Colorado Senators Embark on Journey to Stop Repeat Offenders from Getting Free Passes Last year at this time, we were discussing how many more free passes those charged with low-level felonies and misdemeanors were going to get under Senator Pete Lee’s bail reform legislation—until a crime wave changed our thinkingRead More →
Senator Claims Law Enforcement “Mischaracterizing” His “Jail Population Management Tools” Legislation—New Amendment To “Fix” Bill Is Further Evidence Of Its Unconstitutionality Senator Pete Lee is steaming forward with his amendment to “fix” the fatally flawed legislation brought by the ACLU (Senate Bill 21-062), a bill to have the legislature intrude onRead More →
Utah Latest State to Repeal Cash Bail Reform As Advocates Push for Bail Reform in Colorado In 2020, Utah passed bail reform legislation to address what some lawmakers claimed was concern for indigent people stuck in jail who were unable to afford their bail. After a mere six months inRead More →
Bail Reform Legislation Would Create a Presumption of Personal Recognizance Bonds in All Felony 4, Felony 5, Felony 6, and Misdemeanor Crimes in Colorado As crime continues to spike in Colorado’s urban centers, bail reformers are at it again, pushing Senate Bill 21-062. This new proposed legislation attempts to furtherRead More →
University Study Finds Colorado Pretrial Risk Assessment Tool is Biased Against African-American Defendants We’ve been hard at work the last couple of years warning state legislators and the Colorado Commission on Juvenile Justice (CCJJ) to stop advocating for statewide pretrial risk assessments and pretrial services because the Colorado Pretrial RiskRead More →
A new study bolsters claims that a widely used pretrial risk assessment exacerbates racial disparities in Colorado’s jails (excerpt from Colorado Newsline Aug 14 2020) On Oct. 8, 2018, Samuel Bouknight was arrested on Colfax Avenue and booked into the Denver city jail for driving under the influence of alcohol.Read More →
Colorado Legislation that Will Increase Mass Incarceration Advances; Governor’s Public Safety Director Leading the Effort The Governor’s Public Safety Director Stan Hilkey is pushing policies that will increase mass incarceration in Colorado with Senate Bill 161 (SB-161), a bill modeled after the so-called success in Mesa County. The bill wasRead More →
Where Is Colorado Public Safety Director Stan Hilkey On Pretrial Risk Assessments Now? Known supporter of the Pretrial Justice Institute (“PJI”) and their policies of pretrial risk assessments and supervision of pretrial defendants is none other than Colorado Department of Public Safety Director Stan Hilkey. Hilkey has written op-eds onRead More →
NEW: Landmark Report on Criminal Risk Algorithms Demonstrates Why CO House Bill 1226 is Fatally Flawed On Friday, a landmark research report was issued by the Partnership on AI (Artificial Intelligence) on risk assessments in criminal justice according to an article on Venturebeat.com entitled Algorithms aren’t ready to automate pretrial bail hearings. The PartnershipRead More →
Colorado Legislature Poised to Transfer the Power to Regulate Local Bail Policy to The State Court Administrator, Including Ordering Counties to Spend Budget Dollars on Pretrial Services Programs There’s been a lot of conversation about the so-called national “end cash bail” movement. In fact, the end cash bail movement startedRead More →
