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.


Friday, July 20, 2007

Settlement Reached in Lawsuit

The American Civil Liberties Union announced that a settlement has been reached in a lawsuit filed against a Denver police officer for having an Aurora woman arrested in a crime that she did not commit.

"It's a fair resolution," said Elisa Moran, cooperating attorney with the ACLU.

"It's good for the officer because he can put this behind him; it's great for the citizens of Denver because it changes policy; and it's good for Valerie (Rodriguez), because it makes sure that the policy is changed so that there would be protection for people," Moran added.

Under the settlement, which was reached two weeks ago during a meeting with a U.S. magistrate, the city will pay Rodriguez an undisclosed sum of money as well as her attorney costs.

The Denver Police Department also will change its procedures so that a suspect's identity is verified by a detective before an arrest warrant is issued.


Rocky Mountain News

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Why doesn't the ACLU take on the important issues like DOC not spending money on drug rehab, and spending it on more prisons.

Issues like the DOC convicts people twice for COPD "hearings", which ARE legal hearings for which there is no legal representation and no one is allowed to speak and the Parole Board continues to abuse their power, to extent of violating the US Constitution against double jeopardy.