On Nov. 11, 2015, Michael Marshall was a street preacher with a history of mental illness. He was arrested that day for trespassing and disturbing the peace at a motel, and taken to jail in Denver.

But it was what happened to him at the jail that led Democrats at the state Capitol to seek to prohibit arrests for petty offenses.

Marshall was killed by Denver Sheriff deputies, a death ruled a homicide by the coroner due to “positional asphyxia due to restraint by law enforcement” and the city paid out a $4.6 million settlement to Marshall’s family in 2017.

On Tuesday, the House Judiciary Committee will review House Bill 1169, sponsored by Rep. Jennifer Bacon, D-Denver, and named for Marshall, which would prohibit law enforcement from arresting people for a laundry list of petty offenses, except for offenses such as victims’ rights petty theft, or driving under the influence.

Instead of an arrest, individuals would face a summons. 

Notably, the proposal would prohibit an arrest for prostitution offenses, with one backer arguing that sex workers should not face jail.   

Most people who are arrested for petty offenses are homeless or suffer from substance use disorder or serious mental illness, according to Tristan Gorman of the Colorado Criminal Defense Bar, which backs the bill. 

Gorman said that, more than anywhere else in the criminal legal system, police arrest mentally unwell people – many of whom are homeless – and put them in jail pretrial, while they’re still presumed innocent. Just to get out of jail, they “often plead guilty to something that they may not have even done, or that is overcharged,” she said.  

Gorman said what the bill’s seeks is “mild reform.”

“We’re not going to detain people pretrial and destabilize them further, particularly if their issues are mental illness or housing insecurity, for the benefit of something that at worst” would amount to 10 days in jail, Gorman said. 

The bill has drawn strong opposition from law enforcement, retailers, building managers and others.

The petty offenses that would result in a summons instead of an arrest include:

Gorman said the public indecency charges the bill would apply to do not put a person on a sex offenders’ list. For example, that could include a college student streaking in the buff across campus.

With regard to prostitution charges, “we shouldn’t be prosecuting sex workers at all, let alone jailing them,” Gorman said. 

Law enforcement and retailers are fighting back. 

In a statement Monday, Chris Howes of the Colorado Retail Council said, “Colorado retailers play an important part in maintaining the vitality of our neighborhoods. They are already experiencing daily challenges with trespassing, product theft, harassment of customers, and illegal drug use in their stores. If House Bill 1169 were to pass and law enforcement could not make arrests, we are certain that these problems would be exacerbated, not improved.”

Sandra Hagen Solin, head of the Northern Colorado Legislative Alliance, the joint public policy arm of the Fort Collins, Loveland and Greeley chambers of commerce, added that the “authority to arrest to intervene in illegal activity, even those deemed ‘low level’ is critical for law enforcement to keep peace and order across Colorado.”

“Our communities are asking law enforcement to get tougher on crime and to protect the public’s safety,” said Sheriff James Van Beek of Eagle County, president of the County Sheriffs of Colorado. “Legislation like this does just the opposite by requiring law enforcement to look the other way on crimes that impact public safety, hurt local businesses and put employees and customers in harm’s way.”

Bacon told Colorado Politics she is listening to opponents and plans amendments to address some of those concerns.

The bill is slated for a 1:30 p.m. hearing in the House Judiciary Committee Tuesday.