Think Outside the Cage

The State Of Sentencing

2012-01-27T06:30:00.000-07:00

Sentencing Project he Bureau of Justice Statistics recently reported the number of people in prison declined in 2010 for the first time since 1972; state and federal prison populations fell by more than 9,200 between 2009 and 2010, a decline of 0.6%. Currently, more than 7.1 million men and women are under some form of correctional supervision. The majority of persons – 4.8 million – under

Care for Aging Inmates Puts Strain on Prisons

2012-01-27T06:00:00.000-07:00

Wall Street Journal Prison systems in the U.S. have an aging problem, one that has nothing to do with steel bars and cement walls. The fastest-growing population in federal and state prisons are those 55 and older, a trend that is forcing cash-strapped local governments to wrestle with the growing cost of caring for the aging inmates. Some experts are pushing states to take the controversial

GED's in jail: A Way to Be A Better Person

2012-01-27T05:58:00.002-07:00

Anthony Harvey dropped out of eighth grade and went on to become an established small-business owner in Fort Collins. But it wasn't until he was charged with running one of Northern Colorado's largest cocaine-trafficking operations that he got his GED, or General Educational Development, diploma. "The rug's been pulled out from under my feet," said Harvey, 35, of Fort Collins, adding that

The Gray Box

2012-01-26T10:55:00.000-07:00

The Gray Box: An investigative look at solitary confinementA few weeks ago, on the fifteenth anniversary of his first day in prison, Osiel Rodriguez set about cleaning the 87 square feet he inhabits at ADX, a federal mass isolation facility in Colorado. “I got it in my head to destroy all my photographs,” he writes in a letter to me. “I spent some five hours ripping each one to pieces. No one

Losing Tolerance over Zero Tolerance Policies

2012-01-24T07:44:00.002-07:00

the Denver Post Few events have shaped school discipline policies the way the 1999 Columbine High School massacre has — not just in Colorado but around the nation. Zero tolerance became a catchphrase for "doing-everything-possible-to-make-sure-this-never-happens-again." And we get that. Keeping children safe is the very least we should expect of our schools. It has become apparent, however

Colorado Has Dramatically Reduced Prisoner Segregation

2012-01-20T21:55:00.002-07:00

The Denver Post The Department of Corrections is transferring 321 inmates out of administrative segregation following a new directive by the department's executive director. Executive Director Tom Clements acknowledged that the state's prisons relied too heavily on administrative segregation. He said one of the reasons it should be reduced is because 97 percent of all offenders will some

Arts Program Aims to Keep DPS Students With Issues in School

2012-01-20T07:25:00.000-07:00

The Denver Post About 18 students bounced between nervousness and overwhelming excitement as they showed off their work during a biannual art show Thursday. "It just lets you have fun. It makes you feel proud," said 10-year-old Noemi as she showed off her artwork: a pirate spaceship in which an alien travels the galaxies rescuing princesses. The alien art projects encompasses the two

Miss America

2012-01-19T16:01:00.000-07:00

From Jeralyn over at Talk Left: The newly crowned Miss America, Laura Kaeppeler aka Ms. Wisconsin, has a special cause: Children of the Incarcerated. At one time, she was one. Check out her organization, Circles of Support. As to her post-Miss America plans, her website says in addition to her mentoring work, she will pursue a degree in Family and Child Advocacy Law. She also owns a music

Private Prisons Recipe For Success: More Lobbying Less Security

2012-01-14T05:59:00.000-07:00

Westword The use of private prisons by states and the federal government continues to increase, yielding billions in annual revenues for two dominant companies in the industry -- despite a lack of solid research that America's experiment with for-profit incarceration actually saves taxpayers money in the long run. A new report by The Sentencing Project, "Too Good to Be True: Private

2012-01-13T12:44:00.002-07:00

Created by: Public Administration

To Good To Be True: Private Prisons in America

2012-01-13T08:22:00.002-07:00

Dear Friends,I'm pleased to share with you a new report from The Sentencing Project, Too Good to be True: Private Prisons in America. The report details the history of private prisons in America, documents the increase in their use, and examines their purported benefits.Among the report's major findings:• From 1999 to 2010 the use of private prisons increased by 40 percent at the state

Problem of Proportion

2012-01-12T20:28:00.000-07:00

Colorado Springs Independent Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.'s dream didn't include more black men being in prison than in college. But nearly 50 years after his famous "I Have a Dream" speech, that's the reality. In the past few decades, blacks and Hispanics have become grossly overrepresented in the nation's prison population. In fact, of the 2.3 million people incarcerated nationwide, 60 percent

Denver pays $1.34 million to settle police brutality cases

2012-01-12T20:02:00.000-07:00

The Denver Post Denver paid $1.34 million in 2011 to settle lawsuits that alleged police used excessive force, only the second year since 2004 that the total substantially topped $1 million. Last year also accounted for the largest payout since 2004, when the city settled the fatal shooting of Paul Childs, a mentally disabled teen who died after confronting an office with a knife. As in

ACLU Renews Call for Federal Inquiry of Police

2012-01-12T05:27:00.000-07:00

The Denver Post The American Civil Liberties Union on Wednesday renewed its call for a federal investigation of the Denver Police Department's use of force after outgoing law enforcement watchdog Richard Rosenthal said the department is incapable of investigating itself. "We will be in communication" with the U.S. Department of Justice Civil Rights Division, said Mark Silverstein, legal

Paying a Price, Long After the Crime

2012-01-11T11:54:00.003-07:00

The New York Times IN 2010, the Chicago Public Schools declined to hire Darrell Langdon for a job as a boiler-room engineer, because he had been convicted of possessing a half-gram of cocaine in 1985, a felony for which he received probation. It didn’t matter that Mr. Langdon, a single parent of two sons, had been clean since 1988 and hadn’t run into further trouble with the law. Only after

Severe Prison Conditions Greet Young Offenders Serving Life

2012-01-11T06:17:00.002-07:00

The Digital Journal More than 2,500 youth offenders serving life without parole sentences in United States adult prisons experience conditions violating basic human rights, including denied access to education, isolationism, rape, and assault, according to a new report. A new 47-page report by Human Rights Watch, Against All Odds: Prison Conditions for Youth Offenders Serving Life without

Corrections Sentencing 2020

2012-01-10T10:30:00.000-07:00

We'd like to welcome back Michael Connelly (former blogmaster of Corrections Sentencing), his new blog is called Corrections Sentencing 2020. (round of applause). You can find Corrections Sentencing 2020 on our blogroll to the left. From CS2020 Welcome to Our New Website and Home Thank you for visiting our new website and home. We hope you will make it a regular stop, hopefully even bestow

The Random Horror of the Death Penalty

2012-01-09T05:34:00.000-07:00

The New York Times The Supreme Court has not banned capital punishment, as it should, but it has long held that the death penalty is unconstitutional if randomly imposed on a handful of people. An important new study based on capital cases in Connecticut provides powerful evidence that death sentences are haphazardly meted out, with virtually no connection to the heinousness of the crime.

Prison Record is a Ball and Chain

2012-01-08T09:25:00.002-07:00

The Denver Post Ronald Sena's troubles started with heroin, which led him to thievery and shoplifting and larceny, which led him to prison. He was 19 the first time he went in. For much of the next 20 years, he made regular use of the revolving door, accumulating a lengthy record of nonviolent crime. That was all many years ago, but I'm laying it out first because Sena's past refuses to

Wrongfully Jailed: Records Detail More Than 500 Mistaken Identity Arrests

2012-01-08T07:20:00.000-07:00

The Denver Post More than 500 people were wrongly imprisoned in Denver's jails over seven years, with some spending weeks incarcerated or pleading guilty to crimes they did not commit before authorities realized they nabbed the wrong person, a federal court filing shows. Civil-rights lawyers suing the city and county of Denver assert the documented mistaken-identity arrests "are the tip of

Fort Lyon closure locks in tough choices

2012-01-04T05:49:00.002-07:00

The Denver Post LAS ANIMAS — What if the most dire predictions prove true? What if closing the Fort Lyon Correctional Facility prompts 10 percent of Bent County's workforce to move, triggering an economic tsunami in the Arkansas River Valley? Cindy Miller, a corrections officer at the prison facing $1,000-a-month gasoline bills for her and her husband to transfer to new jobs at a different

Presumed Guilty

2012-01-03T10:18:00.000-07:00

5280 At first glance, his home looks like your typical high-tech bachelor pad. In the living room he’s got a huge, flat-screen Sony TV with Bose surround-sound speakers and a bookcase of DVDs, including the entire set of Police Academy movies. He can’t get enough of the farcical cop flicks. His home-office desk features a massive computer monitor with an icon for the video game Call of Duty:

Pilot Program In MI for Ad Seg

2012-01-01T08:00:00.002-07:00

Detroit Free Press Alger thinks outside the prison boxMUNISING -- More than 400 miles from Detroit, Alger Correctional Facility is one of those prisons "across the bridge" many inmates dread because its remote location often means few or no visits from friends and family. It's also a prison with 176 segregation cells in two housing units named -- God knows why -- "Aspen" and "Birch." Even by

Top Ten Corrections Resolutions for 2012

2011-12-28T07:02:00.000-07:00

Corrections One By Robert Hood As 2011 comes to an end, it is time to make plans for 2012. Many people are thinking of resolutions for the New Year. Each year millions of adults resolve to "get in shape" or "lose weight." While the effort to adopt resolutions shows an optimistic sense of good intent personally, the same idea can be applied to your profession as a corrections officer. As we

Addicts turned Christmas Angels deliver presents

2011-12-25T08:40:00.000-07:00

The Denver Post The Garcia family's angels appeared in shirts and ties, singing "Feliz Navidad" as they approached the house on Umatilla Street. Santa drove up behind them pulling a trailer packed with so many presents, it took the more than 30 men several minutes to carry everything inside the Denver home. Taking it all in, Cristobal Garcia, 11, leaned against his aunt. "This is the best

Season's Greetings

2011-12-22T10:23:00.000-07:00

On behalf of the CCJRC family, we hope you and yours are well. The year-end brings no greater pleasure than the opportunity to express to you season's greetings and good wishes. Hoping your holidays and new year are filled with happiness, peace and prosperity. As always, thank you for your continued support of CCJRC. Graciously, Christie, Ellen, John, and Pam

GPS Helps Substance Abuser Find Sobriety

2011-12-22T05:42:00.000-07:00

The Denver Post James Ness is carrying around a GPS device he hopes will tell him where not to go. A recovering drug and alcohol abuser in court-ordered counseling, Ness is equipped with a smartphone that warns him when he's getting near old haunts that fueled his addictions: A north Denver bar. An apartment building packed with hard-partying friends. Enough risky points in Aurora to make

The Law Adds to the Harm

2011-12-20T13:49:00.000-07:00

NY Times The appearance of any new study indicating an increase in marijuana use by youth is always a prelude to a renewed government surge in America’s war on drugs. But let’s be realistic about our options. It's not as though tough enforcement keeps kids away from marijuana. Usage goes up and down no matter what we do. By keeping marijuana illegal, we nudge youngsters into contact

Aurora officials looking for a way out of Adams County jail limits - Aurora Sentinel: News

2011-12-20T09:03:00.000-07:00

Aurora officials looking for a way out of Adams County jail limits - Aurora Sentinel: News: AURORA | Aurora lawmakers on Monday continued to push backagainst an Adams County plan to cap the number of jail inmates andlimit how many c…

Guard and inmate killed in rollover of prison van

2011-12-19T14:21:00.000-07:00

The Denver Post A van transporting prisoners rolled over on Interstate 70 between Genoa and Limon this morning, killing one prisoner and one guard. The van, operated by the Corrections Corporation of America, was carrying nine prisoners and two guards from the Kit Carson Correctional Facility in Burlington, which is operated by CCA, to the state prison in Limon when the accident occured.

The War on Drug Addicts--And Everyone Else

2011-12-19T13:58:00.000-07:00

Truthout When Congressional Republicans rammed through their disastrous consolidated spending bill on Friday, subsidizing abstinence-only education and granting $2 billion per week for the war in Afghanistan, they also locked in a regressive funding cut that would endanger the lives of many thousands of Americans. The bill reinstates a ban on federal funding for needle exchange programs -

Nearly a third of Americans are arrested by age 23

2011-12-19T08:33:00.002-07:00

NY Times By age 23, almost a third of Americans have been arrested for a crime, according to a new study that researchers say is a measure of growing exposure to the criminal justice system in everyday life. The study, the first since the 1960s to look at the arrest histories of a national sample of adolescents and young adults over time, found that 30.2 percent of the 23-year-olds

The Looming Death of the Death Penalty - The Atlantic

2011-12-15T07:45:00.000-07:00

The Looming Death of the Death Penalty - The AtlanticThe year-end report by the folks at the Death Penalty Information Center tell more and more Americans what they already know in their hearts to be true: The death penalty experiment is failing yet again. Undermined by overzealous prosecutors, a hobby-horse for incurious politicians, too often taken unseriously by jurors and witnesses,

Murders of inmates in Sterling, spur state review

2011-12-15T06:07:00.002-07:00

The Denver Post Department of Corrections officials will meet in Sterling today to try to understand why four inmates have been killed at the prison there in the past two years. DOC executive director Tom Clements said he is meeting with Sterling Correctional Facility warden Kevin Milyard to be debriefed on each of the cases. "We're looking at cell assignment protocols," Clements said. "We

Audit Takes Issue with Juvenile Safety in Colorado Facilities

2011-12-13T10:39:00.002-07:00

The Denver Post The state's youth corrections facilities aren't sufficiently ensuring the safety of juvenile offenders and, in many cases, aren't doing enough to prevent potential sexual aggressors and victims from being assigned to the same sleeping quarters. That was one of several problems identified in a state audit released Monday of youth corrections facilities. The audit also found

Denver New Police Chief Vows To Make Good Department Great

2011-12-13T06:40:00.000-07:00

The Denver Post Denver's new police chief, Robert White, took the oath of office Monday, vowing to usher in a new era of trust and respect between police and a community stunned by several high-profile brutality cases. White, who left the same job in Louisville, Ky., to come to Denver, said he plans to build on work done by his predecessor, Gerry Whitman, who held the job for 12 years.

New Police Chief Sworn In

2011-12-12T12:32:00.000-07:00

The Denver Post Robert White, who left his job as chief of the Louisville, Ky., police department was sworn in late Monday morning to head Denver's 1,400 member police force. White will work to change the culture among officers who, some say, refuse to report when colleagues brutalize civilians, he said this morning. He is taking over a department that has been troubled by a string of

Arapahoe Sheriff creates new task force for meth-for-sex tips

2011-12-08T17:38:00.000-07:00

The Denver Post Arapahoe County Sheriff Grayson Robinson has created a 22-member task force to handle the expanding investigation into former Sheriff Patrick Sullivan, who was arrested last week for exchanging methamphetamine for sex. The task force will include members of multiple jurisdictions. A 24-hour hotline also will be opened to gather tips from the public. The expanded size of the

State Mental Health System Still Underfunded but Slowly Getting Better

2011-12-07T18:40:00.000-07:00

The Denver Post Colorado's notoriously underfunded and fragmented mental-health-care system still has far to go, but it has improved substantially over the past decade, according to a year-long assessment. "The Status of Behavioral Health Care in Colorado" commissioned by the Colorado Health Foundation, Caring for Colorado Foundation, The Colorado Trust and The Denver Foundation, was

Colorado Prisons' Solitary Problem

2011-12-04T21:27:00.000-07:00

The Denver Post Colorado keeps a distressingly high number of its prisoners in solitary confinement — seven times the national average. Also troubling is that more than one in five are mentally ill. The Colorado Department of Corrections seems poised to do something about this situation, and we're glad to see it. However, the budgetary reality of public policy in Colorado makes us wonder

In Summit County, Drug County Gets Postive Results

2011-12-04T21:25:00.000-07:00

The Denver Post Colorado's young people rank among the top 10 states with the highest rates of illicit drug use in the past month, cocaine use in the last year, and have the least perception of risk associated with having five or more drinks once or twice a week. Leading the charge in Colorado, particularly during the months between November and April, is Summit County. Each ski season,

Oregon Governor Will Allow No More Executions | Equal Justice Initiative

2011-12-02T09:55:00.000-07:00

Oregon Governor Will Allow No More Executions | Equal Justice InitiativeOregon Governor John Kitzhaber said this week that he will halt the execution of a death row inmate scheduled for next month and will allow no more executions in the state during his term. “It is time for Oregon to consider a different approach,” Governor Kitzhaber told reporters. “I refuse to be a part of this

Colorado's Death Penalty is Beyond It's Expiration Date

2011-11-30T15:45:00.000-07:00

Westword When you've spent close to three decades as one of America's leading opponents of capital punishment, you develop an understanding of what states truly have the will to execute their condemned. And Sister Helen Prejean, the Dead Man Walking author who's in Aurora tonight for a public talk on vengeance, forgiveness and reconciliation, has reason to believe that the death penalty may

Former Arapahoe Sheriff Arrested for Meth Dealing Charges

2011-11-30T09:00:00.002-07:00

The Denver Post Former Arapahoe County Sheriff Patrick Sullivan was arrested Tuesday on suspicion of trying to trade drugs to a man for sex, as investigators monitored the deal. Drug task-force officers were "visually monitoring" the deal when the 68-year-old former national Sheriff of the Year delivered methamphetamine to an Aurora home and sought sex in return, said current Arapahoe

Solitary Confinement in Colorado Prisons

2011-11-30T08:59:00.000-07:00

Huffington Post Colorado could "significantly reduce" the unusually high percentage of its prison inmates held in long-term solitary confinement by instituting several low-cost reforms, corrections experts said in a state-ordered report released last week. Nearly 7 percent of Colorado state prisoners are held in long-term solitary confinement, compared to a national average of 1-2 percent.

Report on Colorado prisons recommends restricting inmate isolation

2011-11-27T18:25:00.002-07:00

The Denver Post A growing number of mentally ill inmates in Colorado are held in isolation cells and 40 percent of segregated inmates are released directly to the streets without transitional programming, experts found. A report recently completed by outside consultants recommended that the Colorado Department of Corrections restrict how many inmates go to isolation and cycle them faster

Second Chance for Teen Killers

2011-11-26T16:19:00.002-07:00

The Denver Post The message arrived in my e-mail box late on a Friday night. It was an update from Curt Jensen, a good friend and a proud father. Curt's son, Erik, is entering his junior year in college studying pre-medicine. He is a prolific writer, and will have soon completed his fifth book in an adventure fantasy series. He's engaged to be married, and a leader in efforts to help

University of Denver clinic has students acting as attorneys for prisoners

2011-11-26T05:32:00.000-07:00

The Denver Post The first time Keenan Jones, an aspiring attorney, met with a client, it involved a bit of travel. Down 110 miles of Interstate 25, past tall gates fringed in razor wire, through a rigorous security screening and into a concrete room, where, behind a glass partition, sat a man just about no attorney in the country wanted to represent. His name is Mohammed Saleh. He was

Inmate found dead in cell at Sterling prison

2011-11-25T19:48:00.000-07:00

The Denver Post Prison officials at Sterling Correctional Facility are holding an inmate for investigation in the suspicious death of another inmate. The victim's body was found in his cell at 4:15 a.m., said Katherine Sanguinetti, spokeswoman for the Colorado Department of Corrections. The names of the victim and the suspect have not been released. The cell was in a minimum security

The Big Bitch

2011-11-23T13:53:00.000-07:00

Westword The Big BitchThe secret behind long sentences handed out to repeat offenders in the 18th Judicial District A A A Comments (1) By Alan Prendergast Tuesday, Nov 22 2011 On the Saturday before Easter 2010, Dennis Pauls got it into his head to give his ex-wife a plant. It was an Easter lily, a Christian symbol of suffering and renewal; tradition says white lilies bloomed

Boulder judge denies new trial for mother of fatally injured infant

2011-11-21T20:41:00.000-07:00

The Denver Post A Boulder judge this afternoon denied Molly Midyette a new trial on her role in the death of her 10-week-old son in 2006. "Ms. Midyette had a full and fair trial in December 2008, and the public should know that Colorado trial procedures are very fair to a defendant in a criminal case," Boulder County District Attorney Stan Garnett told the Boulder Daily Camera. During a

Lawyer accuses Denver cops of lying to protect themselves

2011-11-21T20:36:00.000-07:00

The Denver Post Ex-Denver police officer Charles Porter, who was fired for stomping a 16 year-old boy, said Monday that he didn't know how the teen was hurt and that he told another cop to report any force used in the arrest. Nathan Chambers, Porter's lawyer, said that the second officer, Cameron Moerman, and another, Luis Rivera, lied when they blamed Porter for beating the teen. Porter,

Solitary Confinement: Isolating Prisoners if Overused in Colorado

2011-11-20T06:45:00.000-07:00

Westword A study by researchers at the National Institute of Corrections has found that Colorado's approach to locking down its most unruly prisoners in 23-hour-a-day isolation is "basically sound" -- but could be used a lot less. Instead, even as the state's prison population is declining slightly, the use of "administrative segregation," or solitary confinement, continues to increase.

Breakthrough in US Drug Sentencing Reform

2011-11-18T08:50:00.000-07:00

The Sentencing Project In August 2010 U.S. President Barack Obama signed into law the Fair Sentencing Act, legislation that limits the harsh punishments that were enacted during the 1980s for lowlevel crack cocaine offenses. At the Oval Office signing ceremony Obama was joined by Democratic and Republican congressional leaders who had championed reform. That day the President’s press secretary,

Hate Crimes Down Thirty Percent in Colorado

2011-11-15T05:50:00.000-07:00

The Denver Post Reported hate crimes in Colorado fell almost 30 percent between 2009 and 2010, according to a national report released by the FBI today. Colorado law enforcement agencies reported 154 hate crimes last year, down from 218 a year earlier. In 2008, 164 bias-motivated offenses were logged across the state. The annual accounting is required by the federal Hate Crimes Statistics

Experts Say NY City Police Dept. Isn't Policing Itself

2011-11-15T05:48:00.000-07:00

NY Times Seven narcotics investigators are convicted of planting drugs on people to meet arrest quotas. Eight current and former patrol officers are charged with smuggling guns into the state. Another is charged with making a false arrest, apparently as a favor for his cousin. Three more are convicted of robbing a perfume warehouse. All these cases involved New York City

A Special Kind Of Justice: Can Veterans Courts Keep Former Soldiers Out of Jail

2011-11-13T06:57:00.000-07:00

No matter whom you talk to, U.S. prisons are described as overcrowded and penitentiary systems are overtaxed. Enter the collaborative court system, a series of court programs around the country aimed at keeping certain types of prisoners from entering the prison population to begin with. You may have heard the phrase "drug courts," but special courts for military veterans are also on the

Colorado Bill Would Give Schools More Discretion

2011-11-13T06:54:00.000-07:00

The Denver Post Educators would have more discretion over expulsions and police referrals under legislation that might be introduced in the 2012 session. Over the summer, a state task force that included both victim advocates and state legislators developed recommendations to end a trend some experts describe as the "school-to- prison pipeline." In the past decade, Colorado schools made

Youth in Foster Care, Juvenile Justice Systems, Struggle After Age 18.

2011-11-11T09:56:00.002-07:00

Foundation center Youth in foster care and on probation in Los Angeles County are faring poorly under the current system and face severe challenges in education, employment, health, mental health, and earnings potential, a study funded by the Conrad N. Hilton Foundation finds. Led by Dennis P. Culhane, a professor of social policy at the University of Pennsylvania, the study, Young Adult

Expert will help sort denver police use of force documents

2011-11-10T18:46:00.000-07:00

the Denver Post So many police internal affairs files and use of force documents have been turned over to lawyers suing the Denver Police Department for alleged police brutality that a federal judge today decided to appoint a special master to help coordinate discovery. "There is an enormous amount of information coming out of the city," said David Lane, a lawyer representing James Moore.

Three Steps Forward and A Couple Steps Back For Drug Reform

2011-11-08T11:40:00.000-07:00

Huff Post and podcast In 2010, Colorado lawmakers took a meaningful step towards drug law reform by passing House Bill 1352, which nibbles at the edges of the disastrous War on Drugs by amending some of Colorado's controlled substance statutes (see my HuffPost piece on HB 1352). And while lawmakers continued that reform momentum this year, those efforts were tempered by other bills that

Crack cocaine offenders sentences reduced under new federal rules

2011-11-08T05:27:00.000-07:00

The Denver Post\ It's been five years since Kira Mackey was able to visit her brother without going through security screening. Five years since she could talk to him without someone in uniform standing nearby. But that changed Friday, when Mackey's brother, Mario, walked out of federal prison in Fort Worth, Texas, as one of hundreds of people released nationwide in the past week after their

Reefer Madness

2011-11-07T09:46:00.002-07:00

New York Times MARIJUANA is now legal under state law for medical purposes in 16 states and the District of Columbia, encompassing nearly one-third of the American population. More than 1,000 dispensaries provide medical marijuana; many are well regulated by state and local law and pay substantial taxes. But though more than 70 percent of Americans support legalizing medical marijuana, any

Sentencing Shift Gives New Leverage to Prosecutors

2011-11-07T09:45:00.000-07:00

The New York Times By RICHARD A. OPPEL Jr.GAINESVILLE, Fla. — After decades of new laws to toughen sentencing for criminals, prosecutors have gained greater leverage to extract guilty pleas from defendants and reduce the number of cases that go to trial, often by using the threat of more serious charges with mandatory sentences or other harsher penalties. Some experts say the process

DOC Monthly Population -- October 2011

2011-11-05T06:27:00.001-06:00

Colorado Department of Corrections Monthly Population Colorado Department of Corrections Dashboard Measures September

The Appeal of the Death Penalty

2011-11-03T16:18:00.000-06:00

the Atlantic Monthly As an Orange County jury debated in 2009 whether the white supremacist Billy Joe Johnson should live or die for murdering a fellow gang member, he asked to be sent to death row. Not because he felt any sudden remorse for the five people he’d killed over the years—“I commit crimes when people piss me off,” he once explained, matter-of-factly—but because Johnson believed

Chart: One Year of Prison Costs More Than One Year at Princeton - The Atlantic

2011-11-03T16:00:00.002-06:00

Chart: One Year of Prison Costs More Than One Year at Princeton - The AtlanticOne year at Princeton University: $37,000. One year at a New Jersey state prison: $44,000. Prison and college "are the two most divergent paths one can take in life," Joseph Staten, an info-graphic researcher with Public Administration, says. Whereas one is a positive experience that increases lifetime earning

Ft. Collins MMJ supporters may seek another election

2011-11-03T12:08:00.000-06:00

The Coloradoan Opponents of a ban on medical marijuana businesses in Fort Collins narrowed the gap but couldn't overcome the lead supporters had in Tuesday's election. Final unofficial re-sults released Wednes-day afternoon by the Larimer County Clerk's Office showed Question 300 - which would ban medical marijuana dispensaries, grow operations and manufacturers of marijuana-infused

Colorado Supreme Court removes attorney-client confidentiality from children in some cases

2011-11-03T12:03:00.000-06:00

the Denver Post In a decision that child advocates are calling landmark, the Colorado Supreme Court has ruled that conversations between children and the attorneys who represent them in custody and neglect cases are not protected by attorney-client privilege. The decision, which stems from a 2005 case involving alleged sexual assault on a child, has divided normally unified children's

A Duty Of Effective Counsel

2011-11-01T12:33:00.000-06:00

New York Times The vast majority of criminal cases are resolved by plea bargains: 94 percent in state courts, 97 percent in federal. For defendants, accepting a prosecutor’s plea deal is less risky than going to trial and possibly being convicted on a more serious charge with a stiffer sentence. Defendants offered plea deals need effective counsel to ensure that their decisions are

Cities Propose Other Ways than Adams County Capping Jail

2011-10-31T05:50:00.000-06:00

The Denver Post BRIGHTON — The Adams County Detention Center — in an effort to dissuade cities from sending petty criminals to jail and to help fill a budget gap — on Jan. 1 plans to impose a cap on the number of prisoners it will accept. The "soft cap" calls for each city to get a certain number of beds on any one day at the county jail. Under the plan, if a city exceeds its allotted beds,

Choice of White is Praised Inside and Outside of the Department

2011-10-30T07:43:00.000-06:00

The Denver Post Mayor Michael Hancock's selection of Louisville Police Chief Robert C. White to take over the Denver Police Department drew applause from many, although some were disappointed that he was plucked from outside Denver. White, 59, will be the city's first African-American chief and the first to be chosen from outside the department in 50 years. "I have always known (Hancock) to

Denver Announces New Police Chief From Louisville

2011-10-30T07:38:00.000-06:00

The Denver Post Robert White was chosen to be Denver's new police chief with a belief that he will restore confidence and trust in the department, said Denver Mayor Michael Hancock. White for eight years has been the chief of the Louisville Metro Police Department in Louisville, Ky. Hancock said he offered the job to White, 59, on Monday after culling through 61 applicants. "I strongly believe

New Sentencing Guidelines

2011-10-28T10:14:00.002-06:00

The Sentencing Project New Sentencing Guidelines—A Breakthrough for U.S. Prison and Sentencing Reform p.MsoNormal, li.MsoNormal, div.MsoNormal { margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size: 12pt; font-family: "Times New Roman"; }div.Section1 { page: Section1; } New sentencing guidelines for federal courts go into effect November 1st, signaling a long-awaited breakthrough for U.S. prison and

Second Chances After Prison

2011-10-28T10:11:00.002-06:00

The New York Times With state prison costs driven mainly by recidivism, the federal government must do all it can to support programs like the Second Chance Act, which guides newly released prisoners to drug treatment, mental health care, housing and jobs to keep them from going right back to jail. The House, which supports continued funding, must hold fast against a Senate appropriations

Darrell Havens: Experts Challenges Police Version of Shooting

2011-10-27T17:09:00.000-06:00

Westword In an affidavit filed in federal court, a veteran cop turned high-profile private investigator claims that an Arvada police officer who fired on an unarmed suspect during a car-theft sting operation in 2007, leaving the man a quadriplegic, was not justified in the use of deadly force -- and that "there is a conflict between officers' statements and physical evidence at [the] scene.

Denver Police Chief Propose Double Check on DUI Stops For Cops

2011-10-27T09:07:00.000-06:00

the Denver Post Denver Police Chief Gerald Whitman is proposing new rules for drunken-driving stops by his officers, requiring them to call a supervisor anytime they pull over a fellow cop, other criminal justice employee or any public official. Whitman made the move after a July report by Independent Monitor Richard Rosenthal that suggested Denver police don't arrest their fellow officers

Jeffco District Court Judge Brian Boatright Named to Supreme Court

2011-10-27T09:00:00.000-06:00

The Denver Post First Judicial District Court Judge Brian Boatright will be Colorado's next state Supreme Court Justice, sources close to the appointment process say. Gov. John Hickenlooper plans today to officially announce his first pick for the high court at a press conference this morning at the state Capitol. Boatright, 49, is the only one of the field of three candidates for the job

A Colorado Teen Sentenced to Forty Years Gets A Second Chance

2011-10-26T17:30:00.000-06:00

The Westword Josh Beckius is in search of redemption. That's a word that comes up regularly when he talks about his life. At the age of sixteen, Beckius was charged with the murder of Dayton Leslie James, a night-time manager of the Baseline Cinema Savers in Boulder. The crime, which had occurred two years earlier, in 1993, was one of those stupid, vicious, random events that make people

Denver Cops To Test Body Cameras

2011-10-26T09:20:00.002-06:00

The Denver Post Denver could join a growing list of cities where police wear digital cameras to record encounters with the public, a move the local ACLU says could increase officers' accountability but one that raises concerns among privacy advocates. In two weeks, the Denver Police Department will launch a 60-day pilot program with 23 officers testing the "body-worn digital recording

Inmates To Get Help In Jefferson County

2011-10-25T14:31:00.002-06:00

Between 1,130 to 1,150 inmates are housed per day at the Jefferson County Jail in Golden. In that population, some inmates have substance-abuse disorders or mental illness that have either gone untreated or required the relocation of inmates. But a recent $107,100 grant from the state will change that and, if successful, reduce incarceration time and recidivism. The money will

Billions Behind Bars: Colorado's Prison Industry Gets It's Close-Up

2011-10-25T10:17:00.002-06:00

Westword A few years back, reporting on a convention of prison officials and vendors who supplied them with everything from stab-proof vests to suicide-proof toilets, I noted that America's spending on the corrections industry had reached $40 billion a year. According to two new documentaries worth checking out, that figure has almost doubled in the past decade. The CNBC special Billions

Portugal's Drug Experiment

2011-10-25T10:14:00.000-06:00

The New Yorker This week in the magazine, Michael Specter looks at Portugal a decade after it decriminalized personal drug use. Here Specter talks with Blake Eskin about why it makes sense to treat drug abuse as a public-health problem rather than a crime, and what lessons the U.S. could take from Portugal’s example. Listen to the mp3 on the player above, or right-click here to download.

The Death Penalty's Defacto Abolition

2011-10-17T14:04:00.000-06:00

New York Times Opinion A new Gallup poll reports that support for the death penalty is at its lowest level since 1972. In fact, though, the decline, from a high of 80 percent in 1994 to 61 percent now, masks both Americans’ ambivalence about capital punishment and the country’s de facto abolition of the penalty in most places. When Gallup gave people a choice a year ago between

Tangles in the Ties That Bind

2011-10-17T08:03:00.000-06:00

Boulder Weekly Colorado prisons' high phone charges invite scrutinyBy Carolyn Cosmos It’s a well-known fact that prison inmates with strong family and community ties are less likely to wind up back inside the joint once they are released.So why are state prison systems, including Colorado’s, charging inmates high rates for phone calls, rates that discourage prisoners’ often

Budge Cuts Force Adams County to Consider Jail Cap

2011-10-15T07:37:00.000-06:00

The Denver Post BRIGHTON — Adams County is inching toward toughening its policy regarding housing municipal prisoners in hopes of easing overcrowding and cutting costs at the Adams County Detention Facility. But the ideas being floated — including locking out many misdemeanor offenders already sentenced by municipal judges — is making many local mayors and police officials uneasy. "The last

We Fabricated Drug Charges Against Innocent People To Meet Quota

2011-10-13T14:54:00.000-06:00

NY Daily News A former NYPD narcotics detective snared in a corruption scandal testified it was common practice to fabricate drug charges against innocent people to meet arrest quotas. The bombshell testimony from Stephen Anderson is the first public account of the twisted culture behind the false arrests in the Brooklyn South and Queens narc squads, which led to the arrests of eight cops and

Philanthropia

2011-10-13T09:47:00.002-06:00