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, July 24, 2008

....And The Survey Says...

What about exit surveys for parole, prison or jail?

Wednesday, July 23, 2008

Got an issue with how you were treated in court? Write it down.

That’s the only way officials with Mesa County’s 21st Judicial District will know how to rectify the situation.

Anyone and everyone who walks out of or stops by the Mesa County Justice Center at 125 N. Spruce St. during business hours today is invited to air their concerns on how they think the court system is doing. Volunteers, including judges and courthouse employees, are requesting folks to fill out the surveys, and the data will be used to measure public opinion about access and fairness within the court system.

Surveys ask participants about courthouse security, how they were treated while at the courthouse, if they understood what was happening in their cases and whether they were given clear information. Surveys are available in English and Spanish.

After receiving the results of last year’s survey, court officials complied with participants’ requests to lengthen hours at the court clerk’s office and improve the district’s Web site.

Mesa County District Judge Richard Gurley, who took a turn in the lobby of the justice center seeking survey participants, said people seem to be most unhappy with having to wait for long periods during busy docket days.

“I really think a lot of people think their voice isn’t heard,” he said. “The court system is in the business to serve the public to the best of its ability. The best way is to ask.”


Grand Junction Sentinel

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

This is a good thing, however the Colorado legislature needs to listen to citizens regarding, court house security, the justice system and especially how there allowing CDOC to operate as well as the attorney regulation board and the judges dicipline boards which do absolutly nothing. djw

Anonymous said...

Surveys are fine, but notice that the chief complaint was about the long waits and that was not addressed. The courts know about how long a case will last and they can break up a day into multiple time slots and limit the number of cases to be heard in a time period, just like other professions. They can also limit the participants on amounts of time to speak.
I agree that the DOC Parole Board and DOC need total judicial reforms. Holding "internal" court procedures without legal representation and double jeopardy are two major US Constitutional issues that are being violated each and every day by the DOC. mpc