It’s the summer time. A time to relax and enjoy a good barbeque and a few drinks with some friends. However, before you hit the road, keep in mind that Colorado law enforcement is out in full swing during the summer months, looking for drunk drivers.

Agencies throughout the state participate in something called The Heat Is On – a campaign that goes throughout the year that specifically targets drunk drivers through a series of initiatives, including sobriety checkpoints and increased patrols.  The entire goal of this campaign is to arrest as many drunk drivers as possible – with many of the initiatives taking place in the summer months.

According to the National Registry of Exonerations, at least 139 people were exonerated in 2017. These people had been convicted of criminal offenses and were then proven to be innocent of those offenses. Shockingly, 84 of the 139 wrongful convictions were the result of official misconduct. In 66 cases, no actual crime had been committed. Overall, these people lost 1,478 years of freedom.

The Registry has just released some reports detailing the causes and results of the exonerations historically and in 2017 specifically. The information in these reports can give us insight into those situations where the criminal justice system gets things wrong -- which is far, far too often.

A recent report by the Governors Highway Safety Association indicates that we are seeing a lot more drugged driving. That may not come as a surprise, as the use of both cannabis and opioids has been on the rise. What should law enforcement and policy groups do?

The researchers used data from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA). Researchers reviewed both roadside surveys and NHTSA's Fatality Analysis Reporting System (FARS). FARS is essentially a database of local police reports taken after fatal traffic crashes. These data sources were chosen as reliable and nationally representative, although the researchers acknowledge that no source of data accurately documents all driver drug testing.

Rodney Class is a bit of a celebrity among 2nd Amendment advocates and constitutional strict constructionists. A military veteran with a concealed-carry permit from North Carolina, Class considers himself a defender of the constitution -- a "private attorney general" who seeks to hold judges accountable for failing to uphold the founding document.

He travels around -- carrying guns -- taking judges to task when he feels they haven't lived up to their constitutional responsibilities. He has never threatened a judge with a gun.