Tag: Criminal Justice
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PERSPECTIVE: Colorado’s Legion of Doom under the Gold Dome
As a kid growing up in Colorado, I loved watching the animated series The Super Friends, who fought against evil and for good as a part of the Justice League. Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman, Aquaman, and more. They were opposed by the Legion of Doom and its cast of villains, always fighting for wrong over right. Colorado has its…
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Colorado House committee advances Democratic bill to reduce penalties for ‘extreme indifference’ murder
Lawmakers on the Colorado House Judiciary Committee narrowly passed a bill proposing changes to the state’s sentencing guidelines for murders facilitated with “extreme indifference to the value of human life.” Colorado is one of several states with this type of charge, which applies when someone causes another person’s death by doing something they know is…
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Colorado becomes first state to ban arrests solely based on field drug test results
Colorado has become the first state in the nation to prohibit arrests based solely on colorimetric drug tests, also known as field drug tests. Last legislative session, lawmakers passed a bill establishing a working group to make recommendations regarding the use of colorimetric drug tests in criminal proceedings. Colorimetric drug tests were used in about half of all drug…
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Lawsuit alleges Polis administration is holding juveniles after court‑ordered release
Colorado officials are facing a lawsuit alleging the state kept minors in juvenile detention for days or months after judges ordered them released, largely because appropriate foster or community placements were not available. Two minors facing juvenile delinquency charges sued Gov. Jared Polis and the director of the state’s Department of Human Services, alleging the…
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PERSPECTIVE: Jailbreak — Legislative Dems look to empty Colorado’s prisons
Colorado Democrats are working feverishly this legislative session to increase the rate at which convicted felons are released from our prisons back onto our streets. They claim they must, because of overcrowding and cost. Do not fall for that lie. Colorado’s prison overcrowding “crisis” is the predictable, deliberate and unnecessary outcome of Democrat political decision-making that has long prioritized…
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Colorado Democrats propose changes to juvenile corrections, jail searches, municipal courts | Bills in brief
Colorado lawmakers introduce hundreds of bills each year. Bills in brief cuts through the noise by explaining which proposals matter, what’s at stake, and how decisions at the Capitol could affect everyday life across the state. Colorado lawmakers are advancing a slate of bills dealing with crime and corrections this session that would reshape how the state…
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‘Everything happens for a reason’: Veterans Trauma Court aims to help military members in times of need
Five years after he separated from the Army, Mark Bisset found himself in the Colorado criminal justice system. Bisset’s story started on April 9, 2022. According to past Gazette coverage of the case, the arrest stemmed from an alleged incident in which Bisset rode a four-wheeler to a property in the Indian Creek subdivision in…
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Gov. Jared Polis seeks $12M to house suspects declared incompetent
Colorado is planning to invest up to $12 million to fund additional commitment beds for individuals declared incompetent to proceed to trial, Gov. Jared Polis has announced. In a recent news conference on the state budget, Polis announced plans to request $8 million to $12 million in general fund dollars for additional civil commitment beds…
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PERSPECTIVE: The pendulum has swung too far
There is middle ground between mercy and justice. That is what Colorado’s leaders should search for in its criminal justice system. For more than a decade, Colorado has devoted extraordinary energy to reshaping its criminal justice system trying to meet this balance. Reformers, in good faith, have pushed to reduce incarceration, expand alternatives to…
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Restaurant nonprofit hiring incarcerated teens will open in historic Denver fire station
Café Momentum, a nonprofit restaurant founded in Dallas to hire youth who have gone through the justice system, is coming to Denver. The restaurant announced Monday it will begin construction early next year at the historic Curtis Park fire station on 3201 Curtis St. The nonprofit tapped Mike Waid, a former Parker mayor with experience…