Obituary of Danyel S. Joffe

Danyel (Doug) Joffe, a dedicated public service lawyer who fought for the rights of the under-served died unexpectedly of heart related issues Sunday, July 29th peacefully in her home. Danyel began her legal career in Denver representing children who had been sexually abused. She was also a lifelong advocate against the harshness and frequent unfairness of the American prison system, especially towards people of color. She spent her professional career working to mitigate the effects of the judicial system implementing overly harsh sentences. She fought through un-diagnosed autism and dyslexia to become a highly functioning attorney She was the first lawyer in Colorado to successfully overturn the sentence of an innocent man, wrongly convicted of rape and murder, and imprisoned for life without the possibility of parole. As a result, she was honored by the Denver Post as one of Colorado’s top thinkers of 2012, as well as Lawyer of the year by Law Week Colorado. The Mesa County district attorney stated “To Danyel’s credit, she never came across as adversarial on this, which is different.” Danyel moved past the normal hostility that exists between the prosecution and defense to successfully enlist the cooperation of the District attorney”. In an article in the Denver Post recognizing Danyel’s achievement, Nancy Lofholm wrote “She had gone into law, rather than her alternate wish of radio broadcasting, because of an aunt who worked as an attorney in Raleigh, NC, who became her role model. The late Debra Greenblatt represented the disabled and mentally ill. The disenfranchised became her niece’s focus as well.” In a wise move, she decided to forgo a career in radio broadcasting, despite the fact the she founded the radio station KLTZ, Missing U Klutz radio on the living room table at the age of 12. Danyel had a passion for life that included a myriad of interests, including travel, comedy, cats, old-time radio shows, sci-fi, theatre, and most importantly the Denver Broncos. As Danyel wrote to her uncle battling cancer just weeks ago, may your journey be blessed with healing and peace. The Navajo blessing when saying hello and goodbye means "May you walk in beauty, in harmony. So "YataHey." Contributions maybe may to Cat Care Society or Autism Research Foundation.