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, January 28, 2009

Time For Sentencing Reform

Aurora Sentinel Opinion
Here’s your chance, Colorado, to make a real and long-lasting impact on reducing state spending and government waste.

Gov. Bill Ritter yesterday released his latest proposed budget cuts, a map to carving almost $1 billion out of state services. The move is needed as the economy unwinds and tax receipts diminish.

Many of the proposed cuts will be immediately painful, especially those affecting higher education and social services. Those reductions come at time when need will be at its greatest.

But cutting millions from the budget by closing two state prisons offers a unique opportunity.

It isn’t as if closing a prison in Rifle and another in Cañon City will mean hundreds of dangerous criminals are going to be let loose. Instead, they’ll simply be packed tighter in other prisons, making those facilities more dangerous, and making the likelihood that inmates are rehabilitated even less likely.

Instead, this is an opportunity for Colorado to become more realistic and practical with how it handles criminal sentencing, especially when it comes to drug-related crimes.

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

You dont know what your talking about when you refer to dangerous criminals being packed in other prisons by closing those two prisons.Thousands of inmates are less dangerous than the guards who keep them under lock and key. To get prison reform in Colorado the legislature must remove the present prison Administration and also do away with mandatory parole system. It is only designed to keep people in prison. djw

Anonymous said...

The answer to saving millions is easy if the administration would remove their blinders.... bring back discretionary parole, release non-violent offenders and end mandatory parole which is nothing more than a system setting offenders up for failure and return to the prison.

http://www.thepetitionsite.com/1/end-mandatory-parole-in-colorado-now

Anonymous said...

COME ON PEOPLE1 LETS DO IT! I SIGNED THE PETITION. IS CCJRC ON BOARD? HOW ABOUT CURE? IS THE UNITED CHURCH OF CHRIST AND OTHER RELIGOUS ORGANIZATIONS GOING TO JOIN THE FIGHT? TAKE ACTION NOW!
Plain Jane