Free Colorado’s Liquor Stores from Prohibition-era Rules
Colorado unemployment rose back up to 7.5 percent in December. We remain in an economic slump. Gov. Bill Ritter has implemented and proposed a wide variety of net tax hikes and fees. The state budget remains in shambles.
A Closer Look at Sentencing Reform
Run Time: 0:19:14 MP3 10/02/09 Over the last twenty years, prison spending in Colorado has gone from less than 3 percent to nearly 9 percent of general fund spending in Colorado. The legislature’s ability to effectively impact prison spending lies in it prerogative to write sentencing and parole law. The Colorado Commission on Criminal and […]
Don’t Panic Over Interpol’s New Legal Immunities in the United States
Over the past few weeks, there has been a lot of concern in some quarters about President Obama’s Executive Order extending certain legal immunities to the International Criminal Police Organization, or Interpol. These concerns are misplaced.
Will Colorado Republicans Show Fiscal Leadership On Prison Spending?
Republicans often claim to be the party of fiscal conservatism and limited government. But Republican lawmakers in Colorado show little enthusiasm for applying those principles to Colorado’s hugely expensive prison bureaucracy. So when sentencing reform bills pop up in the next legislative session, it will be an excellent opportunity for Republicans to show if they really are the party of fiscal discipline, or if they are going to leave the heavy lifting to the Democrat majority.
More Public Surveillance Means Less Liberty
The use of public surveillance cameras to fight crime has been a heated topic for quite some time. The issue was reignited last August when the city of Denver used federal funds to purchase an additional fifty High Activity Location Observation (HALO) cameras from the original thirteen cameras at $25,000 a pop to fight crime. Increasing the number of surveillance cameras may create a marginally safer environment, but at a significant cost to civil liberty.
Colorado’s War on Drugs a Fiscal Nightmare
Colorado lawmakers’ long-running devotion to the War on Drugs has helped push state prison spending to unsustainable levels. In the meantime, illicit drugs remain readily available throughout the state. This year, the Colorado Commission on Criminal and Juvenile Justice (CCJJ) has broken down into several sub-groups including a Drug Policy Task Force, to take a hard look at the state’s drug laws and sentencing policies.
Prison Spending and Sentencing Reform
Run Time: 0:24:40 MP3 08/25/09 Senior fellow Mike Krause interviews Christy Donner of the Colorado Criminal Justice Reform Coalition about runaway prison spending in Colorado, and the ongoing work of the Colorado Commission on Criminal and Juvenile Justice. Mike Krause Justice Policy
Downzoning Northwest Denver is Contrary to Sustainable Development Goals
City planners are seeking to slam the brakes on duplex development in the Berkeley neighborhood of northwest Denver by simply downzoning the whole area. But the fact is that duplexes play an important role in both the ongoing demographic shift from the suburbs back into the city, and in the organic development of Berkeley into an ever more dynamic, walkable and desirable neighborhood.
New Denver Zoning Code Should OK Granny Flats in Berkeley
Under Denver’s current clunky, antiquated and bureaucrat-friendly zoning code, the construction of accessory dwelling units (ADUs, also know as granny flats or carriage houses) is not allowed in Denver neighborhoods.
Prison Budget: Sentencing Laws Drive State Spending
So the current opportunity cost of Colorado’s extreme prison spending spree is a quarter billion dollars that could have been spent on health care and higher education.
Prison Budget: Sentencing Laws Drive State Spending
Back on June 3, Gov. Bill Ritter signed into law Senate Bill 228, repealing a longstanding statutory spending limitation (the Bird-Arveschoug cap) that held the annual increase in general fund spending in Colorado to 6 percent. But take a breath before anyone gets all teary-eyed – whether from joy or sorrow – because the majority Democrats in the Legislature will finally have the budgetary flexibility to spend as they see fit. Recent history shows that prison spending in Colorado, and the sentencing polices that drive that spending, has been constraining state spending for decades and will continue to do so into the near future.
Criminal sentencing bill is flawed, but debate over sentencing is long overdue
Few issues in Colorado state government generate as much fear-driven acrimony or panic-tinged opposition as criminal sentencing reform. This helps explain why even modest sentencing reforms, which could potentially save million of dollars in prison spending, have been off the table during the last few big budget battles.
