If it promotes lawlessness, count on state Sen. Pete Lee to lead the charge. His spearheading of new policies under the brand of “criminal justice reform” plays a direct role in Colorado’s soaring crime rate.

If Lee had his way last year, the Legislature would have passed Senate Bill 62. Known as “Jail Population Management Tools: Concerning measures to reduce jail populations,” the law would have prevented the arrests of suspects for crimes including class 4, 5, or 6 felonies and level 3 or 4 drug felonies. Even some of his more liberal colleagues considered it a bridge too far.

Two years before that attempt, Lee successfully led an effort to reduce the felony crimes of possessing schedule 1 or 2 controlled substances to misdemeanors. It has people flocking to Colorado to possess and distribute up to 4 grams of dangerous drugs – most notably fentanyl – without fear of arrest, cash bond or other serious consequence.

First responders, the DEA, and other government sources report 2 milligrams of fentanyl can cause the overdose of an adult. That means one can possess enough of this drug to cause 2,000 overdose deaths without committing a felony or spending a night in jail.

Denver Police Chief Paul Pazen told The Gazette’s editorial board Wednesday that fentanyl will likely cause more deaths in his city this year than COVID. He quoted bus drivers calling Union Station as a “lawless hellhole” of fentanyl and methamphetamine distribution that only moves to other parts of town when his department intervenes.

They can arrest the drug dealers all they want, but they face no consequences and go right back out on the streets to kill teens and young adults who have no idea how to manage fentanyl-laced drugs.

So, it came as no surprise to see the state’s leading advocate of going soft-on-crime speak in favor of a Democratic resolution last week supporting anything-goes voting bills intended to negate laws against voter fraud.

“What we are being told is to protect the integrity of the system, to prevent voter fraud, to prevent people coming in who are not registered to vote to come in and vote. Well, I would suggest that the voter fraud argument is a fraud itself,” Lee said.

Just as nothing should severely regulate deadly amounts of fentanyl, nothing should keep anyone from voting in any election. No one should have to show an ID or prove residence. Just allow voter chaos.

Maybe that’s because Lee has broken voting regulations for years, and it is the worst-kept secret in Colorado politics. In a 2020 audio obtained this week by the conservative website ColoradoPeakPolitics.com, Lee explains to an ally his concerns about representing a district he does not live in. He merely leases an apartment in the district for his stepdaughter.

“Mark Waller did the same thing in the commission deal,” Lee says in his defense, arguing he should get away with the offense because he believes someone else did.

Lee goes on to tell the unidentified woman that he’s working with criminal defense attorney John Buckley. It’s a Class 5 felony to give “false information regarding the elector’s present residence…”

The woman questions whether anything will come of it “unless there is somebody who is threatening to turn you over to the DA, and the DA is going to pick it up, and charge you with a felony after voting.”

Lee symbolizes Colorado’s dangerous and deadly movement toward lawlessness. No wonder he wants a state and country that chooses leaders with the type of elections we see in corrupt and undeveloped countries.

Colorado Springs Gazette Editorial Board