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.


Monday, September 17, 2007

The Face Of the Juvenile Court Changes

Two of the three judges have retired, and half the staff has turned over in the past year. I wonder if this will raise the amount of commitments to juvenile facilities? Judges Wakefield and Weeks have been there since I was a juvenile and they had an intricate knowledge of kids and behavior. Their ability to work through social services and probation to find ways to keep kids on track has been highly effective from what I have seen.

Two of three Denver Juvenile Court judges retired this year, depriving the state's only full-time juvenile court of more than 60 years of institutional memory and experience.

Gov. Bill Ritter appointed Donna Schmalberger and David Brett Woods last week to replace Judges Dana Wakefield, who served for 27 years, and Orrelle Weeks, who was on the court for 34 years.

Presiding Judge Karen Ashby said at first it will be a challenge to maintain the continuity of the cases and keep up with the dockets, but she said change can be beneficial.

"The most difficult thing about losing two judges is the amount of experience and historical knowledge they have, and replacing that is impossible," she said. "As the new judges come on, we'll have to look at what is the next step for the court."

Ashby said a 50 percent staff turnover in the past year also makes this a particularly difficult time for Juvenile Court.

Juvenile Court handles delinquency cases for crimes committed by people under 18 and the protection of children from abusive or negligent guardians. On the criminal side, the number of cases has decreased slightly, but the retiring judges say the individual cases have become much more severe.

The caseload spread across the three judges is also quite large by comparison with their colleagues. State statistics show the three Juvenile Court judges handled 74 trials last year, while 20 judges covered 276 civil and criminal trials in District Court.

Weeks said the number of serious sexual assaults by minors on younger children has increased even when the overall cases have not.

But she said the court will recover from the retirements and turnover.

"It's a dramatic change," said Weeks, who fell ill in May but would have had to resign this month anyway when she turned 72. "It will survive very nicely."

"The court is high volume"

Barbara Shaklee, assistant director of the human services section at the Denver city attorney's office, said Juvenile Court judges have cases that often last much longer and require repeated hearings to check on a child's progress.

"The court is high volume," she said. "Criminal cases go to trial and sentencing and are over, but in dependency cases, it is more treatment-focused and go on for a period that isn't fixed."

Attorney Rod Borwick, who has had juvenile cases as a major part of his practice for the past 30 years, said the learning curve of the new judges could be a problem.

"They might not be as familiar with the procedures and terminology and the process where human services is involved," he said.

But Wakefield, who retired at the end of August, said the new judges are well-qualified. Schmalberger is an attorney at the Arapahoe County Department of Human Services, and Woods is a Denver magistrate.

"Not only do they have to be the upper tier, cream of the crop of the legal profession, but they have to have a significant knowledge of family matters," Wakefield said.

Denver District Attorney Mitch Morrissey said his office hasn't seen a major problem since the judges retired.

"Whoever is coming will have big shoes to fill," he said.

The Denver Post

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

1
秋天賞楓何處去酒店經紀,安排韓國旅遊有獨到心得的寶馬旅行社表示 酒店打工,秋遊韓國的重點就是美食、溫泉、還有雪嶽山美麗秋景。位於江原道 酒店兼差束草、襄陽、麟蹄一帶的雪嶽山,是韓國最早楓葉轉紅的地方,也由於雪嶽山一年四季都有奇岩絕璧 酒店兼職
、溪谷瀑布等美景,吸引了許多觀光客前來旅遊。一到 酒店工作秋天,以雪嶽山的最高峰~大青峰(1,708公尺)為首,雪嶽山各主要登山路線沿途的楓葉把山染 酒店上班成一片紅色的圖畫,美不勝收。


標榜「全程無自費」,相當受旅客歡 寒假打工迎,而且價格相當平易近人,只要14500元即可成行。另外還有全程五星酒店、海陸空版的「戀戀秋濟^海陸空濟州4日」 暑假打工,同樣獨家全程無自費!緊張刺激360度噴射快艇(價值韓幣25000元)、飛天熱氣球(價值韓幣25000元) 酒店PT、海水溫泉汗蒸幕(價值韓幣8000元) 禮服酒店等,海、陸、空讓您玩的盡興也只要13900元!現在就去體驗韓國秋天的美景吧~


驚險摩托車秀HAPPY TOWN 兼差價值韓幣12000元):表演者以機車為主,靈活的玩弄, 打工全世界只有兩組特技人員能做的高難度表演,在一個小時的演出中還有空中飛人﹑民俗雜技和大車輪 台北酒店經紀等表演,保證讓您大呼過隱,不虛此行喝花酒 特技令人嘖嘖稱奇。而享譽全球的國寶級亂打秀(價值韓幣45000元),是韓國人獨創的敲擊樂表演,故事的場景是發生在廚房中,因此所謂的樂器就是就地以鍋碗等廚房交際應酬 用具敲 打出澎湃的節奏。在沒有冷場的過程裡,不需要語言您就可以清楚知道劇情粉味的發展,台上演員還會與台下觀眾互動演出,整場歡笑不斷。


去過的旅客都津津樂道的酒店喝酒韓文化生活體驗營」,讓您親手體驗泡菜製作,穿著傳統韓服更能體驗韓國婦女的優雅!另外,精緻好吃的韓國美食當然也不能 酒店不嚐:鮑魚太極人蔘雞、長壽麵、、黑毛豬烤肉、還有獨家特色餐「?花魚定食+五花肉+鐵板馬肉+?料」「生猛海鮮大餐」等等讓人食指大動。酒店經紀酒店經紀酒店兼差酒店打工酒店上班酒店經紀酒店小姐酒店打工酒店兼差 酒店工作> 彩妝指甲彩繪口紅彩妝馬甲美白