Young v. Colorado Department of Corrections

── Young v. Colorado Department of Corrections ── Court: Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit Date: May 11, 2026 Category: General Appellate Case: 25-1068 Document: 81-1 Date Filed: 05/11/2026 Page: 1 FILED United States Court of Appeals PUBLISH Tenth Circuit UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS May 11, 2026 Christopher M. Wolpert FOR THE TENTH CIRCUIT Clerk of Court __________________________________________ JOSHUA F. YOUNG, Plaintiff - Appellant, v. No. 25-1068 COLORADO DEPARTMENT OF CORRECTIONS; MOSES “ANDRE” STANCIL; JILL HUNSAKER RYAN, Defendants - Appellees. ---------------------------------------- STATE OF MONTANA; THE ARIZONA LEGISLATURE; STATE OF ALABAMA; STATE OF LOUISIANA; STATE OF MISSISSIPPI; STATE OF ARKANSAS; STATE OF MISSOURI; STATE OF NEBRASKA; STATE OF FLORIDA; STATE OF NORTH DAKOTA; STATE OF IDAHO; STATE OF SOUTH CAROLINA; STATE OF INDIANA; STATE OF SOUTH DAKOTA; STATE OF IOWA; STATE OF TEXAS; STATE OF KANSAS; SPEAKER OF THE ARIZONA HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES; PRESIDENT OF THE ARIZONA SENATE; THE AMERICAN CIVIL RIGHTS PROJECT; THE MANHATTAN INSTITUTE;  Appellate Case: 25-1068 Document: 81-1 Date Filed: 05/11/2026 Page: 2 THE SOUTHEASTERN LEGAL FOUNDATON; THE YOUNG AMERICA’S FOUNDATION, Amici Curiae. ___________________________________________ APPEAL FROM THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT FOR THE DISTRICT OF COLORADO (D.C. No. 23-CV-01688-NYW-SBP) ______________________________________ William E. Trachman (Grady J. Block, Mountain States Legal Foundation, with him on the briefs), Mountain States Legal Foundation, for Plaintiff- Appellant. Pawan Nelson (Philip J. Weiser, Attorney General, and Monica Manning, Assistant Attorney General, with him on the brief), Colorado Department of Law, Denver, Colorado, for the State of Colorado, for Defendants- Appellees. Austin Knudsen, Attorney General, and Christian Corrigan, Solicitor General, Montana Department of Justice, Office of Attorney General, Helena, Montana, filed an amicus curiae brief on behalf of the State of Montana, The Arizona Legislature, States of Alabama, Louisiana, Mississippi, Arkansas, Missouri, Nebraska, Florida, North Dakota, Idaho, South Carolina, Indiana, South Dakota, Iowa, Texas, Kansas, Speaker of the Arizona House of Representatives, and President of the Arizona Senate in support of Plaintiff-Appellant and Reversal. Ilya Shapiro, Manhattan Institute, New York, New York; Braden H. Boucek and Jordon R. Miller, Southeastern Legal Foundation, Roswell, Georgia; and Joseph A. Bingham, Dallas, Texas, The American Civil Rights Project, filed an amicus curiae brief on behalf of Southeastern Legal Foundation, The Manhattan Institute, and The American Civil Rights Project in support of Plaintiff-Appellant and Reversal. Madison Leigh Hahn, Young America’s Foundation, Reston, Virginia; Matthew Seth Sarelson, Dhillon Law Group, Inc., West Palm Beach, Florida; and John-Paul D. Deol, Dhillon Law Group, Inc., San Francisco, California, on behalf of Young America’s Foundation, in support of Plaintiff-Appellant for Reversal. 2  Appellate Case: 25-1068 Document: 81-1 Date Filed: 05/11/2026 Page: 3 ______________________________________________ Before BACHARACH and MORITZ, Circuit Judges, and SHELBY, District Judge. * ______________________________________________ BACHARACH, Circuit Judge. ______________________________________________ Federal law prohibits race discrimination in the workplace. 42 U.S.C. § 2000e-2(a)(1). The victims are ordi