Posted inCrime and Courts, News

Colorado’s largest jails cut their populations because of coronavirus. Now the numbers are creeping back up.

Colorado’s largest jails are becoming more crowded after population levels dropped to historic lows last year as officials made efforts to slow the spread of COVID-19 behind bars.  Now, as the world returns to a version of “normal” and court hearings have resumed, numbers are creeping closer to pre-pandemic levels at many of Colorado’s largest […]

Posted inCrime and Courts, Health, News, Politics and Government

Colorado prisons have strict limits on when they can place inmates in solitary confinement. Jails could be next.

Ryan Partridge had a number of run-ins with the Boulder County Sheriff’s Department in 2016. At the time, he suffered from paranoia, delusions and psychosis, and was in and out of jail for minor charges.  While in jail, Ryan Partridge was often placed in a restraint chair or kept in solitary confinement for several days […]

Posted inOpinion, Opinion Columns

Nicolais: A Colorado Supreme Court justice put principle over personal preference in two recent cases

When the Colorado Supreme Court issued twin pre-Christmas rulings denying political subdivisions government immunity from anti-discrimination laws, I really thought I would be writing a column lauding the outcome. I thought I would be cheering the court’s decision to close a loophole through which organizations like Denver Health and the El Paso County Sheriff’s Office […]

Posted inColoradans, COVID, Crime and Courts, Health, News

Mask rules in jails vary from county to county as pandemic worsens in Colorado

By Allison Sherry, CPR News Nine months into the coronavirus pandemic and amid the state’s largest surge in critical cases, how much protection jail inmates get from the virus depends a lot on where they’re incarcerated. CPR News has found that jails across the state have varying policies on both supplying masks and requiring inmates […]