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.


Thursday, March 13, 2008

Republicans Ask For Probe In Rapid Rise In Parole Rates

Republican state lawmakers have requested a formal investigation into why Colorado’s parole rate spiked more than 80 percent between fiscal years 2006 and 2007.

“This alarming increase in prison releases raises important public-safety questions that should be scrutinized in an audit,” Republicans, including Sen. Josh Penry, R-Grand Junction, wrote last week to State Auditor Sally Symanski.

Penry said the public deserves to know if there has been some change in policy or budgetary reason for the spike in parole releases shown in Colorado Department of Corrections statistics.

The governor’s office and the chairman of the state’s parole board, David Michaud, have denied any fiscal or political pressure on the state’s parole decisions.


GJ Sentinel

3 comments:

Andrew Oh-Willeke said...

Who needs fiscal or political pressure or formal policy changes, when you simply have new appointees who have different values and standards?

Also, it is worth noting that Colorado's parole board is far less powerful than its counterparts in indeterminate sentencing states.

Gritsforbreakfast said...

Depending on what parole rates were before (and what kind of authority the parole board has in a determinate sentencing structure), an 80% increase may not be that much.

The more important question is, have increased parole rates led to increased RECIDIVISM rates? If the answer is "no," there's little reason to be "alarmed" at these numbers.

Similarly, are there distinctions between parole rates for low-level drug and property offenders and more dangerous, violent criminals? If the increased number of parolees are all in one or two nonviolent categories - e.g., drug offenders, DWI, etc. - it would have different public policy implications than if parole rates for murderers or sex offenders were on the rise.

An audit may well show that parole rates are actually too low, and the more frequent giving of parole is justifiable from both fiscal and safety perspectives.

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