2011 Drug Law Reform in Colorado a Mixed Bag
- December 2, 2011
JUSTICE – Prison Spending and Sentencing
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- JUSTICE – Prison Spending and Sentencing
What’s in Store for Criminal Justice Reforms in 2011?0
- November 17, 2010
Will Colorado Republicans Show Fiscal Leadership On Prison Spending?0
- December 12, 2009
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.
READ MOREPrison Budget: Sentencing Laws Drive State Spending0
- June 28, 2009
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.
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Prison Budget: Sentencing Laws Drive State Spending0
- June 28, 2009
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.
READ MORECriminal sentencing bill is flawed, but debate over sentencing is long overdue0
- April 21, 2009
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.
READ MOREReducing Recidivism and Lowering Corrections Costs0
- January 13, 2009
In Colorado, recidivism is defined as “a return to prison for either new criminal activity or technical violation of parole, probation or non-departmental community placement within three years of release.” Recidivism is also a major factor in the decades worth of massive growth in the state’s prison population that taxpayers are obligated to pay for.
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