U.S. war on drugs appears to be a losing battle - The Denver Post

U.S. war on drugs appears to be a losing battle - The Denver Post

MEXICO CITY — After 40 years, the United States' war on drugs has cost $1 trillion and hundreds of thousands of lives, and for what? Drug use is rampant and violence even more brutal and widespread.

Even U.S. drug czar Gil Kerlikowske concedes the strategy hasn't worked.

"In the grand scheme, it has not been successful," Kerlikowske told The Associated Press. "Forty years later, the concern about drugs and drug problems is, if anything, magnified, intensified."

This week, President Barack Obama promised to "reduce drug use and the great damage it causes" with a new national policy that he said treats drug use more as a public-health issue and focuses on prevention and treatment.

Nevertheless, his administration has increased spending on interdiction and law enforcement to record levels both in dollars and in percentage terms

New Drug Control Strategy Signals Policy Shift

AP Report
WASHINGTON — President Barack Obama on Tuesday announced a revised approach to "confronting the complex challenge of drug use and its consequences," putting more resources into drug prevention and treatment.
The new drug control strategy boosts community-based anti-drug programs, encourages health care providers to screen for drug problems before addiction sets in and expands treatment beyond specialty centers to mainstream health care facilities.
"By boosting community-based prevention, expanding treatment, strengthening law enforcement and working collaboratively with our global partners, we will reduce drug use and the great damage it causes in our communities," Obama said. "I am confident that when we take the steps outlined in this strategy, we will make our country stronger and our people healthier and safer."
The plan — the first drug plan unveiled by the Obama White House — calls for reducing the rate of youth drug use by 15 percent over the next five years and for similar reductions in chronic drug use, drug abuse deaths and drugged driving.
In an interview Monday, Gil Kerlikowske, the White House drug czar, said, "It changes the whole discussion about ending the war on drugs and recognizes that we have a responsibility to reduce our own drug use in this country."
Kerlikowske criticized past drug strategies for measuring success by counting the number of children and teens who have not tried marijuana. At the same time, he said, the number of deaths from illegal and prescription drug overdoses was rising.
"Us facing that issue and dealing with it head on is important," Kerlikowske said.
The new drug plan encourages health care professionals to ask patients questions about drug use even during routine treatment so that early intervention is possible. It also helps more states set up electronic databases to identify doctors who are overprescribing addictive pain killers.
"Putting treatment into the primary health care discussion is critical," Kerlikowske said.
The policy shift comes in the wake of several other drug policy reforms since Obama took office. Obama signed a measure repealing a two-decade old ban on the use of federal money for needle-exchange programs to reduce the spread of HIV. His administration also said it won't target medical marijuana patients or caregivers as long as they comply with state laws and aren't fronts for drug traffickers.
Earlier this year, Obama called on Congress to eliminate the disparity in sentencing that punishes crack crimes more heavily than those involving powder cocaine.
Some drug reform advocates like the direction Obama is heading, but question whether the administration's focus on treatment and prevention programs is more rhetoric than reality at this point. They point to the national drug control budget proposal released earlier this year, for example, which continues to spend about twice as much money on enforcement as it does on programs to reduce demand.
"The improved rhetoric is not matched by any fundamental shift in the budget or the broader thrust of the drug policy," said Ethan Nadelmann, executive director of the Drug Policy Alliance, which favors drug policy reform.
Nadelmann praised some of Obama's changes, but said he is disappointed with the continued focus on arresting, prosecuting and incarcerating large numbers of people.
Kerlikowske rejected that as "inside the Beltway discussion," and said there are many programs that combine interdiction and prevention.
The drug control office's budget request does include a 13 percent increase in spending on alcohol and drug prevention programs, along with a 3.7 percent increase for addiction treatment.

Copyright © 2010 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.

Ritter Appoints New Chair To the Board Of Parole

Gov Ritter website
GOV. RITTER APPOINTS NEW CHAIR OF THE STATE PAROLE BOARD

Gov. Bill Ritter announced today that he has named Parole Board Vice Chair Becky Lucero of Pueblo as the panel’s new chair, replacing retiring Chairman David Michaud.

Gov. Ritter first appointed Lucero to the board in 2008. She had worked as the board’s office manager from 1997-2008 and in various roles in the Department of Corrections before that.

“Becky has a deep understanding and keen appreciation of how challenging it is to serve on the Parole Board,” Gov. Ritter said. “She will make an outstanding chair.”

Gov. Ritter also thanked departing Chairman Michaud for his service: “David Michaud devoted his professional career to public service, public safety and upholding the law. He served with distinction and integrity, and on behalf of the people of Colorado, I thank him for his leadership these past few years as chairman of the Parole Board.”

The Governor also appointed John M. O’Dell of Loveland to the board and re-appointed members Michael E. Anderson and Rebecca L. Oakes, both of Denver. O’Dell retired from the Denver Police Department in 2002 after more than 30 years on the force. Anderson will serve as the Parole Board’s vice chair.

The seven-member Parole Board holds hearings and considers applications for parole, and conducts all proceedings involving revocation of parole. The appointments require Senate confirmation.

Judge Rules That 14 Year Old Will Be Tried As A Juvenile

The Gazette
A judge Monday ruled that a 14-year-old Colorado Springs boy will not be tried as an adult in the shooting death of his younger brother and wounding of their mother.
Instead, Daniel Gudino will face first-degree murder and attempted murder charges in juvenile court where the most severe penalty he can face if convicted would be seven years in a youth offender prison.
Fourth Judicial District Judge David L. Shakes rejected a request by the district attorney to transfer the case to adult court. But  Shakes also found there was enough evidence to support the charges and ordered that Gudino continued to be held without bond pending a June 7 court appearance.
Gudino is accused of shooting his 9-year-old brother Ulysses to death in his bed and then shooting and stabbing their mother Marina in the kitchen of the family’s home at 1837 Chapel Hills Drive on May 18, 2009. Daniel Gudino was 13 years old at the time.
Shakes’ decision came after five days of testimony last week in which public defenders for Gudino argued that the boy lacked the criminal intent to carry out the crimes because he suffers from sleepwalking and hallucinations. A child psychiatrist called as a defense witness said Gudino thought he was shooting at ghosts.
Prosecutors, however, pointed to Gudino’s interview with a Colorado Springs detective on the day of the shootings in which the boy described picking the lock of a gun cabinet with toothpicks, loading five rounds into a .22-caliber rifle, killing his brother and aiming between his mother’s eyes, intending to kill her. He missed, but hit her in the right shoulder before attacking her with a knife, police said.
“When a child is killed, there is a demand for justice,” Shakes said. “That search for justice is frequently a call for some punishment.”
“When a child is killed at the hands of another child, that search for justice becomes more complex,” the judge added.
“When a child is killed at the hands of another child who is also a sibling – that search for justice becomes very, very complex,” he said.
Shakes described Gudino is an immature defendant, without any “street smarts.” He also said the sleep disorder issues raised by the boy’s attorneys could serve as a defense at trial or they could mitigate a sentence.
He also ruled that keeping Gudino at a juvenile detention center does not pose a threat. Shakes did not rule on bond, but added that if he had, he would have found that prosecutors had met their burden to prove they had enough evidence to continue holding Gudino without bond.
Moments after Shakes announced his decision, Deputy Public Defender Noreen Simpson leaned over and gave Gudino a long hug.
After the hearing, Simpson declined comment on the charges but added, “We’re going to get him back here and get some help lined up for him.”
Kathleen Walsh, a spokeswoman for the district attorney described the case as complex.
“We appreciate the court taking an entire week to hear all of the information and we respect the court’s decision,” Walsh said.
Had he been tried and convicted as an adult, Gudino could have faced a prison sentence of up to 48 years on a charge of second-degree murder and attempted murder and he would have been the youngest prison inmate in Colorado since 1893.
Gudino’s parents, who have attended nearly every hearing since his arrest, pleaded with Shakes on Friday to keep the case in juvenile court, vowing to get their son whatever help he needs.
Daphne Burlingame, an attorney who has acted as a spokeswoman for the parents, said they were grateful for the judge’s decision.
“The family just wanted to say thank you very much to the community, to the schools, their family and friends for so much support during this trying time,” Burlingame said. “And to say thank you to the judge for his wisdom and that they’re very happy with the result of this hearing.”

Today at the Capitol

HB 1352 passed thirds this morning. After concurrence it will move to the Governor's desk. A huge thanks to Senators Steadman and Mitchell and Rep. Waller for carrying this bill. This is the drug sentencing reform bill. The end of shackling of women giving birth also passed through House Judiciary (SB 193).  This afternoon it passed through 2nd reading in the House.  Just a few more steps!! Thank you Senator Hudak and Representative Levy.

Denver's need and cost for jail annex sparks debate - The Denver Post

Denver's need and cost for jail annex sparks debate - The Denver Post

The city of Denver has spent about $300,000 incarcerating Ron Schnei der on more than 500 criminal charges and municipal violations in the past 20 years, mostly because of run-ins after he huffs paint.

Schneider says in court records that he once had a promising career as a chef, managing the kitchen at the Paramount Cafe and working on the cooking staff for U.S. Sen. Gary Hart.

Now, the 50-year-old shuttles in and out of homeless shelters and jail.

Schneider, who could not be reached for comment, is described by judges as a model prisoner who teaches other inmates cooking skills in the jail's kitchen.

Privately, city officials have been holding an intense debate over the best way to handle people like Schnei der.

The outcome of those discussions could decide whether the city continues with plans to build a $25 million jail annex along Smith Road to supplement the inmate cells already there.

Denver Councilman Doug Linkhart wants to block the new 256-bed jail annex, approved by voters in 2005, and steer the money the city would spend operating the annex toward rehabilitation programs.

Declining jail populations make the annex unnecessary now that the city has built a new 1,500-bed downtown jail, Linkhart said.

He said he may push for a ballot issue asking the voters whether they would rather spend the annex's $25 million construction costs on recreation centers.

The city could also redirect the money toward another "justice-related" construction project, which would mean the issue would not have to go back to the voters, he said.

At the very least, Linkhart said, he hopes to delay for at least a year consideration of the construction contract.

"We're not supposed to be running a boarding room," he said. "Jail is supposed to be for people who are criminals, not people who are troubled. So many in there are just troubled."

On the other side are officials in the sheriff department who say blocking the annex would disrupt their long- range plans for the city's jail system.

Department officials want to tear down seven buildings at the Smith Road location that they view as antiquated, construct the annex and build a new parking lot.

Reforms reduced population

The plans at Smith Road were approved by voters as part of a $378 million justice-center package that also authorized a new courthouse and a new downtown jail along with the annex.

Shortly after voters approved the package, skyrocketing inmate populations had some fearing the city should have pushed for even more jail space.

Work by the Crime Prevention and Control Commission, which Linkhart chaired for two years, helped bring inmate populations down.

The city is now spending $2.3 million annually on programs pushed by the commission.

One city study found that the reforms reduced the average daily jail population by 227 inmates.

Throughout this year, David Edinger, special assistant to Denver Mayor John Hickenlooper handling safety issues, has been listening to Linkhart and officials in the sheriff department to try to bridge the divide.

This week, Linkhart pressed his case in a closed-door meeting with Hickenlooper, City Council President Jeanne Robb and others.

9NEWS.com | Denver | Colorado's Online News Leader | $7-million jail takes 'newer philosophy' with inmates

9NEWS.com | Denver | Colorado's Online News Leader | $7-million jail takes 'newer philosophy' with inmates
EAGLE COUNTY - Corey Baldwin spends 12 hours
day overseeing inmates in a new kind of jail that's
aimed at building relationships between those who
break the law and those who enforce it.

"I'm in here with the inmates at all times behind
locked doors," Baldwin said. "I'm interacting with the
inmates all day, so communication is a big part of
my job."

In this jail there's only one door. The beds, showers
and the recreation room are all in one room,
guarded by one deputy. Facing overcrowding, Eagle
County expanded its jail and its approach toward
inmate rehabilitation.

Captain Bill Kaufman says it means going from
small, single cells behind many closed doors, to
one open, well-lit room -- with video game
consoles, skylights and flat screen TVs.

"We started looking into a newer philosophy,"
Kaufman said.

Only minimum-risk inmates, or those who undergo
a series or programming classes, get to stay in the
POD. Any bad behavior means leaving the POD and
returning to older style jail cells.

The jail cost $7 million to build, and while small
amenities like the TVs and video game consoles
were paid for with money made at the inmate
commissary, critics might say it is too nice for
criminals. Those in law , however, say it is not as
nice as it might look.

"While this is a big, open space, if you have been
sentenced for nine months, it's not as big as you
think," Kaufman said.

Expert Argues Colo. Teen Murder Suspect Daniel Gudino Was 'Sleepwalking' - AOL News

Expert Argues Colo. Teen Murder Suspect Daniel Gudino Was 'Sleepwalking' - AOL News
May 8) -- A court hearing for a 14-year-old Colorado boy who allegedly killed his brother and stabbed his mother took an unusual twist when a psychiatrist testified this week that the teen was sleepwalking at the time.

And while prosecutors contend the boy would have been unable to pull off the crime while sleeping, a leading consultant in the field told AOL News it is possible.

"It is a complicated problem we are learning more and more about," she said, adding that besides aggression, eating and having sex have also been

Revised Bill May Not Close Prison

The Chieftain
\ DENVER — Flexibility was added Friday to a bill that originally called for the closure of one state prison.
  An amendment in the Senate Committee on State, Veterans and Military Affairs calls for the elimination of 300 prison slots. Those could come through scaling back placements in private prisons or state prisons, or through closure of a prison.

  The committee passed the bill on to the full Senate by a vote of 4-1. It already has passed in the House, but would return there for approval of changes made in the Senate.
  In its original form, HB1421 sought to decommission one state prison that houses 500 or more inmates. The Colorado Department of Corrections said 11 prisons fit that description. Eight of them are in Southern Colorado. 
  While the new approach could spare any prison from closing, it also exposes smaller prisons to closure that were safe under the bill in its original form. Among them are several state-run institutions in Southern Colorado: Trinidad Correctional Facility in Trinidad, Arrowhead Correctional Facility in Canon City, Four Mile Correctional Center in Canon City, Skyline Correctional Center in Canon City, San Carlos Correctional Facility in Pueblo and the Youthful Offender System in Pueblo.
  Private prisons such as Bent County and Crowley County correctional facilities in Southeastern Colorado also now are exposed to losing inmates.
  But the flexibility that is allowed under the amendment attached to the bill Friday could mean that no single prison will be saddled with heavy losses to its head count.
  Which prison would close was at the discretion of DOC's executive director under the original bill.

Posted using ShareThis

Escapee fatally shot by Commerce City police - The Denver Post

Escapee fatally shot by Commerce City police - The Denver Post

Police opened fire on a sport-utility vehicle in Commerce City early today, killing Boulder County Jail escapee Phillip Michael Boldin, and wounding a woman who was with him.

The fatal shooting happened at just after midnight at a trailer park in the 6900 block of Colorado Highway 2, said Christian Rasmussen, a Commerce City Police Department spokesman.

The woman in the car, who has not been identified, was taken to Denver Health Medical Center, but details about her injuries have not been released.

Boldin, 42, has been wanted since September on an escape warrant after he walked away from a court-ordered halfway house in Boulder County last September.

OUR VIEW: Unchain pregnant mothers in jail (vote in poll) | b - Opinion - Colorado Springs Gazette, CO

OUR VIEW: Unchain pregnant mothers in jail (vote in poll) | b - Opinion - Colorado Springs Gazette, CO
In this country, even prisoners and inmates are supposed to be treated with a modicum of basic dignity. Senate Bill 193, known as the anti-shackling bill, would ensure that pregnant mothers in Colorado prisons and jails, and their babies, are protected from the dehumanizing and dangerous ordeal of labor in chains.
The bill passed unanimously out of the Senate Judiciary Committee last week and goes to the Senate Appropriations Committee on Friday with the blemish of a small fiscal note of $44,000 — purportedly the additional annual cost of guarding unshackled women in labor. Other states have passed similar bills without incurring additional costs, but officials of the Colorado Department of Corrections insist they will need to have more correctional staff with inmates in the hospital if laboring mothers aren’t shackled.
The little-known bill, sponsored by Sen. Evie Hudak, D-Westminster, would prohibit the shackling of inmates and prisoners in all public and private incarceration facilities who are in labor, giving birth or recovering from giving birth. It makes an exception for mothers who pose threats to themselves or others, and for those who represent serious flight risks. The bill would require written public disclosure and explanation when exceptions are made.
Sen. Keith King, R-Colorado Springs, supports the bill because he says the state has a vested interest in protecting the health of mothers and babies from problems that can arise from giving birth in restraints.
Senators heard testimony from Boulder Weekly editor Pamela White, who researched and published a story on the horrors of women who have given birth while shackled.
“It’s about unchaining troubled women whose lives are already complicated,” White told The Gazette. “It’s also about their babies. Their babies are guilty of nothing, and their babies are doing time with them.”
(Please vote in poll to lower right, in red type. Must vote to see results. Thanks!)
White, who writes romance novels under a pen name, authored a book that features a Colorado prisoner giving birth in shackles, leading to a law against it. She told senators the real-life story of a Pennsylvania doctor who raced to cut shackles off a woman, using a hacksaw, in order to save mother and baby. The American Congress of Obstetricians and Gynecologists has mounted a campaign to stop the shackling of laboring mothers, declaring it dangerous (see their letter).
Though some Coloradans may have little sympathy for convicts, King reminds them that an unborn child can’t possibly have committed a crime and deserves every opportunity to receive a safe birth. He hopes to add a legislative declaration to the bill that would emphasize the health and safety of inmate mothers and their babies.


Posted using ShareThis

Teen In Colorado Springs May Face Murder Charge

CBS 4 Denver
COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (AP) ― A 14-year-old boy charged in the shooting death of his younger brother told a Colorado Springs detective he hoped what happened was "just a nightmare."

The boy's comments were part of a taped interview played in an El Paso County courtroom Wednesday during a hearing to determine whether the teenager should be tried as an adult. The hearing continues Thursday.

Prosecutors say the boy shot his younger brother while he slept last year and then wounded their mother by shooting her with a rifle and stabbing her with a knife.

The boy's defense attorneys say he has a history of sleepwalking and hallucinating. They say the teen would be the youngest inmate in 117 years at Colorado's Department of Corrections if he is tried and convicted as an adult.

Shackles Could Be Limited During Inmate Deliveries

CBS Denver
DENVER (AP) ― The Colorado Senate gave initial approval to legislation Tuesday that would ban leg shackles and waist restraints on female inmates during childbirth and limit the use of other restraints during delivery.

In Colorado, guards sometimes handcuff one arm of a state inmate to the bed during labor depending on her escape history and security level.

In rare instances, women are also handcuffed to the bed during delivery, according to the Colorado Department of Corrections. But unlike some other states, the department says Colorado inmates do not have to wear chains around their waist or have their legs restrained during labor or delivery.

The bill would only allow such restraints to be used if officials think the woman poses an immediate threat to medical staff. If restraints are used, authorities would have to maintain a record of what was used and for how long.

Guards would have to use the least restrictive restraints on pregnant inmates while transporting them. State prison officials say they don't use waist restraints or leg shackles, which could put pregnant women at risk of falling, starting in the second trimester.

The bill would apply to city and county jails and juvenile detention facilities in addition to state prisons.

At least six states largely ban the use of shackles on women during childbirth, which has been condemned by the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists for unnecessarily risking women's health.

The Senate's approval followed a debate that touched on the politics of abortion. Republicans backed the measure even though Democrats refused to include any reference to the babies of inmates.

Sen. Keith King, R-Colorado Springs, tried to add a legislative declaration stating that protecting the health and safety of the mother are vital to a healthy birth and the health of a "born baby."

But some Democrats objected to other parts of the declaration that used the word baby during the time of pregnancy.

Bill sponsor Sen. Evie Hudak, D-Westminster, said her intent was to make sure that female prisoners are being treated humanely at a time when they're the most vulnerable, not to define when a fetus becomes a baby.

The bill is up in House Judiciary on Monday.

9NEWS.com | Denver | Colorado's Online News Leader | Inmates worked at prison employees' homes

9NEWS.com | Denver | Colorado's Online News Leader | Inmates worked at prison employees' homes
STERLING - A 9Wants to Know investigation and a
citizen's complaint prompted a Colorado prison
warden to stop a program that allowed prison
employees to hire inmates for jobs at the homes of
employees.

One of the projects violated the state's $2,500
financial cap on inmate projects.

Inmates at the Sterling Correctional Facility worked
for employees doing jobs at a fraction of what a
private contractor would charge.

The inmate projects included building a Corian
counter top, building a sidewalk, delivering
firewood and most recently installing a septic
system, according to prison records reviewed by
9Wants to Know.

That most recent job cost $4,782, well in excess of
the Department of Corrections' policy cap.

Sterling Correctional Center Warden Kevin Milyard
stopped the practice after 9Wants to Know looked i
nto the program and a local contractor complained.

"I saw prisoners out excavating. It was the actual
inmates with a guard watching over them," said
Steve Frank, who called the prison to complain.

Frank owns an excavation business near Fleming,
about 20 miles from the prison. He admits he
wishes he was hired to do the job instead of the
inmates.

"The economy is down," he said. "I'm just upset they
are out there doing the jobs that private contractors
should be doing."

Frank estimates he lost $900 in profit by not being
hired to do what he estimates was a $6,000 job.
Inmates did it for about $4,800.

Highlands Ranch medical marijuana grower indicted - The Denver Post

Highlands Ranch medical marijuana grower indicted - The Denver Post

A Highlands Ranch man whose medical marijuana growing business was featured on a Denver television station has been indicted by the federal grand jury in Denver.

Christopher Bartkowicz was indicted late Tuesday for allegedly manufacturing and possessing at least 100 marijuana plants with intent to distribute.

Bartkowicz was also indicted on charges he maintained a drug-involved premises and manufacturing and distribution near a school.

The alleged medical-marijuana-growing operation was in the basement of Bartkowicz's Highlands Ranch home.

Bartkowicz, whose house is a block away from the Sand Creek Elementary School, came to the attention of the Drug Enforcement Administration in February when 9News featured Bartkowicz.

He told the station he serves as a caregiver to a number of medical-marijuana patients and hoped to turn a profit this year in the hundreds of thousands of dollars.

"I'm definitely living the dream now," Bartkowicz told 9News.

A day after Bartkowicz's story appeared, DEA agents raided the house.

"It's still a violation of federal law," said Jeffrey Sweetin, the DEA's special agent in charge in Denver. "It's not medicine. We're still going to continue to investigate and arrest people."

According to the U.S. Attorney's Office in Denver, the search at the Highland Ranch home was done with Bartkowicz's permission.

He later waived his right to being indicted and was charged by information on March 5.

However that changed after Bartkowicz announced at a change of plea hearing on April 16 that he planned to go to trial on the charges.

As a result, said the U.S. Attorney's Office, the matter was taken to the grand jury and the grand jury returned the three-count indictment late Tuesday.

Durango Herald News, Attorney general advocates control of dispensaries

Durango Herald News, Attorney general advocates control of dispensaries
Colorado Attorney General John Suthers said Tuesday he supports pending legislation that would allow local governments to opt out of allowing medical marijuana dispensaries.

He also defended his decision to join a national lawsuit challenging the new federal health-care reform law, and opposed Arizona's new immigration law.

Suthers made his positions known during a meeting with The Durango Herald's editorial board. He was in Grand Junction on Monday to launch the Colorado Meth Project, a new campaign aimed at deterring youths from trying methamphetamine. Suthers, a Republican, is seeking re-election against Democrat Stan Garnett, Boulder County district attorney.

Nothing in Amendment 20 - the medical marijuana law voters narrowly approved in 2000 - authorized dispensaries or the commercial sale of medical marijuana, Suthers said. Rather, it allowed patients with debilitative conditions to grow marijuana or obtain it from caregivers who have “significant responsibility for the welfare of the patient," he said.

House Bill 1284, which passed 39-23 and is pending in the state Senate, would allow local governments to forbid marijuana dispensaries by a vote of a city council, county commission or local voters.

“I really feel that's appropriate, because I think that the people ought to have a crack at whether we want these dispensaries, because they did not vote for that in 2000," Suthers said.

During the last 18 months - since Obama became president - the marijuana registry has grown from 2,000 names to 100,000 names, with a “big, huge backlog," Suthers said. In other words, about 2 percent of the state's population now holds a medical marijuana card.

While Suthers supports tougher regulations on medical marijuana dispensaries, he supported lower penalties for simple drug addicts, with the exception of meth. The judiciary is not sending people to prison for first- or second-time drug use and possession offenses, and the state doesn't want to send drug addicts to prison unless their drug activity is leading to other crimes, he said.

Troy Anderson: Sues State For Decade In The Hole

Westword
Troy Anderson knows he's never going to get out of prison alive. He's spent 23 of his forty years on the inside, and though he's never killed anyone, he's currently serving a 75-year sentence on multiple counts for two shootouts with police in the late 1990s.
Yet Anderson, who's been diagnosed with mental illnesses ranging from manic depression to "intermittent explosive disorder," figures he shouldn't have to spend all those years in solitary confinement at the Colorado State Penitentiary -- deprived of sunlight, books (he's allowed two a year), and the medications that might actually help him control his behavior and reduce his sentence. With the aid of student lawyers from the University of Denver's Sturm College of Law, he's filed a lawsuit in federal court challenging as unconstitutional the state prison policies that keep him locked down 23 hours a day and and denied mental health treatment.
Anderson, whose prison nickname is "Evil," has a long history of erratic behavior, suicide attempts and violence going back to an early age, a voluminous and much-misdiagnosed psychiatric record explored in my 2006 feature "Head Games." As he put it himself at that time, in his abrupt, staccato writing style:
"It may be too late to help me. But if I can help anyone else get better treatment. At least I did something. There's no hope here, man. I don't think it's right that I stay here, possibly for the rest of my life. All over a problem that medication could solve. Or at least help. But I can't get it. That's crazy!"
Since that article was published, Anderson's suit alleges, his treatment has only gotten worse. CSP staff have ignored their own doctors' recommendations, denying him prescribed medications or punishing him for a "bad attitude" by taking meds away; he's been refused entry to programs that might allow him to progress out of solitary because of negative observations recorded by staff, called "chrons," that he's never had a chance to read or challenge; and, despite a lack of disciplinary writeups, his isolation remains complete.
The Colorado Department of Corrections has a prison designed specifically for the mentally ill, but it's full. Mentally ill inmates who are considered to be "uncooperative" or "acting out" tend to end up at CSP, where their condition often deteriorates. Almost 40 percent of the state's "administrative segregation" (solitary confinement) inmates are classified as mentally ill.

Lawmakers snuff proposal to vote on dispensary ban - The Denver Post

Lawmakers snuff proposal to vote on dispensary ban - The Denver Post

State lawmakers today killed a proposal that would have asked voters whether to ban medical-marijuana dispensaries statewide.

The proposal, introduced by a handful of Republicans and backed by law enforcement officials, would have put before voters a ballot measure to clarify that only individual, small-scale caregivers could provide pot to medical-marijuana patients instead of large, commercial dispensaries.

The measure's proponents said Monday they fear acceptance of dispensaries will lead to increased pot use by teenagers and promote fraud in the medical-marijuana system. But dispensary defenders said they provide a safe, regulated way for approved patients to obtain marijuana.

Colorado Overtakes Maryland As 22nd State With Most Prisoners

The Statesman
Maryland won the battle and Colorado lost.
Neither state probably knew of the battle. But for several decades Maryland’s annual count of persons confined to Maryland’s state prisons had placed them 22d in the nation’s gross prison population.
As the annual count entered the 21st century, the continued increase in Colorado state prisoners took us from 25th to 23rd. And as the years passed Colorado came closer and closer to overtaking Maryland.
The contest became “serious” in 2004. Maryland held 23,276 state prisoners vs. Colorado with 20,841. While Maryland numbers remained steady, Colorado continued to close the gap.
If you looked at U.S. Bureau of Justice Statistics you will likely not find the number of state prisoners as of Dec.31, 2009. You will find the numbers of prisoners as of Dec. 1, 2008.
But when numbers are collected, there are people and organizations who can determine what they mean. State prisoners numbers as of Dec. 31, 2009 were collected and made available by the Public Safety Performance Project of the Pew Center On the States in partnership with the Association of State Correction Administrators.
I had originally attempted to find the 2009 numbers by phoning the Colorado prison statistic office. I kept getting different Colorado totals depending on who I spoke to. The number I settled on of 22,661 was incorrect. The Pew Center number was 22,795. Maryland dropped from 23,324 to 22,009 and into 23rd place. Colorado increased to 22d highest prison population.
On state prison percentage population reduction Maryland came in third, but when you sweep away New Hampshire (-173) and Rhode Island (-371), Maryland comes in second, a 5.6 percent drop of 1,315 prisoners.
First was Michigan showing 3,260 fewer prisoners, a 6.7 percent drop. Mississippi fell 5.4 percent with 1,233 fewer prisoners.
Nine of the 50 states hold slightly more than half of the state prisoners. The nine are Texas, 171,249; California, 169,413; Florida, 103,915; New York, 58,648; Georgia, 53,562; Penn., 51,429; Ohio, 51,606; Michigan, 45, 478, and Illinois, 45,161.
Overall state prison totals were 4,777 fewer than the Dec. 31, 2008 total of 1,408,830.
This reduction was the first in 38 years to have a smaller state prison population than in the proceeding year.
Colorado now has to worry about climbing from 22nd to 21st in a battle with Wisconsin, which had 23,112 prisoners or 317 more than Colorado as of Dec. 31, 2009. To Colorado’s credit, the state was 9th best in prison population reduction during 2009.
Why the drop in state prison population? The Pew Center gives a lot of credit to how parole revocations are now treated when mostly technical violations. Immediately holding violators in prison shows them the state “means it.”
Community-based treatment and diversion programs helped in Texas, as did shortened probation times. Nevada provides credits for education, vocation and abuse treatment. Mississippi reduced the nonviolent offender time actually spent in prison. Other useful tools: development of more accurate risk assessment, polls taken supporting alternatives to prison, and focus on cost-benefit analysis.
But Pew Center found the budget pressure played the big starting role. “Corrections cost has quadrupled in just the past 20 years and now account for one of every state general fund discretion dollar. Correction has been the second fastest growing category of state budgets behind only Medicaid and nearly 90 percent of that spending has gone to prisons.”
Pew writers claim, “No matter what happens in the short term, the United States will continue to lead the world in incarcerations for the foreseeable future.”

Bill That Would Close Prison Advances

The Chieftain
DENVER — A bill that calls for one Colorado prison to close by Nov. 1 gained preliminary approval in the House on Friday.
  Under HB1421, Colorado Department of Corrections Executive Director Ari Zavaras would choose which prison to shutter. Eleven prisons meet the criteria outlined in the bill — eight of them in Southern Colorado. A DOC spokeswoman said even if a prison is decommissioned by the bill, no jobs will be lost.
  Originally, the bill sought to redirect a portion of funds saved by closing a prison to anti-recidivism programs at private prisons in the state. However, it was amended in the House Judiciary Committee on Thursday and on the floor Friday to instead devote funds to staffing levels at state-run prisons and existing programs for inmate treatment and preparation for release. The committee passed the bill on a 6-5 vote.
  After the amendments, none of the savings would be earmarked for private prisons, and inmates from whichever prison would close would be transferred to state prisons rather than private ones, as long as bed space is available.
  Provisions also were added to address the possibility that DOC can't assess and designate a prison for closure by the Nov. 1 deadline.
  Fiscal analysis of the bill used Fort Lyon Correctional Facility as an example and showed that the state would save $7 million in the fiscal year 2010-11, and $10 million in the fiscal year 2011-12 if that prison closed.
  One of the bill's sponsors, House Majority Leader Paul Weissmann, D-Louisville, said just because Fort Lyon — located 90 miles east of Pueblo — was used as an example, it shouldn't be assumed that it is the site that will be selected.
  "Fort Lyon was selected for fiscal analysis as a low-ball estimate, a conservative representation of the savings," Weissmann said. "You can't rule out Fort Lyon or any number of the facilities that meet the criteria of this bill, for that matter. That would be for the Department of Corrections to decide."
  And that process hasn't begun, according to DOC spokeswoman Monica Crocker.
  "We do not have a priority list or a clear-cut facility that meets the criteria" for closure, she said.