Cigarette smuggling to rocket with tobacco tax hike
Research shows high excise taxes invite scofflaws to traffic in illicit cigarettes, encourage corruption among public officials and trigger violence against people, property and police.
HB 1283: Prescription drug monitoring bill does more harm than good
by Ari Armstrong Prescription drug abuse is a serious problem, sometimes a fatal one. But the answer is not for the government to monitor and harass people who suffer from devastating pain — and make it harder for them to manage their pain — in a misguided attempt to save drug abusers from themselves. Unfortunately, […]
Don’t let Clements tragedy derail Colorado’s criminal justice reform efforts
Let’s not allow a tragedy to undo years of careful work toward sound policy reforms.
Legislature Has the Chance to Set a Standard on 64
by Harris Kenny and Leonard Gilroy Last month Colorado voters resoundingly passed Amendment 64 into the state constitution, legalizing both recreational marijuana and industrial hemp. So far, realizing the will of the voters is on track, but implementation risks threaten to undermine the intentions behind Amendment 64. Policy makers are contending with thriving black markets […]
High Rate of Colorado Pleas Undermines Right to Trial by Jury
by Ari Armstrong Californian Brian Banks wanted to pursue a professional football career. Instead he spent six years in prison for a crime he did not commit. After he was accused of rape and kidnapping in 2002, reports ABC News, “his attorneys encouraged him to plead no contest instead of going to trial before a […]
Are the opponents of drug law reform dishonest, ignorant or both?
Senate Bill 163 is a modest but important next step in scaling back the worst excesses of the expensive, intrusive and counter-productive War on Drugs in Colorado.
Trust Judges with Juvenile Placements
When Colorado lawmakers created the direct-file option, the expectation was that it would be used primarily for homicide cases. However, less serious offenders and juveniles who never spent time in a juvenile facility being sent to the adult system indicate the current system has gone too far and, like other governmental functions, needs appropriate checks and balances.
Judicial review of direct file in Colorado good for juvenile justice
Based on a totality of the factors, we believe that judicial review must be an integral part of transferring a juvenile to criminal court, given both the rehabilitative aspects of juvenile offending and the specialized programing offered in the juvenile justice system.
2011 Drug Law Reform in Colorado a Mixed Bag
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.
And while lawmakers continued that reform momentum in 2011, those efforts were tempered by other bills that expanded an already intrusive and expensive drug law regime that returns questionable public safety value.
Legislature Restrains Its Compulsion to Overcriminalize Colorado
The 2011 Colorado legislature took a modest, but welcome step towards restraining its own penchant for overcriminalizing the economic and personal lives of Coloradans. Let’s hope it makes us all a little bit freer from an often overweening state.
Fiscal Conservatives Should Want Colorado Parolees To Succeed
To be sure, when offenders released to parole then re-offend (commit crimes), a revocation of parole (or a new prosecution) and a return to prison is a necessary part of the price we pay for separating criminals from the public. But technical parole revocations back to prison (where there is not a new crime, but rather some violation of the terms of parole) is an available area for lawmakers to seek out reforms for both cost savings and more efficient use of existing criminal justice resources.
The Case for Further Sentencing Reform in Colorado
The first and most basic duty of Colorado’s criminal justice system is to protect the innocent from force and fraud. And as a government service, the roughly $32,000 (average cost)1 taxpayers spend annually per state prisoner is a good bargain for the separation of violent and predatory criminals from the public.
