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.


Saturday, August 04, 2007

Sentencing Project Coalition Launches Initiative

The Sentencing Project has teamed up with OSI, the Drug Policy Alliance and the ACLU to form a coalition to bring public awareness to the disparity issue surrounding powder cocaine vs. crack cocaine.


WASHINGTON, DC - A coalition of criminal justice advocacy organizations is launching "It's Not Fair. It's Not Working," a national effort to reform the 100-to-1 federal drug quantity ratio between crack and powder cocaine which results in excessive mandatory minimum sentences for possession of small amounts of crack cocaine. The initiative will officially launch at the National Association of Black Journalists 32nd Annual Convention, August 8-12, 2007 in Las Vegas, Nevada.

"All Americans want to live in drug-free communities. Unfortunately this law locks up smalltime drug users who need to be in treatment programs instead of prison," said Nkechi Taifa of the Open Society Institute (OSI). Other coalition partners include The Sentencing Project, American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), and the Drug Policy Alliance (DPA). According to Jesselyn McCurdy of the ACLU, "We chose to launch our initiative at the NABJ conference to highlight the racial impact of the federal crack cocaine law. These unfair mandatory sentences for crack cocaine have an especially high impact on communities of color. In 2005, blacks constituted over 80 percent of those sentenced under federal crack cocaine laws."
The Sentencing Project

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