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, February 06, 2008

Private Prisons Demand Raise

I certainly hope that no one in the legislature is surprised by this. It was only a matter of time. We have to work twice as hard now to reduce our prison population. We can't focus on building new prisons.

DENVER - A private prison company is threatening to move all Colorado inmates out of one of its facilities if it doesn't get an increase in what the state pays to house them.

Corrections Corporation of America, which operates four of the state's five private prisons, including three in Southern Colorado, is demanding that the Colorado Legislature give it a 5 percent hike in the per diem it receives to house about 4,000 state inmates, Rep. Bernie Buescher, D-Grand Junction, said Tuesday.

Buescher, chairman of the Legislature's Joint Budget Committee, said the Tennessee-based company is using its weight to try to force more money out of the state.

"We've got a negotiating disadvantage," he said. "The choice we've got to make is to give them a provider rate increase that is three times what we're giving to all other providers, or to build hundreds of millions of dollars in additional prisons. We don't have that hundreds of millions of dollars, and they know it. The decisions that have been made over the last 12 years (in using private prisons) have put us in a very difficult negotiating position."


Pueblo Chieftain

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

Aw ... gee. I'm underwhelmed.

Let's see. No compensation for false imprisonment. No help, education or other humane efforts upon release from dungeons (animals are treated FAR better)! No concern for the welfare and well-being of inmates out of state and their family members. No concern except their OWN families and bank accounts!!!

Aw ... gosh.

Extortion. The judicial system in Colorado and CDOC apply a form of mental and emotional extortion to their own citizens, whether incarcerated or related.

WHAT GOES AROUND COMES AROUND. --- Guaranteed!

Aw ... golly.

DO NOT JUDGE LEST YE BE JUDGED.

Anonymous said...

come on fix this problem and let some of these people out,wow...simple fix to this problem...everyone in colorado doesnt need to be locked up ...come on this is crazy...

Anonymous said...

I agree. CDOC is reluctant to release inmates on the first parole date. Combine that with the excessive sentencing, what do you have? Can't have it both ways. Cost of living for those who profit will increase. "Public safety" is not the major concern with the government of Colorado. If that were true, there would be a firm dedication to reducing recidivism through rehabilitation. Humane measures. The public is *conned* into believing "public safety" is the priority. The record of the revolving door prison system proves otherwise.

Begin the economic, social and emotional healing by providing more education, less imprisonment. The prisons are geared to creating negativity. Imagine yourself without sunshine for years combined with the heavy-handed power structure. Imagine. --- Depression and loss of community involvement are the results.

WHAT "public safety" ? ? ?

Smokescreen.