not appreciate how lethal the bullet was he fired at Barack Obama last week. In the last five years of American history, a national journalist contradicting the president about big news—like... http://www.townhall.com/columnists/ShawnMitchell/2013/03/11/obama-and-the-palace-defenders-n1530493 9637f502-c8b0-4a43-b9f2-208d9e7128c1 Mon, 11 Mar 2013 04:01:00 GMT Freshman lawmaker Joe Salazar, (D. Thornton) became an embarrassing distraction for the liberal juggernaut in Colorado last week when he blurted out what he really thinks of the Second Amendment, the right of self... http://www.townhall.com/columnists/ShawnMitchell/2013/02/26/whistle-while-youre-raped-n1520390 20d858d5-928a-4508-b38d-5be74d03671a Tue, 26 Feb 2013 05:01:00 GMT Conservatives dislike big government. Liberals dislike big business. Let's find common ground. When big business gets in bed with big government, the baby is ugly. Gun violence is down over time. Mass... http://www.townhall.com/columnists/ShawnMitchell/2013/02/25/un-needs-to-declare-earth-asteriod-free-zone-n1519535 6bb75d8d-78f1-47fc-a1a8-1c84ee0af07e Mon, 25 Feb 2013 05:01:00 GMT Editor's note: This column contains satire. This fact is noted for all the liberals that may be reading. That is all. President Obama’s aggressive agenda for his second term might have been... http://www.townhall.com/columnists/ShawnMitchell/2013/02/18/we-have-nothing-to-fear-but-the-farce-itself-n1514620 64c88f76-c90b-430b-a20d-cdaa35206c68 Mon, 18 Feb 2013 05:01:00 GMT Biblical scholar Chris Rock breathed the spirit of a Pauline epistle last week, as he urged children to meekly submit to their parents: “The president and the first lady are kinda like the Mom and Dad of the... http://www.townhall.com/columnists/ShawnMitchell/2013/02/11/no-chris-rock-he-aint-my-daddy-or-yours-n1509514 94f12dab-6d01-4321-b373-7577c44e4260 Mon, 11 Feb 2013 05:01:00 GMT It could happen--Barack Obama and John Roberts in an epic clash. For institutional, ideological, and personal reasons, the two charismatic heavyweights may be on a collision course. Obama is a fierce competitor who... http://www.townhall.com/columnists/ShawnMitchell/2013/02/04/fantasy-wrestling-barack-the-fundamental-transformer-v-the-dread-justice-roberts-n1504360 728aee0c-7251-45ab-a616-ced66099d9df Mon, 04 Feb 2013 05:01:00 GMT Let's roll the tape: "With all due respect, the fact is we had four dead Americans. Was it because of a protest, or was it because of guys out for a walk one night who decided they'd go kill some Americans? What... http://www.townhall.com/columnists/ShawnMitchell/2013/01/27/the-last-clinton-lie-makes-a-difference-n1498702 3f7030f5-105d-4754-877d-218e1243bdf9 Sun, 27 Jan 2013 05:01:00 GMT The Old Media choir is making happy harmony, but a few cranks and screechers refuse to follow the hymnal and sing at the Church of Barack. They're asking such inconvenient questions as, when will the president get... http://www.townhall.com/columnists/ShawnMitchell/2013/01/21/the-fword-here-is-not-freedom-n1493553 a579a4ac-d191-4cea-b42a-428ff064148e Mon, 21 Jan 2013 05:01:00 GMT Sinclair Lewis was so 20th Century. Progressives have effectively burnt the cross and the flag already. Thus, old-style patriotism and religiosity can't even win elections in heartland states- just ask Senators Akin... http://www.townhall.com/columnists/ShawnMitchell/2013/01/14/the-tyranny-of-solutions-n1488467 fe12c3d4-b96b-4db5-9863-fb032239fa9d Mon, 14 Jan 2013 05:01:00 GMT What kind of collective insanity prevails when you have to show a pic ID to buy spray paint or cold medicine, but not to vote to choose government officials? Is citizenship so cheaply regarded? Stopping taggers and... http://www.townhall.com/columnists/ShawnMitchell/2013/01/07/the-internet-is-eating-our-brains-n1481250 f3003c18-72fb-491e-8895-47225eed1b95 Mon, 07 Jan 2013 05:01:00 GMT Our topic today is how George Bush destroyed America. Or, more precisely, how the Left says he did. Naturally, their solution is for America to join the ranks of European social democracies. It's the only way to not to... http://www.townhall.com/columnists/ShawnMitchell/2012/12/31/50-shades-of-bush-blame-n1476434 5e558ed6-a286-4680-8493-5d8eb0ec7576 Mon, 31 Dec 2012 05:01:00 GMT Hallelujah!! Hallelujah, hallelujah, hallelujah, halle-eelujaaah!! For the government omnipotent reigneth! The kingdom of this world; is become the kingdom of our Enlightened Leaders And they shall reign forever... http://www.townhall.com/columnists/ShawnMitchell/2012/12/24/the-gospel-revised-by-caesar-n1473260 0e0fe8f4-b198-4956-8ed0-8d7477f1fc55 Mon, 24 Dec 2012 05:01:00 GMT Here are some thoughts and punches from my Facebook. Feel free to punch back. Atrocity. Insanity. Utter tragedy. But, before the tragedy whores pounce, consider this: Guns are against the law there already. Why does... http://www.townhall.com/columnists/ShawnMitchell/2012/12/17/beware-of-global-slowing-n1468344 f4ff0111-c556-4bfb-9e76-90e89039c5eb Mon, 17 Dec 2012 05:01:00 GMT To a large group of Americans, the Benghazi story looks simple. Only the fog of politics and the media's protection of the president obscure an ugly narrative. This article is long because the extent of denial,... http://www.townhall.com/columnists/ShawnMitchell/2012/12/03/benghazi_denial_syndrome_clinical_or_cynical 334cb753-9357-4e01-88f1-75f0eb5d900d Mon, 03 Dec 2012 05:01:00 GMT Let the Blood Games continue. Only weeks after election 2012 and years before election 2016, in a routine interview, a glossy pop magazine popped Florida Senator Marco Rubio with an oddball question: How old do you... http://www.townhall.com/columnists/ShawnMitchell/2012/11/26/lefts_newest_inquisition_deny_your_god_or_be_deemed_unfit db4646c8-f59e-4fe3-a01d-a33094394acc Mon, 26 Nov 2012 05:01:00 GMT Wake up and smell the cappuccino, conservatives. This election offers devastating proof we must embrace immigration reform now. It's our only hope! Not as the pandering stunt some Beltway geniuses argue will trick... http://www.townhall.com/columnists/ShawnMitchell/2012/11/19/critical_questions_for_abcnbccbspbsnprapnytwashpolat c3741707-3263-40c6-8071-310c5436cd47 Mon, 19 Nov 2012 05:01:00 GMT It's tempting to think of warriors as different from the rest of us-they somehow feel less pain and fear than ordinary people. Only when we recognize that fighting men and women have the same fears and desires we all do... http://www.townhall.com/columnists/ShawnMitchell/2012/11/12/veterans_arent_superheroes 3372b224-584d-4d87-8a73-7abe0e648a4d Mon, 12 Nov 2012 05:01:00 GMT Americans share the tearful little girl's pain as she whimpers in the online video sensation: "I'm tired of Bronco Bama and Mitt Romney." During the one-day calm between the politicians' arguments and people's verdict,... http://www.townhall.com/columnists/ShawnMitchell/2012/11/05/stopping_to_help_an_angel 976f8000-089c-4005-928d-3cf7cc22ad12 Mon, 05 Nov 2012 05:01:00 GMT Like the hostages jetting from Iran the day Reagan raised his right hand, America's economy is about to bust its chains. Not everyone will celebrate, even though they should. America wants to recover. In all our... http://www.townhall.com/columnists/ShawnMitchell/2012/10/29/the_mitt_boom_liberals_will_hate_and_libertarians_will_pretend_to 30918459-948d-44f9-9fc9-cb1b42ad8ce2 Mon, 29 Oct 2012 04:01:00 GMT Not optimal? No, Mr President. Four years of 8% unemployment is "not optimal."$16 Trillion national debt is "not optimal."Trillion dollar deficits into the horizon are "not optimal."Lowest workforce participation in a... http://www.townhall.com/columnists/ShawnMitchell/2012/10/23/the_facebook_papers 0c165a0f-a653-43ec-87f2-868599d32edd Tue, 23 Oct 2012 04:01:00 GMT President Obama's lie at the debate--that he made an early call the Benghazi attack was terror-- was petty and ludicrous. It was petty because, as a semantic dispute, it grasped brief advantage that necessarily had... http://www.townhall.com/columnists/ShawnMitchell/2012/10/20/obama_lied_crowleys_cred_died 359c14b9-21f3-4c8d-b8f9-b7024d52172b Sat, 20 Oct 2012 04:01:00 GMT Approaching the big 50, with 21 years around politics, I've never seen such anger and sometimes hate in America's family as this election cycle. Why? What's the fierce opposition to Barack Obama from some.and the... http://www.townhall.com/columnists/ShawnMitchell/2012/10/16/obama_derangement_syndrome_vs_obama_denial_disorder f3cf55b0-2d85-4acb-8013-040bdaf870a0 Tue, 16 Oct 2012 04:01:00 GMT The earth moved in Denver last week. A chunk of realist landscape broke through the media's gloomy, impressionist artwork, as Mitt Romney dominated Barrack Obama in the first presidential debate. All the king's horses... http://www.townhall.com/columnists/ShawnMitchell/2012/10/08/what_abcnbccbsnytcnnwashpolat_cant_hide_debate_changed_everything 2f407864-8943-45c0-a909-068c1385052a Mon, 08 Oct 2012 04:01:00 GMT We not only must win this thing, we can. Maybe we are. Hard to know while we're being bludgeoned with polls projecting Democrat turnout levels equal to 2008 Obama euphoria. Complicating things is the sour commentary... http://www.townhall.com/columnists/ShawnMitchell/2012/10/02/explaining_the_fight_for_americas_exceptional_life_to_bowling_buddies a68eab43-7dc8-4abd-afb8-f89ae8182610 Tue, 02 Oct 2012 04:01:00 GMT You're the elite, the cream of the national press corps (That's pronounced "core" rather than "corpse," which the president botched recently, but which you all found far less important than the "e" that's not at the end... http://www.townhall.com/columnists/ShawnMitchell/2012/09/24/a_few_questions_for_abcnbccbsnytnprcnnwashpolat 9f5c83b4-a7db-4f95-ad37-66506a49004c Mon, 24 Sep 2012 04:01:00 GMT Dear Media Mavens: Watching you folks hyperventilate over a months-old, pirated video of a campaign fundraiser got me wondering: Who decides what news gets the gang-bang-everyone-come-join-the-dog-pile-of-ridicule... http://www.townhall.com/columnists/ShawnMitchell/2012/09/20/the_journolists_pimps_with_limps 38f70db9-3a12-4a31-a9e1-3ca14cd5981f Thu, 20 Sep 2012 04:01:00 GMT Please enjoy the following rants and obeservations from Facebook: If you care more about getting free nine-buck-a-month birth control than you do about fewer jobs, more unemployed, and double-priced gas over four years... http://www.townhall.com/columnists/ShawnMitchell/2012/09/17/obamas_america_2012_if_nixon_only_had_the_press_on_his_side 0c549646-ce40-4196-9f24-734cd9625e66 Mon, 17 Sep 2012 04:01:00 GMT If there were ever a pristine past when "fact checkers" confirmed or rebutted verifiable claims, it's dead. The fact checkers killed it. The barrage of attacks on Romney-Ryan expose the truth: "Fact-checking" today is... http://www.townhall.com/columnists/ShawnMitchell/2012/09/10/applying_the_fact_check_hit_squads_romneyryan_rules_to_the_dnc f8da2a3f-2f04-46f7-9296-4091afaf97d2 Mon, 10 Sep 2012 04:01:00 GMT Theater review on Townhall Finance? Hey, it's a holiday. Anyway, bizarre deviations from the script are cool! Just ask Clint Eastwood. Old, new, and social media are abuzz deconstructing Eastwood's performance at the... http://www.townhall.com/columnists/ShawnMitchell/2012/09/03/clint_still_has_the_guts_that_punks_lack 2ffa0b89-9703-4b67-8985-a6f514c1ba9d Mon, 03 Sep 2012 04:01:00 GMT The Left's assault on the Supreme Court's Citizens United decision got high exposure at the 2011 State of the Union when the president famously insulted his robed hostages. The fallout continues, notably in Colorado. ... http://www.townhall.com/columnists/ShawnMitchell/2012/08/27/progressive_war_on_speech_and_liberty_continues b4687d5b-c9b4-4904-ba68-0e550613d037 Mon, 27 Aug 2012 04:01:00 GMT Joseph Biden's career is chock-full of career-threatening gaffes--had they been committed by a conservative. But last week was exceptional, even for Joe. Telling a largely black audience that Republicans want to... http://www.townhall.com/columnists/ShawnMitchell/2012/08/20/bidens_tourrette_problem ddfdaae3-051a-4f93-8a87-ad9f28e4c8eb Mon, 20 Aug 2012 04:01:00 GMT Let's talk words, specifically the wrong words. The president displayed his customary grace this week when he accused Team Romney-Ryan of pedaling "trickle-down fairy dust." It's gratifying the president realizes he... http://www.townhall.com/columnists/ShawnMitchell/2012/08/16/obamas_verbal_kindergarten 9cee957b-362c-4cc6-a793-68531e01e9ff Thu, 16 Aug 2012 04:01:00 GMT "A liberal," Robert Frost said, "is a man too broadminded to take his own side in a quarrel." I've debated many liberals who clearly took sides.in favor of any antagonist the US might oppose. Ronald Reagan's ambassador... http://www.townhall.com/columnists/ShawnMitchell/2012/08/13/america_olbermanns_worst_county_in_the_world bb21ff35-f256-4302-bf2d-6011d5d61c37 Mon, 13 Aug 2012 04:01:00 GMT If the media reports an earthquake was a breeze in the forest, did the earth still move? I'm not sure TownHall Finance is the natural venue for that question, but I'm also not sure why the Denver Post-my local paper-put... http://www.townhall.com/columnists/ShawnMitchell/2012/08/06/chikfilaquake_what_the_media_didnt_say b1169705-1562-4fba-87de-bc6d15d1ae34 Mon, 06 Aug 2012 04:01:00 GMT Hey students! Youth voters! Are you up for Hope and Change 2012? Here's the deal! In just four years President Obama ran your personal share of the US debt from $30,000 to $50,000!! ...and still rocketing up!! Plus!... http://www.townhall.com/columnists/ShawnMitchell/2012/07/30/can_obama_seduce_young_voters_while_robbing_them_blind_again 7d52f154-a223-4097-8e83-e44d792bc9b5 Mon, 30 Jul 2012 04:01:00 GMT "You didn't build that".your community did. Those quickly famous words reflect Americans' debate over whether we want a society dominated by government or shaped by free choice. They also disparage the contributions of... http://www.townhall.com/columnists/ShawnMitchell/2012/07/23/freedom_now_mandated_by_enlighted_regulators 72a6f45e-8add-4c12-8300-3ce3259065ff Mon, 23 Jul 2012 04:01:00 GMT State legislative candidates may think they're in the minor leagues, but a big league issue is coming at them. Over many years of door-knocking and community forums in five runs for Colorado's statehouse, I've practiced... http://www.townhall.com/columnists/ShawnMitchell/2012/07/09/what_hath_john_robert_wrought 13b4de18-d5b8-4b93-a180-49a84a8b5b77 Mon, 09 Jul 2012 04:01:00 GMT As the nation awaits the most anticipated Supreme Court decision in a generation, it's worth pondering whether Americans' life, liberty, and happiness are well served by devotion to a two century old document. Does the... http://www.townhall.com/columnists/ShawnMitchell/2012/06/25/dangerous_servant_and_fearsome_master 59a33bc7-036d-4aa2-85aa-bd258211363e Mon, 25 Jun 2012 04:01:00 GMT