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, July 23, 2008

Work For Prisoners

The Coloradoan - Brenda Rader Mross he only time I've ever been in jail was when I've drawn the Monopoly card demanding I go directly there. Despite a clean criminal record, I'm no saint. Guess you could say I'm an ordinary, average citizen, which at the same time is rather remarkable when you consider that today, more than one in every 100 Americans is behind bars.

How can a country set the standard for freedom in this world and also rank as its top incarcerator? Makes no sense to me, especially when much of what is truly criminal often goes unpunished. Take the abuse of funds by public officials, the latest offender being the Colorado Division of Parks and Outdoor Recreation cited last week for "egregious waste."

Never will I understand nor accept how accountability can be absent when, within every bureaucracy, exists stratums of titled stewards supposedly in charge. Is managing our money just a game to them?

When taxpayers are worried about where in God's name are we going to get the extra cash needed just to keep our markers on the game board, now is not the time to ask for more play money.

This is why I believe Larimer County commissioners should hold off on their proposed sales tax hike for jail programs: bad timing. Finally, though, a move in the right direction: something new does need to be done within the criminal justice system to handle minimum security offenders, and especially those with mental-health needs and/or addiction problems.

The Coloradoan

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

"How can a country set the standard for freedom in this world and also rank as its top incarcerator? Makes no sense to me,

**especially when much of what is truly criminal often goes unpunished**.

Take the abuse of funds by public officials, the latest offender being the Colorado Division of Parks and Outdoor Recreation cited last week for "egregious waste."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Good point... not to mention the $90M DOL 'spent' on administrative costs reimbursing Cold War workers (see: Rocky Flats) for radioactivity related illness for 32 people (1)

simple every day incompetence?

bduh...

(1) Rocky Mtn. News "Deadly Denial July 20, 2008 (asterisks added)

Anonymous said...

All those public officials in Colorado who do bad deeds, are protected by your states immunity laws. Change those laws and lock up those responsible for there bad deeds.The criminal justice system in Colorado is the worst.

Prime example is Denver, in the middle of a bad recession, taxing its people to build a new criminal justice building thats not needed.djw

Anonymous said...

The present city jail, as used, needs more capacity. They are holding 3 times more prisoners than it was designed. Prisoners are not issued clothes. My friend was held, without charges, for 19 days and had to wash his underwear in the sink.
It is presently located next to the court rooms for the convenience of the courts. Most other agencies bus inmates from a county facility outside of town. In our case, they should have expanded the county facility, including courts, on Smith and NOT build a new jail downtown.
Now, if they had done what is right, they would build a new medical detention facility with the extra help of the un-needed supermax $140 MILLION dollars borrowed against our grandchildren's income taxes, for drug and mental cases.