Please note that in Denver we will begin at 6:45 PM.

We will present two films this month.

First, in honor of “Occupy the Courts Day,” organized around the nation by Move to Amend, we will show the 15-minute documentary, A Question of Integrity: Politics, Ethics, and the Supreme Court.  (Be sure to join the OTC rally and march in Denver, which will begin at 10:30 AM, Friday, January 20, on the west steps of the Capitol.)

Narrated by actor, director, and activist Edward James Olmos, this film examines the growing concerns about ethically questionable and overtly political behavior exhibited by some Supreme Court justices and explores the need to apply the same ethical standards that govern all other judges in the federal court system as well as those seated on our nation’s highest court.  For example, Justices Scalia and Thomas allegedly attended a closed-door retreat hosted by Koch Industries, a corporation that supported and benefited from the Citizen United’s decision, which recently dismantled campaign finance laws.

Second, we will show the acclaimed film Gasland (1 hour 40 minutes), which premiered at the 2010 Sundance Film Festival and was awarded the “Special Jury Prize Documentary.”  This film exposes the devastating environmental effects of horizontal hydraulic fracturing, commonly called “fracking,” a means of tapping shale deposits containing natural gas that were previously inaccessible by conventional drilling techniques used by the oil and gas industry.

Coloradans have become increasingly concerned as the use of fracking has expanded along the Front Range, with thousands of wells planned for areas surrounding the cities of Denver, Longmont, and Colorado Springs, as well as within some of our state parks.

Why the concern?  This is what Gasland makes abundantly clear: [Read more…]