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.


Tuesday, March 04, 2008

Tess Damm Faces Up To 25 Years

BOULDER A Lafayette teenager whose troubled relationship with her mother ended in a grisly murder and cover-up that ensnared four young lives pleaded guilty Monday to charges that could keep her in prison into her 40s.

Dressed in black with her long, blond hair down, Tess Damm fidgeted in court Monday and whispered "guilty" to murder charges in connection with the 2007 stabbing death of her mother, Linda Damm.

The plea agreement reached in the case could keep the 16-year-old behind bars up to 25 years.

"We think this is a good deal," said one of Tess Damm's uncles, Dennis Comeau.

Comeau was in court along with Linda Damm's brother, John Schueller, and a few of the teenager's friends. One girl waved at Tess Damm as she was being led out of the courtroom, her feet shackled but her hands free.

The gesture brought a grin to Tess Damm's face.

"You made her smile," another friend said.

Moments earlier, Tess Damm pleaded guilty, as a juvenile, to second-degree murder and, as an adult, to solicitation to commit second-degree murder.


Rocky Mountain News

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