Who is the Colorado Criminal Justice Reform Coalition?

Our mission is to reverse the trend of mass incarceration in Colorado. We are a coalition of nearly 7,000 individual members and over 100 faith and community organizations who have united to stop perpetual prison expansion in Colorado through policy and sentence reform.

Our chief areas of interest include drug policy reform, women in prison, racial injustice, the impact of incarceration on children and families, the problems associated with re-entry and stopping the practice of using private prisons in our state.

If you would like to be involved please go to our website and become a member.


Wednesday, April 04, 2007

Nevada - 1600 Prisoners Would Be Released

It's about the only viable short term fix that is out there for overburdened state prisons and it may be the only one that Colorado can look at to reduce our prison population as well.

About 1,600 inmates would qualify to be released from Nevada prisons if lawmakers approve a bill that doubles the time credits inmates receive for good behavior, a prison spokesman said Tuesday.

And, the sentences for about 2,000 other inmates on parole would expire under the measure, designed to offer some relief to the state's crowded prisons, said Fritz Scholtman, spokesman for the Department of Corrections.

"We could see a whole lot of people who would have to get out irrespective of whether they have a place to go," said Howard Skolnik, director for the department. The Assembly Select Committee on Corrections, Parole and Probation was hearing testimony about Assembly Bill 510. Skolnik told the committee that the department has not taken a position on the measure, but said as of Monday, the state was hosting 13,191 inmates, well above budget and space allotments. Nevada News

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Doubling good time would definately decrese the amout of time a person spends incarcerated, but you need to be aware that the vast majority of inmates have little trouble being "good" while incarcerated. They are away from the pressures and influences that get them into trouble on the outside. Once they leave prison, most of them go right back to the negative factors in their life that lead them to committ their original crimes and many times, that pressure leads them to committ a crime again.