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, February 02, 2010

Designs for new Colorado Justice Center released - The Denver Post

Designs for new Colorado Justice Center released - The Denver Post

Preliminary designs of the state's new Justice Center were released Monday, showing a neoclassical, four-story courtroom building linked to a 12-story office building.

The 150,000-square-foot courtroom building will have a curved pedestrian entrance facing 14th Avenue.

Visitors will enter through a four-column portico into a glass-domed atrium, with glass walls facing northeast for a view of the state Capitol.

"It's a grand space with a sense of dignity, acknowledging the relationship of the judicial to the executive and legislative branches in the statehouse," said architect Martin Eiss, a key member of the design team at Fentress Architects.

Just south of the courtroom building will sit a 12-story judicial office building, done in the same colors and materials as the courthouse but with more of an efficient, boxy feeling with fewer details and smaller windows.

The intent is to have both buildings certified as LEED- Gold a rating given to buildings that meet new criteria for energy efficiency and smaller impact on the environment. Gold is the third highest of four ratings.

The ambitious plan to centralize and modernize the state's judicial branch has been six years in the making. It will involve nearly two full city blocks.

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