The State Attorney General’s office refers to itself as ‘the people’s lawyer,’ charged with carrying out justice for all Coloradans.

That office is led by Phil Weiser who recently visited Telluride on a listening tour to hear from constituents. While in town, Weiser sat down with KOTO’s Gavin McGough to discuss his current initiatives. Here’s a cut of their conversation:

KOTO Radio:  Attorney General Phil Weiser, thank you so much for joining us here at KOTO this morning. 

Phil Weiser: I can't tell you how much you guys mean to me. It's always a highlight when I come to Telluride. 

KOTO: Where else have you been on this trip and what have you been hearing? 

PW: This morning I started in Ridgeway and we had a community conversation around affordable housing. This is an issue I've heard all across Colorado, urban and rural areas alike.  I'm going to implement Prop 123. There's a number of other measures that are focused on this problem. It is a hard one, and I'm getting my head around it. 

KOTO: And from here, you're on to Rico, yeah? What lays ahead for the rest of your trip?

PW: Rico, yes. Obviously, not a lot of population there, but it's a growing community. I'm excited to stop there next. This evening, I'll be in Cortez, where we've had a number of conversations about broadband; about the supermarket merger where there's a lot of concern; and the opioid crisis, where there's now a regional effort to spend the $770 million that we got over the next 18 years in Colorado. And every region in our state is asking, how do we make this happen? We've had more people die in the last two years of overdose deaths, mostly opioids, than ever before. So that's also something top of our list. 

KOTO: Looking back on the headlines from the year, the Attorney General's Office, big cases, what are some big projects and milestones? The Elijah McClain case certainly had quite a few headlines. Yeah, anything like that?

PW: Let me talk about three different topics, and you mentioned the Elijah McClain case. The work we're doing around law enforcement integrity and building trust in law enforcement is crucial. That case involved a prosecution against law enforcement officers, against first responders, and it brought to light a series of practices that we in Colorado have worked to address. So for example, a carotid hold — Elijah McClain had two put on him — and they contributed to the cause of death. He was administered ketamine when he was close to unconscious.  We're addressing those in Colorado. We've had legislative efforts that we've learned from. We're changing how we train law enforcement. 

And the second point I want to talk about is we're challenging a merger between Western Slope folks who know it as City Market and Safeway. This merger in most communities is going to have a big impact because, for example, if you're doing your shopping in Montrose, which I know a lot of people in Telluride will, you’ve got three options for fresh produce and dairy generally. It's going to be going to Walmart, going to your City Market, or going to Safeway.

Two of those merge, that's a three to two merger. This is bad for consumers, it's bad for workers, and it's bad for farmers. So, we're challenging that in court.

I also want to acknowledge a third point, which is I'm suing Meta, who owns Instagram and Facebook ,because of how that company has harmed youth mental health.

KOTO: Mr. Weiser, you've been a public servant both here in the state and with the Obama Administration. You've also been a law professor and a scholar for many, many years before that. So kind of given that experience, what is your philosophy on sort of making this abstract thing of the law have a positive effect for the lives of everyone living here in Colorado?

PW: My philosophy starts with empathy. We need to understand how law impacts people on the ground.  When I go to communities I need to understand from people how laws affect them. Hearing from people is critical because a lot of laws leave discretion in law enforcement officers. For example, whether to challenge this City Market-Safeway merger I had to decide how to apply antitrust law. Hearing from people was critical to making that decision. 

And take the opioid crisis: what I've heard is how many people were lied to by big companies like Purdue Pharma, and got addicted. We then went after those companies. My philosophy about law is that it's critical that those who have the authority to enforce law be really careful to think hard about the impact of their work, to be in touch with and have empathy for the communities who are affected, and to make sure that we serve the people of Colorado as we do. 

KOTO: Phil Weiser, thank you so much for your time today. We really appreciate having you in. 
PW: Always a pleasure. Thank you.