prisons
Colorado Department of Corrections to review COVID vaccine mandate as it scrambles to fill 1,800 open positions
A vaccine mandate, testing requirements for prison workers are under administrative review, with a potential rollback coming this week
Out on parole in Colorado? You can vote!
How a mother and son navigated the voting process in Colorado
Paroled people can vote in Colorado. Why did forms say they couldn’t?
More than two years after a reform bill, outdated government messaging still causes confusion
Colorado’s first prison internet radio program begins airing from behind bars
Inside Wire, with incarcerated producers from three Colorado facilities, hit the digital air waves Tuesday
Colorado lawmakers are rethinking a 2019 law that made possessing thousands of lethal fentanyl doses a misdemeanor
The 2019 passage of House Bill 1263, which had bipartisan support, made possession of up to 4 grams of almost all drugs for personal use a misdemeanor
Lawsuit claims Colorado is violating anti-slavery law by pressuring inmates to work despite health concerns
Two inmates claim they effectively had days added to their sentences when they refused to work in 2020
Colorado is planning a shift to an “endemic response” to COVID-19, possibly as soon as summer
The Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment wants private companies to help it figure out what to do
Trucker’s 110-year sentence in fatal I-70 crash spotlights Colorado’s mandatory-minimum sentencing laws
Rogel Aguilera-Mederos, 26, was sentenced to a prison term twice as long as some Colorado murderers
A lot more drugs are being confiscated in Colorado prisons as inmates die from overdoses
The Colorado Department of Corrections is asking the legislature for money to create a K-9 team that can detect narcotics coming into state prisons
Tiger King’s Joe Exotic will get shorter prison sentence following ruling by Denver-based federal appeals court
Joe Exotic had been sentenced to 22 years in federal prison in January 2020. The appeals court ordered the trial court to re-sentence him.
Colorado may expand early prison release program for people who committed serious crimes before age 21
Proponents of a House Bill 1209 argue some adolescents shouldn’t be punished with long sentences for crimes committed in their youth. But some crime victims’ families oppose the measure.
Colorado prisons have strict limits on when they can place inmates in solitary confinement. Jails could be next.
New legislation would require local jails to keep youth and people with certain medical or mental health conditions out of solitary confinement, with strict rules on when those individuals can be housed in isolation.
Rep. Amabile: Solitary confinement is tantamount to torture. Our bill would restrict it in Colorado’s jails.
Prolonged isolation behind bars is cruel, inhumane, degrading treatment and harmful to health.
Colorado is offering prison staff $500 to get COVID-19 vaccines in effort to boost low inoculation rates
The $500, subject to normal taxes and withholdings, will come from the agency budget to fund the bonus for those who complete vaccination by May 15
Three cases of South African coronavirus variant found in Colorado prison
The variant is of particular concern because vaccines may be less effective against it
Opinion: Polis must enact a COVID-19 vaccination plan for Colorado’s hard-hit prisons
Refusing to implement a prison vaccine plan now will exacerbate suffering and the pandemic’s unequal impact on communities of color.
Colorado judges denied many “compassionate release” requests during pandemic
Federal judges in Colorado approved just three requests in 2020 for sentence reductions or compassionate release from inmates with health concerns amid the coronavirus pandemic.
Judge dismisses ACLU lawsuit against Gov. Polis seeking to reduce prison population during COVID-19
“The Court does not have the power to declare the Governor’s alleged failure to act unconstitutional,” according to the ruling