More police accountability, criminal justice reform bills to come in Colorado legislative session

Colorado lawmakers are yet again preparing a slate of bills aimed at reforming the state’s criminal justice system, this year drawing ideas from a summer of racial justice protests demanding changes to policing and a deadly pandemic that forced innovations in the justice system while highlighting its failures.

The protests and the pandemic have added urgency to efforts to improve how thousands of people are arrested, jailed, convicted and imprisoned every year in Colorado. The protest movement also brought heightened attention to reform efforts in Colorado that have been ongoing for years, those who work on the legislation say.

The massive COVID-19 outbreaks in jails and prisons also highlighted a need for change, they say.

“Our phone blew up all summer from people in the community who wanted to get involved and people who had loved ones locked up,” said Christie Donner, executive director of the Colorado Criminal Justice Reform Coalition.

Read more: https://www.denverpost.com/2021/01/16/criminal-justice-reform-colorado-legislature/