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.


Friday, April 24, 2009

CCJRC Presents: House and Senate Judiciary

On Monday, April 27th, there will be a presentation before a joint session of the House and Senate Judiciary Committees on a new report issued by Justice Strategies that was commissioned by the Colorado Criminal Justice Reform Coalition. Justice Strategies is a nonpartisan, nonprofit research organization that has worked in many states.

This report, entitled “Reducing Recidivism: A Review of Effective State Initiatives,” profiles some of the innovative and effective strategies in reducing recidivism that have been implemented in several specific states.

Featured heavily in the report is the new model of community supervision developed under the leadership of Judith Sachwald when she was the director of the Maryland Division of Probation and Parole. This new model, which underwent a significant and independent evaluation, was demonstrated to have resulted in a 42% lower rate of re-arrest for new crimes as well as a lower rate for technical violations for people under community supervision.

What: Presentation before both the House and Senate Judiciary Committee

When: April 27, 2009, at 1:30 pm

Where: House Judiciary Committee Hearing Room 107 (1st floor of the state Capitol, 200 East Colfax, Denver)

The Colorado legislature also has audio broadcasts of proceedings. You can connect live to the House Judiciary Committee Hearing Room 107 via the following link:

http://www.state.co.us/gov_dir/leg_dir/gaweb/107.asx

Presenters include:

Judith Greene and Nestor Rios, Justice Strategies, authors of the report

Judith Sachwald, former director of the Maryland Division of Probation and Parole

Christie Donner, Executive Director, Colorado Criminal Justice Reform Coalition

You can download the report at www.ccjrc.org (on the home page under “What’s New”)