Colorado’s spiking crime rate follows a well-documented, yearslong decline in the number of criminals behind bars. Both trends come courtesy, in large part, of a Legislature bent on coddling criminals and letting them off the hook in pursuit of “justice reform.”

Our General Assembly has been on a justice-reform spree for several years now, reducing penalties and otherwise softening the consequences for a host of offenses. Lawmakers have made possession of fentanyl and other dangerous drugs a misdemeanor; they have made it harder to prosecute ex-cons with felony records for illegal possession of firearms; they have reduced penalties for stealing a car – in a state that now tops the nation in auto theft. That’s just a sampling.

Alongside that, however, there’s another gaping hole in Colorado’s justice system that is contributing to the crime wave: The criminals who go to prison don’t serve their full sentence. Often enough, nowhere near it. That might come as a startling revelation to many law-abiding citizens, but it is standard procedure.

That’s why our state needs a fix like the “Truth in Sentencing” ballot proposal recently submitted by a citizens group to the secretary of state for title approval. Advance Colorado Action’s ballot proposal – another attempt at a similar proposal by the same group that was derailed on a technicality last spring – would make the state’s most violent criminals serve the bulk of their sentences behind bars.

Law-and-order prosecutors and others in law enforcement support the policy. John Kellner – district attorney for the 18th Judicial District, the state’s largest – told us it’s “sorely needed.”

Generally, felons in Colorado can be considered for parole after they have served only half their sentence. And that’s after subtracting “earned time” – credit given for participating in prison jobs, job training, literacy classes and assorted other activities – as well as credit for the time spent in jail while the inmate was still a defendant awaiting trial.

Consequently, hardened criminals routinely leave prison all too soon and just as routinely commit more crimes. Periodically, a more spectacular example even makes headlines.

Like the conviction the other day in the 18th Judicial District of a child molester and parolee with an extensive felony record – on new charges including possession of child pornography with intent to distribute. But many, many more such cases never make the news. They’re workaday.

The link between declining incarceration and rising crime seems self-evident. A groundbreaking study released last year by Colorado’s Common Sense Institute reaffirmed that. The study found that the number of convicts behind bars at Colorado prisons dropped an astounding 23% from 2008 to 2021- while the number of crimes per year exploded by 47%.

The very least we can do is keep criminals in prison longer. Long enough, at least, to serve the better part of their sentences.

And Coloradans can’t wait around for their soft-on-crime Legislature to do something about it. Thanks to Advance Colorado Action, we have an alternative – the ballot box.

The “Truth in Sentencing” proposal would require those convicted of second-degree murder, first-degree assault, first-degree kidnapping, first- or second-degree sexual assault, first-degree arson, first-degree burglary or aggravated robbery to serve at least 85% of their sentence.

This citizens initiative has a long road ahead before the next election. It has to gather enough signatures from voters and pass muster with the state to make the ballot. We wish it well.

Denver Gazette Editorial Board