Weekly Legislative Update 3/8/13

CCJRC 2013 Legislative Update

March 8, 2013

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New Bills added this week:

HB13-1251 Concerning Collection of a DNA Sample from offenders Convicted of a Misdemeanor

HB13-1254 Concerning Restorative Justice

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SB 13-007 Concerning the Repeal Date of the Colorado Commission on Criminal & Juvenile Justice
Sponsors: Senator Morse (D) and Representative Waller (R)
CCJRC position: support
Description: The Colorado Commission on Criminal & Juvenile Justice (CCJJ) has a repeal date of July 1, 2013. This bill would eliminate the repeal date and continue the CCJJ. This bill is based on a recommendation from the CCJJ.
Status: Passed Senate on 2/22;  Will be heard in House Judiciary Committee on  3/14 at 1:30  Rm 0112

SB 13-014 Concerning the Use of Opiate Antagonists to Treat Persons Who Suffer Opiate-Related Drug Overdose Events
Sponsors: Senator Aguilar (D)
CCJRC position: support
Description: This bill would provide immunity from criminal prosecution and immunity from civil liability if a person, acting in good faith, administers an opiate antagonist to another person whom the person believes to be suffering an opiate-related drug overdose. A licensed health-care practitioner who is permitted by law to prescribe or dispense an opiate antagonist shall be immune from criminal prosecution for and is not liable for any civil damages resulting from such prescribing.
Status: Passed the Senate 3/6 ( 26-8-1); Introduced in the House and assigned to Health, Insurance & Environment; not yet calendared

SB 13-123 Concerning Provisions That Improve The Reintegration Opportunities for Persons Involved in the Criminal Justice System
Sponsors: Senator Steadman (D) and Representative Levy (D)
CCJRC position: support-priority
Description: Under current law, drug convictions are eligible for record sealing; this bill extends the eligibility for sealing to most other crimes. Sets specific waiting periods, other eligibility criteria, and procedures. The bill also provides that a pardon issued by the governor waives all collateral consequences, unless the pardon limits the scope.
Status: Assigned to Senate Judiciary; not yet calendared.

SB13-177 Concerning Changes to Juvenile Corrections Programs and, in Connection Reducing the Juvenile Detention Bed Cap
Sponsor: Senators Lambert (R), Hodge (D), Steadman (D); and Representatives Gerou (R), Duran (D) and Levy (D) (Joint Budget Committee Members)
CCJRC position: Support
Description: Reduces the number of available juvenile detention beds statewide from 422 beds to 382 beds as of April 1, 2013.
Status: Passed the Senate 35-0 on 2/22; Passed House Appropriations on 3/8 unanimously; will next be heard by the full House on 2^nd reading; not yet calendared.

HB 13-1014 Concerning the Taking of Newspapers
Sponsors: Representative Levy (D) and Senator Steve King (R)
CCJRC position: support
Description: The bill moves the crime of newspaper theft and renames it interference with lawful distribution of newspapers. This bill is based on a recommendation from the Commission on Criminal & Juvenile Justice.
Status: Passed House 64-0 and passed Senate 35-0; signed into law by the Governor on 2/27

HB 13-1038 Concerning the Voting Rights of Individuals in the Custody of the Division of Youth Corrections within the Department of Human Services
Sponsors: Representative Rosenthal (D)
CCJRC position: support
Description: For youths confined in a juvenile facility in the custody of the Division of Youth Corrections (DYC) who will be 18 years of age or older on the date of the next elections, this bill requires the administrator of DYC facilities to provide information and facilitate voter registration and voting by mail-in ballot.
Status: Passed House (36-28-1) on 2/11;  Passed Senate (26-8-1) on 3/6; awaiting action by the Governor

HB 13-1082 Concerning Juvenile Delinquency Records
Sponsors: Representative Labuda (D)
CCJRC position: support
Description: This bill requires the court to initiate expungement proceedings not more than thirty days after a juvenile’s sentence is expired; however, for a juvenile adjudicated as an aggravated juvenile offender or violent juvenile offender or adjudicated for a felony offense of unlawful sexual behavior, the court shall initiate expungement proceedings not more than five years after the sentence is discharged. The bill also limits public access to arrest and criminal records information to those juveniles adjudicated for a class 1 felony or the crime of possession of a handgun by a juvenile.
Status: Scheduled to be heard in House Judiciary Committee on 3/14 at 1:30 in room 0112

HB 13-1085 Concerning Changes to the Crimes Eligible for Possession of Weapons by Previous Offenders
Sponsors: Representative Buck (R) and Senator Renf roe (R)
CCJRC position: support
Description: Under current law, it is a crime for a person convicted of any felony offense to possess a firearm. This bill would limit the prohibition on possessing a firearm to those felony convictions under the victim’s rights act, burglary, arson, or any felony involving the use of force or the use of a deadly weapon.
Status: REMOVED FROM CALENDAR; WILL BE RESCHEDULED

HB 13-1114 Concerning Penalties for Persons Who Drive While Under the Influence of Alcohol or Drugs
Sponsors: Representatives Waller (R) and Fields (D)
CCJRC position: monitor
Description: In a DUI prosecution, if the driver’s blood contains 5 nanograms or more of delta THC per milliliter in blood (based on a blood test), such fact gives rise to a permissible inference that the driver was under the influence. This bill is based on a recommendation from the Colorado Commission on Criminal & Juvenile Justice.
Status: Passed House Judiciary Committee 11-0 on 2/26.  Referred to Appropriations: not yet calendared

HB 13-1129 Concerning Creating the Evidence-Based Practices Implementation for Capacity Resource Center
Sponsors: Representative Pettersen (D) and Senator Newell (D)
CCJRC position: support
Description: This bill creates a resource center in the Division of Criminal Justice to promote evidence-based practices by criminal justice agencies. An advisory board will oversee the resource center which includes, at a minimum, the executive directors of the department of public safety, department of corrections, the department of human services, and the division of probation. The Division of Criminal Justice will report to the General Assembly by July 1, 2014 and every 3 years thereafter. This bill is based on a recommendation by the Colorado Commission on Criminal & Juvenile Justice.

Status: Passed House Judiciary unanimously on 2/19; referred to Appropriations- not yet calendared

HB13-1148 Concerning Changes to Aggravated Sentencing Provisions
Sponsors: Representative Foote (D) and Senator Roberts (R)
CCJRC position: priority support
Description: This bill repeals the extraordinary risk sentencing enhancer. Also adds certain child abuse crimes and stalking crimes to the list of Crime of Violence offenses. This bill is based on a recommendation by the Colorado Commission on Criminal & Juvenile Justice.
Status: Scheduled in House Judiciary Committee on 3/12 upon adjournment;  RM 0112

HB13-1 156 Concerning Creation of an Adult Diversion Program
Sponsors: Rep Levy (D) and Senator Steadman (D)
CCJRC position: priority support
Description: Creates a pre-filing diversion programs for adults statewide. The district attorney is required to develop eligibility guidelines and may enter into a diversion agreement with a defendant for up to two years without filing a criminal case against the defendant. This bill is based on a recommendation by the Colorado Commission on Criminal & Juvenile Justice.
Status: Passed House Judiciary Committee unanimously on 3/5; Scheduled for second reading in the House on 3/8

HB13-1160 Concerning Criminal Theft
Sponsors: Rep Pabon (D) and Senator King (R)
CCJRC position: priority support
Description: This bill repeals theft of rental property and theft by receiving as separate statutes and incorporates these crimes into the theft statute. It also changes the amount for various offense levels. This bill is based on a recommendation by the Colorado Commission on Criminal & Juvenile Justice.
Status: Passed House Judiciary Committee unanimously on 2/21; will next be heard in House Appropriations – not yet calendared

HB13-1210 Concerning Appointment of Legal Counsel During Plea Negotiations for Indigent Adult Defendants
Sponsors: Rep. Kagan (D) and Senator Steadman (D)
CCJRC position: support
Description: This bill will make Colorado law consistent with recent U.S. Supreme Court decisions regarding the right to legal counsel during critical stages, including plea negotiations, this bill repeals the statute that requires an indigent person charged with a misdemeanor, petty offense, or motor vehicle or traffic offense to meet with the prosecuting attorney before legal counsel is appointed.

Status: Scheduled to be heard in House Judiciary Committee on 3/21 at 1:30 in room 0112

HB13-1214 Concerning the Classification of Certain Drunk Driving Offenses as Felonies
Sponsors: Rep. Waller (R)
CCJRC position: Monitor
Description: Under current law, a conviction for DUI, DUI per se, or DWAI is considered a misdemeanor offense. The bill states that such an offense is a class 5 felony if: the violation occurred not more than 7 years after the first of two prior convictions or if the defendant has 3 prior DUI or DW AI convictions
Status: Passed unanimously in House Judiciary Committee on 2/21; will next be heard in Appropriations

HB13-1217 Concerning Parole Eligibility of a Person Convicted of Vehicular Homicide
Sponsors: Rep. Szabo (R); Rep. Priola (R)
CCJRC position: Oppose
Description: Under current law a person who commits vehicular homicide and is sentenced to prison is eligible for parole after serving 50% of his or her sentence. The bill changes parole eligibility to 75% of the sentence served less earned time awarded if the person is convicted of vehicular homicide and has a serious previous driving offense conviction, including vehicular assault, D UI etc.
Status: Heard in House State, Veterans, & Military Affairs-witness testimony only;  not yet calendared for vote

HB13-1230 Concerning Compensation For Persons Who Are Exonerated of their Crimes After a Period of Incarceration
Sponsors: Rep. Williams (D), Pabon (D), Buckner (D), Court (D), Hullinghorst (D), M elton (D), Pettersen (D), Salazar (D); and Senator Guzman (D)
CCJRC position: Support
Description: With certain limitations, the state shall compensate a person, or the immediate family members of a person, who has been: wrongly convicted of a felony, or wrongly adjudicated a juvenile delinquent for the commission of an offense that would be a felony if committed by a person 18 years of age or older; incarcerated; and exonerated and found to be actually innocent.
Status: Passed in House Judiciary Committee unanimously on 3/7; will next be heard in Appropriations- not yet calendared.

HB13-1236 Best Practices in Bond Setting
Sponsers: Senator Ulibarri (D), and Rep. Levy (D)
CCJRC position: support
Description: The bill repeals and reenacts the provisions of the criminal procedure code related to bail bonds. The new provision places a greater emphasis on evidence-based and individualized decision-making during the bond-setting process and discourages use of monetary conditions for bond. This bill is based on a recommendation by the Colorado Commission on Criminal & Juvenile Justice.
Status:  Scheduled in House Judiciary Committee on 3/12 at 1:30 in room 0112
 

HB 13-1251 Concerning Collection of a DNA Sample from offenders Convicted of a Misdemeanor

Sponsors:  Representatives Pabon (D) and Foote (D) and Senator Morse (D)

CCJRC position: oppose

Description:  Under current law, only people convicted of a misdemeanor involving unlawful sexual conduct must provide a DNA sample for inclusion in the DNA database at the Colorado Bureau of Investigation. The bill would require collection of a DNA sample from all persons convicted of a class 1, 2, or 3 misdemeanor.

Status: Assigned to House Judiciary Committee- not yet calendared

HB13-1254 Concerning Restorative Justice

Sponsors: Representative Lee (D), Senator Newell (D)

CCJRC position: Support

Description: Under current law, restorative justice victim-offender conferences must be initiated by the victim. The bill modifies the requirement of victim initiation in some instances to permit district attorney or offender initiation. There is a restorative justice coordinating council established in the state court administrator's office; the bill adds: a member of the parole board; a representative from the department of corrections, a representative from a statewide organization representing victims; and a restorative justice practitioner. The bill creates a pilot project for restorative justice programs in 4 judicial districts.

Status: Assigned to House Judiciary-not yet calendared

Bill to repeal Colorado's death penalty to be introduced next week

FOX NEWS
DENVER — Beware the Ides of March.
As if state lawmakers don’t already have their hands full with enough hot-button issues, legislation to repeal Colorado’s death penalty is set to be introduced next Friday, March 15.
Multiple sources have confirmed that the legislation will be introduced in the House and will get its initial House committee hearing the following Tuesday, March 19.
The bill will be sponsored by Reps. Claire Levy of Boulder and Jovan Melton of Aurora; on the Senate side the sponsors are Sens. Morgan Carroll of Aurora and Lucia Guzman of Denver.
Introducing the bill just past the mid-way point of the legislative session underlines the political complications surrounding the bill.
Democrats, who control both legislative chambers and the governor’s office, likely have the votes to pass the bill. The question is whether they want to add another controversial accomplishment to their 2013 resumes in a year when they’re already likely to pass several gun control proposals.
They also risk a fight with one of their own, state Rep. Rhonda Fields, D-Aurora, who is a staunch supporter of the death penalty.
She fought for the death penalty for Sir Mario Owens and Robert Ray, who both convicted of killing her son back in 2005.
An additional political complication is the looming execution of Nathan Dunlap, who murdered four people in a Chuck E. Cheese restaurant 19 years ago and, along with Fields’ killers, is one of three people on Colorado’s death row.
He’s scheduled to get the needle later this year.
So the bill’s introduction and potential passage means a choice for Gov. John Hickenlooper: either sign a bill repealing the death penalty or sign an execution order for Dunlap.
“The real focus here will be on Gov. Hickenlooper,” said political analyst Eric Sondermann. “Does he sign a repeal bill if it reaches his desk? My guess would be ‘yes’. Absent such a bill, does he commute Nathan Dunlap’s sentence when that last-ditch appeal reaches his office? That is a tougher, closer call.”
Passing a package of tough gun control measures and repealing the death penalty in one session is a risk for Democrats, hoping to hold legislative majorities beyond 2014, and for Hickenlooper, a political moderate thought to be a safe bet for reelection at this point but starting to face more pressure from his own party’s base and its advancement of an ambitious legislative agenda and the resulting backlash from conservatives and moderates who think it goes too far.

Two of three women in Colorado prisons have psychologial disorder

The Denver Post


The number of Colorado female prisoners diagnosed with psychological disorders has risen sharply to more than twice the level of male prisoners.
The women are almost without exception victims of severe sexual and physical abuse, experts say. They cycle through jail and prison, often because they don't get adequate treatment or community support.
"The trauma histories are extreme," said Theresa Stone, chief of mental health at Denver Women's Correctional Facility. "It's hard to hear what these women have been through."
While most women are incarcerated for nonviolent crimes, a certain percentage of them are committing increasingly violent acts, Stone said.
"Women are in many cases extremely violent," she said. "I think we're seeing the impact of abuse and mental illness."
The state prison system has in recent years taken great strides in diagnosing and addressing the needs of mentally ill women, Stone said. There is drug counseling, psychological treatment and group therapy. Some women live in highly structured therapeutic communities in special pods. The first step was identifying the true scope of the problem, Stone said.
In 2001, a Colorado Department of Corrections review determined that 39 percent of women incarcerated in Colorado were diagnosed with some type of mental illness. A Dec. 31 report says that 67 percent of those women are mentally ill.
That is slightly lower than the national rate of women incarcerated in prison. According to a December 2006 Department of Justice study, 73 percent of women in state prisons nationally have some type of mental disorder. Within the general population, 12 percent of women have a diagnosed mental disorder, the same report says.
The percentage of men in Colorado prisons with a diagnosed mental illness also increased dramatically in the same time frame — from 18 percent to 30 percent — but the ratio is less than half the level of female inmates.
The percentage of female prisoners suffering mental conditions, including schizophrenia, bipolar disorder and major depression, has always been high but many women hadn't been diagnosed, experts say. Many of the women also had declined to seek treatment until they were behind bars.
Carol Lease, executive director of The Empowerment Program, which helps chronically incarcerated women in Denver find therapy, jobs and housing, said incarcerated women share strikingly similar backgrounds.
Nearly all of them were emotionally, physically and sexually abused as children. Many turned to prostitution and mask the pain with cocaine, Lease said. They often get arrested on felony drug dealing charges, she said.
Four inmates at Denver Women's prison recently opened up about their own traumatic histories of abuse and their struggles with mental conditions.
One expressed concern about her own prospects.
"I'm scared because I don't know how to live a normal life," said Shawn Snyder, 42, a career prostitute.
Snyder ran away from her Lincoln, Neb., home, where her mother's boyfriends molested her, and where her mother pulled her hair out, threw her down stairs and frequently beat her. She began a life of prostitution in Omaha at the age of 11.
Snyder gave birth to a daughter at 15, and when she lost custody of the infant, she went back to prostituting herself to survive. Free-basing crack cocaine made all the pain go away, she said. Along the way, she had relationships with men who beat her. She moved to Colorado in her early 20s, and a pimp introduced her to Colfax Avenue.

A Football Stadium Becomes Ground Zero in the Fight Against the New Jim Crow | The Nation

A Football Stadium Becomes Ground Zero in the Fight Against the New Jim Crow | The Nation
A sit-in at the university president's office; calls for their resignation; a packed campus wide meeting that resolves nothing and opens to door to further conflict. Such actions are notable enough on their own, but we've never seen a protest movement quite like what's happening at Florida Atlantic University. For the first time on record, hundreds of students are raising their voices against the renaming of their school's football stadium. FAU decided to sell the stadium's naming rights to Geo Group, a notorious private prison corporation and students are saying "hell no." Their efforts signal something even more significant than pushing back against the inviolate prerogatives of a school’s football program. It’s a high-profile sign of the growing movement against our system of mass incarceration otherwise known as "The New Jim Crow".
Geo Group will pay six million dollars over 12 years to rebrand the football stadium, home of the FAU Owls. Protestors have now also rebranded the stadium, calling it “Owlcatraz.”
Students marched and occupied President Mary Jane Saunders' office last week, submitting a letter that read, "We are protesting because we believe that institutions of higher learning like FAU have the responsibility to stand up to the systemic racism, corruption and human rights violations that define the prison-for-profit system, and advocate instead for the equality and human rights."
The students are of course correct. Private prisons are immoral, Orwellian institutions. To combat any trend against growing levels of incarceration, they spend millions on political lobbying to make sure that provably racist institutions like “the War on Drugs”, “three strikes” law,, and, their latest ripe plumb, the incarceration of undocumented immigrants, remain the rule of the land. But if private prisons are diseases, then Geo Group is the Ebola Virus. Describing one of their juvenile jails in Mississippi, a judge called Geo Group’s facilities "a cesspool of unconstitutional and inhuman acts and conditions".
Throwing more gasoline on the fire, President Saunders initial response to Geo Group’s offer was pure, uncritical glee, calling it “delightful” and saying without a sprig of irony, "This gift is a true representation of The GEO Group's incredible generosity to FAU and the community it serves."
When people at a packed meeting of 250 students raised concerns about the way Geo Group "serves the community", she pointed out that GEO Group’s chairman, George Zoley has a "love" of the school because he is a proud alumnus. This led Philosophy Professor Simon Glynn to say tartly, “We don’t seem to be doing our jobs adequately because it appears we may be graduating people from the university who are ethically challenged.”
It also raises the question, in these cash strapped times, where President Saunders would draw the line if not at Geo Group. Would she have considered an offer to rename the field "Jerry Sandusky Stadium" if offered seven million dollars? If Larry Flynt had pledged eight million to call it "Hustler Arena" does she take a meeting? For many students, the deeply personal disrespect embodied in the taking of Geo Group’s money is no less intense.
A number of FAU students are the children of immigrants. Geo Group, as I’ve written elsewhere, is currently bidding to be the state’s private prison of choice aiming to warehouse the state’s three million undocumented immigrants. Incipient immigration reform, it is believed in the industry, will create a massive demand for private detention facilities. It’s viewed that GEO Group’s effort to be the shiny name on the side of the stadium is form of corporate “sin-washing” that smoothes the transition to Geo Group taking on this incredibly expansive role in jailing the undocumented.
As students packed the rafters and demanded answers, Saunders didn’t backtrack from her earlier praise of GEO Group but also actually said that she was simply unfamiliar with their record and history. She also described the six million dollar pay off as a “closed book” saying that the papers have been signed and it’s a done deal. Student protest leader Gonzalo Vizcardo said, “The board of trustees should have done due diligence on GEO before they signed that agreement. What (Saunders) said about GEO being a wonderful company was outrageous.”
This movement isn’t stopping despite President Saunders most fervent wishes. By, at best, not doing her due diligence or, at worst, valuing the money over any attendant moral or ethical concerns, Saunders has turned the school into a national punch line. By standing up to this synthesis of football and prison, and Geo Group’s uniquely American Horror Story, the students are trying to map a different way forward for the university. If it’s remembered as a place where a campus movement was finally launched against the private prison industry and The New Jim Crow, that will be a far prouder legacy than the place that sold their soul for the dirty money of a for-profit gulag.

CCJRC Weekly Legislative Update 3/1/2013

Here’s our weekly legislative update. You can read more on each bill below. Bills are ordered in sequence, starting with Senate Bills (SB).

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SB 13-007 Concerning the Repeal Date of the Colorado Commission on Criminal & Juvenile Justice
Sponsors: Senator Morse (D) and Representative Waller (R)
CCJRC position: support
Description: The Colorado Commission on Criminal & Juvenile Justice (CCJJ) has a repeal date of July 1, 2013. This bill would eliminate the repeal date and continue the CCJJ. This bill is based on a recommendation from the CCJJ.
Status: Passed the Senate on 2/22; will next be introduced in the House
SB 13-014 Concerning the Use of Opiate Antagonists to Treat Persons Who Suffer Opiate-Related Drug Overdose Events
Sponsors: Senator Aguilar (D)
CCJRC position: support
Description: This bill would provide immunity from criminal prosecution and immunity from civil liability if a person, acting in good faith, administers an opiate antagonist to another person whom the person believes to be suffering an opiate-related drug overdose. A licensed health-care practitioner who is permitted by law to prescribe or dispense an opiate antagonist shall be immune from criminal prosecution for and is not liable for any civil damages resulting from such prescribing.
Status: Passed the Senate Health & Human Services Committee (5-1) on 2/14. Passed Senate Appropriations Committee with amendment (5-2); will next be voted on by full Senate
SB 13-123 Concerning Provisions That Improve The Reintegration Opportunities for Persons Involved in the Criminal Justice System
Sponsors: Senator Steadman (D) and Representative Levy (D)
CCJRC position: support-priority
Description: Under current law, drug convictions are eligible for record sealing; this bill extends the eligibility for sealing to most other crimes. Sets specific waiting periods, other eligibility criteria, and procedures. The bill also provides that a pardon issued by the governor waives all collateral consequences, unless the pardon limits the scope.
Status: Assigned to Senate Judiciary; not yet calendared.

SB13-177 Concerning Changes to Juvenile Corrections Programs and, in Connection Reducing the Juvenile Detention Bed Cap
Sponsor: Senators Lambert (R), Hodge (D), Steadman (D); and Representatives Gerou (R), Duran (D) and Levy (D) (Joint Budget Committee Members)
CCJRC position: Support
Description: Reduces the number of available juvenile detention beds statewide from 422 beds to 382 beds as of April 1, 2013.
Status: Passed the Senate 35-0 on 2/22; Scheduled to be heard in House Appropriations on 3/8

HB 13-1014 Concerning the Taking of Newspapers
Sponsors: Representative Levy (D) and Senator Steve King (R)
CCJRC position: support
Description: The bill moves the crime of newspaper theft and renames it interference with lawful distribution of newspapers. This bill is based on a recommendation from the Commission on Criminal & Juvenile Justice.
Status: Passed House 64-0 and passed Senate 35-0; signed into law by the Governor on 2/27

HB 13-1038 Concerning the Voting Rights of Individuals in the Custody of the Division of Youth Corrections within the Department of Human Services
Sponsors: Representative Rosenthal (D)
CCJRC position: support
Description: For youths confined in a juvenile facility in the custody of the Division of Youth Corrections (DYC) who will be 18 years of age or older on the date of the next elections, this bill requires the administrator of DYC facilities to provide information and facilitate voter registration and voting by mail-in ballot.
Status: Passed H ouse (36-28-1) on 2/11; Passed Senate State, Veterans and Military Affairs Committee 5-0;  second reading in the Senate calendared for 3/4

HB 13-1082 Concerning Juvenile Delinquency Records
Sponsors: Representative Labuda (D)
CCJRC position: support
Description: This bill requires the court to initiate expungement proceedings not more than thirty days after a juvenile’s sentence is expired; however, for a juvenile adjudicated as an aggravated juvenile offender or violent juvenile offender or adjudicated for a felony offense of unlawful sexual behavior, the court shall initiate expungement proceedings not more than five years after the sentence is discharged. The bill also limits public access to arrest and criminal records information to those juveniles adjudicated for a class 1 felony or the crime of possession of a handgun by a juvenile.
Status: Assigned to House Judiciary Committee – not yet calendared

HB 13-1085 Concerning Changes to the Crimes Eligible for Possession of Weapons by Previous Offenders
Sponsors: Representative Buck (R) and Senator Renf roe (R)
CCJRC position: support
Description: Under current law, it is a crime for a person convicted of any felony offense to possess a firearm. This bill would limit the prohibition on possessing a firearm to those felony convictions under the victim’s rights act, burglary, arson, or any felony involving the use of force or the use of a deadly weapon.
Status: Will be heard in House Judiciary Committee for action only on 3/7 1:30 PM  RM 112

HB 13-1114 Concerning Penalties for Persons Who Drive While Under the Influence of Alcohol or Drugs
Sponsors: Representatives Waller (R) and Fields (D)
CCJRC position: monitor
Description: In a DUI prosecution, if the driver’s blood contains 5 nanograms or more of delta THC per milliliter in blood (based on a blood test), such fact gives rise to a permissible inference that the driver was under the influence. This bill is based on a recommendation from the Colorado Commission on Criminal & Juvenile Justice.
Status: Passed House Judiciary Committee 11-0 on 2/26.  Referred to Appropriations: not yet calendared

HB 13-1129 Concerning Creating the Evidence-Based Practices Implementation for Capacity Resource Center
Sponsors: Representative Pettersen (D) and Senator Newell (D)
CCJRC position: support
Description: This bill creates a resource center in the Division of Criminal Justice to promote evidence-based practices by criminal justice agencies. An advisory board will oversee the resource center which includes, at a minimum, the executive directors of the department of public safety, department of corrections, the department of human services, and the division of probation. The Division of Criminal Justice will report to the General Assembly by July 1, 2014 and every 3 years thereafter. This bill is based on a recommendation by the Colorado Commission on Criminal & Juvenile Justice. Status: Passed House Judiciary unanimously on 2/19; referred to Appropriations- not yet calendared

HB13-1148 Concerning Changes to Aggravated Sentencing Provisions
Sponsors: Representative Foote (D) and Senator Roberts (R)
CCJRC position: priority support
Description: This bill repeals the extraordinary risk sentencing enhancer. Also adds certain child abuse crimes and stalking crimes to the list of Crime of Violence offenses. This bill is based on a recommendation by the Colorado Commission on Criminal & Juvenile Justice.
Status: Scheduled in House Judiciary Committee on 03/12 upon Adjournment;  RM 0112

HB13-1 156 Concerning Creation of an Adult Diversion Program
Sponsors: Rep Levy (D) and Senator Steadman (D)
CCJRC position: priority support
Description: Creates a pre-filing diversion programs for adults statewide. The district attorney is required to develop eligibility guidelines and may enter into a diversion agreement with a defendant for up to two years without filing a criminal case against the defendant. This bill is based on a recommendation by the Colorado Commission on Criminal & Juvenile Justice.
Status: Scheduled in House Judiciary Committee on 3/5 upon Adjournment RM  0112

HB13-1160 Concerning Criminal Theft
Sponsors: Rep Pabon (D) and Senator King (R)
CCJRC position: priority support
Description: This bill repeals theft of rental property and theft by receiving as separate statutes and incorporates these crimes into the theft statute. It also changes the amount for various offense levels. This bill is based on a recommendation by the Colorado Commission on Criminal & Juvenile Justice.
Status: Passed House Judiciary Committee unanimously on 2/21; Scheduled in Appropriations 3/8 7:30 am

HB13-1210 Concerning Appointment of Legal Counsel During Plea Negotiations for Indigent Adult Defendants
Sponsors: Rep. Kagan (D) and Senator Steadman (D)
CCJRC position: support
Description: This bill will make Colorado law consistent with recent U.S. Supreme Court decisions regarding the right to legal counsel during critical stages, including plea negotiations, this bill repeals the statute that requires an indigent person charged with a misdemeanor, petty offense, or motor vehicle or traffic offense to meet with the prosecuting attorney before legal counsel is appointed.

Status: Assigned to House Judiciary Committee-not yet calendared.

HB13-1214 Concerning the Classification of Certain Drunk Driving Offenses as Felonies
Sponsors: Rep. Waller (R)
CCJRC position: Monitor
Description: Under current law, a conviction for DUI, DUI per se, or DWAI is considered a misdemeanor offense. The bill states that such an offense is a class 5 felony if: the violation occurred not more than 7 years after the first of two prior convictions or if the defendant has 3 prior DUI or DW AI convictions
Status: Passed unanimously in House Judiciary Committee on 2/21; will next be heard in Appropriations

HB13-1217 Concerning Parole Eligibility of a Person Convicted of Vehicular Homicide
Sponsors: Rep. Szabo (R); Rep. Priola (R)
CCJRC position: Oppose
Description: Under current law a person who commits vehicular homicide and is sentenced to prison is eligible for parole after serving 50% of his or her sentence. The bill changes parole eligibility to 75% of the sentence served less earned time awarded if the person is convicted of vehicular homicide and has a serious previous driving offense conviction, including vehicular assault, D UI etc.
Status: Will be heard in House State, Veterans, & Military Affairs on 3/4 at 1:30 in LSB-A

HB13-1230 Concerning Compensation For Persons Who Are Exonerated of their Crimes After a Period of Incarceration
Sponsors: Rep. Williams (D), Pabon (D), Buckner (D), Court (D), Hullinghorst (D), M elton (D), Pettersen (D), Salazar (D); and Senator Guzman (D)
CCJRC position: Support
Description: With certain limitations, the state shall compensate a person, or the immediate family members of a person, who has been: wrongly convicted of a felony, or wrongly adjudicated a juvenile delinquent for the commission of an offense that would be a felony if committed by a person 18 years of age or older; incarcerated; and exonerated and found to be actually innocent.
Status: Will be heard in House Judiciary Committee on 3/7 at 1:30 p.m., Room 0112

HB13-1236 Best Practices in Bond Setting
Sponsers: Senator Ulibarri (D), and Rep. Levy (D)
CCJRC position: support
Description: The bill repeals and reenacts the provisions of the criminal procedure code related to bail bonds. The new provision places a greater emphasis on evidence-based and individualized decision-making during the bond-setting process and discourages use of monetary conditions for bond. This bill is based on a recommendation by the Colorado Commission on Criminal & Juvenile Justice.
Status: REMOVED FROM CALENDAR; WILL BE RESCHEDULED
         

  Christie Donner, Executive Director

Pamela Clifton, Communications Coordinator

Ellen Toomey-Hale, Finance and Development Coordinator

John Riley, Coalition Coordinator

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The Changing Racial Dynamics of Womens Incarceration

Sentencing Project

The Changing Racial

Dynamics of Women’s

Incarceration

Marc Mauer

February 2013

 

THE CHANGING RACIAL DYNAMICS OF

WOMEN’S INCARCERATION

In the first decade of the 21st century the United States began to experience a

shift in the 30 year buildup to a world record prison system. Although the

decade ended with an increased number of people in prison, the rate of growth

overall was considerably below that of previous decades and since 2008 the overall

number of people in state prisons has declined slightly each year.

 

Scholars are beginning to analyze the relative contributions of changes in crime rates,

criminal justice policies, economics, and demographics to the slowing

growth rate of the prison system, but one area that has gone largely unexplored is the impact of

such changes on racial disparities in imprisonment. As is well known black/white

disparities in the use of incarceration have been profound for quite some time. Since

the 1980s a series of analyses have documented these trends at the national level as

well as examining variation in disparity among the states.

1

As prison populations fluctuate, though, the relative rate of incarceration among

racial groups may or may not reflect prevailing patterns. Further, as the prospect of a

declining prison population has now become a distinct possibility for the next

decade, it will become increasingly important to monitor whether reduced

incarceration is experienced in similar ways across racial/ethnic groups.

This report first describes trends in incarceration for the first decade of the century,

and contrasts this with patterns of the previous decade. We then assess the extent of

change in the race and gender dynamics of incarceration over the past decade, and

suggest factors which may be contributing to these trends. The data in this report

document the following key findings:

1

2

THE CHANGING RACIAL DYNAMICS OF WOMEN’S INCARCERATION

•

Racial/ethnic disparities in U.S.incarceration remain substantial

In 2009, African Americans and Latinos constituted more than 60% of imprisoned

offenders. African American males were incarcerated in state and federal

prisons at 6.4 times the rate of non Hispanic white males, and Hispanic

males at 2.4 times the rate of non Hispanic whites

.

Declining rate of incarceration for African Americans from 2000 to 2009

the rate of incarceration in state and federal prisons declined 9.8% for black men and 30.7% for black women.  

 

Rates of incarceration for whites and Latinos generally rising

–Incarceration rates for white men and women rose 8.5% and 47.1%, respectively from 2000 to 2009. For Hispanics the men’s rate declined by 2.2% while the women’s rate rose by 23.3%.

 

Dramatic shift in racial disparities among women

In 2000 black women were incarcerated in state and federal prisons at six times the rate of white

women. By 2009 that ratio had declined by 53%, to 2.8:1. This shift was a result of both declining incarceration of African American women and rising incarceration of white women. The disparity between Hispanic and non Hispanic white women declined by 16.7% during this period.

 

Similar trends can be seen among men, but at a lesser scale, with a decline of 16.9%

in the black/white incarceration ratio over the decade. The disparity between

Hispanic and non Hispanic white men declined by 11.1%

SLOWING GROWTH IN INCARCERATION

Beginning in the early 1970s the United States embarked on an unprecedented

escalation of the use of imprisonment. The 2.2 million people behind bars in prisons

and jails in 2010 represented more than a 500% increase from the level of 1972.

4

During the highest growth years in the 1980s, state prison populations increased by

as much as 12% in a single year. Nationally, the rate of prison growth of earlier decades slowed consi

derably in the first decade of this century. The total number of individuals in state prisons rose by

an average of 1.1% per year and in federal prisons by an average of 3.3% between

2000 and 2010, compared to 5.6% and 8.6% respectively in the 1990s.

6

The substantial growth of the 1990s is best seen in states such as Texas, in which the

number of persons under state prison jurisdiction tripled, as well as in ten states in

which the population more than doubled (Appendix Table 1). Overall, the median

change in the number of people in state prison systems was 71% for the 1990s. In

contrast, from 2000 to 2010 the median increase declined to 21%, with only three

states experiencing more than a 50% rise in their populations. Further, five states

Delaware,Maryland, Michigan, New Jersey, and New York had fewer people in

their prisons at the end of the decade and 47 states experienced at least one year of

decline.

 

While reduced crime rates are likely to have contributed to these declines, deliberate

changes in policy and practice are also playing a role in these reductions in some

states.

7

These include initiatives such as treatment diversion programs, sentence

reduction incentives for participation in prison programming, enhanced reentry

support, and reduced technical violations of parole.