As abundant data makes clear, Colorado’s terribly misguided “decarceration” policies — i.e., letting dangerous criminals freely walk the streets — have been accompanied by soaring crime. In a landmark report last year, the Common Sense Institute found that from 2010 to 2022, the state’s crime rate increased by 32% while the number of inmates in prison declined by 28.4%.

Go figure. Only our legislature — at least, those members hypnotized by the criminal-coddling mantra of “justice reform” — would regard that as a coincidence.

Of course, the rest of Colorado has paid the price. More Coloradans of every race, ethnicity and income level, in wide-ranging communities, have become victims. Of burglary; of auto theft; of violence — you name it.

Two proposals on this fall’s statewide ballot — Amendment I and Proposition 128 — will see to it our state’s justice system keeps more dangerous criminal suspects as well as convicts behind bars longer. Both have earned The Gazette editorial board’s endorsement — and both warrant voters’ support when mail ballots are due Nov. 5.

Amendment I would plug a loophole in state criminal law that was opened up when the Democratic majority at the legislature and Gov. Jared Polis repealed Colorado’s inactive death penalty in 2020. To its credit, it was the legislature itself that proposed this constitutional amendment, which resolves an unintended consequence of ending capital punishment.

It turned out the abolition of the death penalty let even suspects charged with first-degree murder be released on bail. The state Supreme Court ruled that because the state constitution allowed denial of bail only for capital offenses, the elimination of the death penalty meant there were no more capital offenses for which bail could be denied. Amendment I explicitly amends the constitution to restore judges’ ability to deny bail for first-degree murder charges.

Repairing such obvious collateral damage should be an easy YES for voters — but it’s also probably as far as the soft-on-crime majority at the legislature is willing to go in the crime fight. Which explains why the more far-reaching Proposition 128 had to be petitioned onto the ballot by citizens advocacy group Advance Colorado.

Proposition 128, aptly nicknamed “Truth in Sentencing,” would require the state’s most violent criminals to serve at least 85% of their sentences before becoming eligible for parole. Upon a third trip to prison for violent crimes — a list of offenses is specified in the proposal — inmates would be required to serve out their full sentences before becoming parole eligible.

If that doesn’t sound like a lot to ask of criminal convicts — to serve the sentence they actually were given in court — consider the alarming reality at present in our state’s justice system.

Felons typically can be considered for parole after they have served as little as half their sentence. That’s after subtracting “earned time” — credit given for participating in prison jobs, job training, literacy classes and assorted other activities that jailers want to encourage — as well as credit for the time spent in jail while the inmate was a defendant awaiting trial.

In that light, Proposition 128 would be a vast improvement and is long overdue. It’s not just about making criminals pay their debt to society — a worthy goal in its own right — but also about making our streets safer.

Similarly, Amendment I is about protecting the law abiding from the criminal element. Suspects accused of the most serious crime — wantonly taking the life of another — pose a high risk and imminent danger to the entire community. Bail shouldn’t even be on the table.

Rolling back Colorado’s crime wave will take a protracted and concerted effort, and it begins with common-sense measures like Proposition 128 and Amendment I. Vote YES on both.

As abundant data makes clear, Colorado’s terribly misguided “decarceration” policies — i.e., letting dangerous criminals freely walk the streets — have been accompanied by soaring crime. In a landmark report last year, the Common Sense Institute found that from 2010 to 2022, the state’s crime rate increased by 32% while the number of inmates in prison declined by 28.4%.

Go figure. Only our Legislature — at least, those members hypnotized by the criminal-coddling mantra of “justice reform” — would regard that as a coincidence.

Of course, the rest of Colorado has paid the price. More Coloradans of every race, ethnicity and income level, in wide-ranging communities, have become victims. Of burglary; of auto theft; of violence — you name it.

Two proposals on this fall’s statewide ballot — Amendment I and Proposition 128 — will see to it our state’s justice system keeps more dangerous criminal suspects as well as convicts behind bars longer. Both have earned The Gazette editorial board’s endorsement — and both warrant voters’ support when mail ballots are due Nov. 5.

Amendment I would plug a loophole in state criminal law that was opened up when the Democratic majority at the Legislature and Gov. Jared Polis repealed Colorado’s inactive death penalty in 2020. To its credit, it was the Legislature itself that proposed this constitutional amendment, which resolves an unintended consequence of ending capital punishment.

It turned out the abolition of the death penalty let even suspects charged with first-degree murder be released on bail. The state Supreme Court ruled that because the state constitution allowed denial of bail only for capital offenses, the elimination of the death penalty meant there were no more capital offenses for which bail could be denied. Amendment I explicitly amends the constitution to restore judges’ ability to deny bail for first-degree murder charges.

Repairing such obvious collateral damage should be an easy YES for voters — but it’s also probably as far as the soft-on-crime majority at the Legislature is willing to go in the crime fight. Which explains why the more far-reaching Proposition 128 had to be petitioned onto the ballot by citizens advocacy group Advance Colorado.

Proposition 128, aptly nicknamed “Truth in Sentencing,” would require the state’s most violent criminals to serve at least 85% of their sentences before becoming eligible for parole. Upon a third trip to prison for violent crimes — a list of offenses is specified in the proposal — inmates would be required to serve out their full sentences before becoming parole eligible.

If that doesn’t sound like a lot to ask of criminal convicts — to serve the sentence they actually were given in court — consider the alarming reality at present in our state’s justice system.

Felons typically can be considered for parole after they have served as little as half their sentence. That’s after subtracting “earned time” — credit given for participating in prison jobs, job training, literacy classes and assorted other activities that jailers want to encourage — as well as credit for the time spent in jail while the inmate was a defendant awaiting trial.

In that light, Proposition 128 would be a vast improvement and is long overdue. It’s not just about making criminals pay their debt to society — a worthy goal in its own right — but also about making our streets safer.

Similarly, Amendment I is about protecting the law abiding from the criminal element. Suspects accused of the most serious crime — wantonly taking the life of another — pose a high risk and imminent danger to the entire community. Bail shouldn’t even be on the table.

Rolling back Colorado’s crime wave will take a protracted and concerted effort, and it begins with common-sense measures like Proposition 128 and Amendment I. Vote YES on both.