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, November 05, 2010

Kin of preacher Marvin Booker sue for tapes, documents tied to death - The Denver Post

Kin of preacher Marvin Booker sue for tapes, documents tied to death - The Denver Post

The family of Marvin L. Booker, a street preacher who died in the Denver jail, has filed a lawsuit requesting videotapes and documents related to the death.

The suit, naming the city and county of Denver, the city's records coordinator, four sheriff's deputies and two sergeants, was originally filed in Denver District Court but was moved to federal court last week.

Booker, 56, died July 9 at the Van Cise-Simonet Detention Center. He stopped breathing while he was being restrained by five deputies. The Denver district attorney declined to file criminal charges against the deputies after reviewing the case.

The suit claims city officials offered the Booker family a one-time chance to look at a jail video of Booker's death, but their attorneys were not allowed to be present.

Eric Brown, spokesman for Mayor John Hickenlooper, said the city honored the family's request to see the video and extended the offer to their attorneys but only if they signed a confidentiality agreement about the contents.

The city wants to limit public disclosure of the information because an internal-affairs investigation is ongoing



Read more: Kin of preacher Marvin Booker sue for tapes, documents tied to death - The Denver Post http://www.denverpost.com/news/ci_16528463#ixzz14PlFUxyy

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