The old truism was, “Do the crime, do the time.”

The new reality falls far short of that.

Criminals who go to prison in Colorado typically don’t serve their full sentence. Not even close. That might surprise a lot of Coloradans, but it is standard procedure.

Felons by and large can be considered for parole after they have served as little as half their sentence. That’s after subtracting “earned time” – credit given for participating in prison jobs, job training, literacy classes and assorted other activities that jailers want to encourage – as well as credit for the time spent in jail while the inmate was a defendant awaiting trial.

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The upshot is hardened criminals typically leave prison all too soon, and many of them commit more crimes.

But don’t expect Colorado’s Legislature to do anything about it. Ruling Democrats have been slashing criminal penalties for years as part of a “justice reform” agenda pushed by their party’s fringe. It ensures serious lawbreakers will be less likely to wind up behind bars in the first place.

So it’s no surprise that same legislative majority shot down a bill this week that would have required convicts to serve more of the sentence they were given in court.

HB24-1127 would have required offenders convicted of murder, kidnapping, sexual assault and a number of other serious crimes to serve 85% of the time to which they were sentenced before they could be eligible for parole. Offenders who had been convicted of a crime of violence twice before would have had to serve out their full sentence before parole eligibility.

It was hardly a radical rewrite of current law, but apparently it was too much to ask of the criminal element by the lights of their apologists who run the House Judiciary Committee. Led by Chairman Mike Weissman of Aurora, the committee’s Democrats voted Wednesday to kill the bill.

The good news for law-abiding Coloradans is that a citizens advocacy group is now preparing to petition substantially the same proposal onto the statewide ballot.

Advance Colorado’s “Truth in Sentencing” initiative aims to ask voters in November to do what the legislative majority doesn’t have the wisdom or courage to do – demand accountability of criminal convicts.

The consequences of doing nothing can be horrific. Consider the case of Kenneth Dean Lee. He was sentenced in May in 18th Judicial District Court to 40 years in prison for what a news release by the district attorney called “his latest assault involving a young child.”

Yes, latest.

This time, it was for a sexual assault on a 7-year-old girl in Aurora in 2021. It turned out Lee had been paroled the previous year for a 2014 conviction on charges involving almost identical incidents; only the victims were different. He was supposed to be serving 23 years to life but instead was released after only six years – to prey on Colorado’s children again.

Colorado voters need to pick up the ball where the Legislature dropped it – and enact Truth in Sentencing.

“Surveys consistently show that crime is one of Coloradans’ top concerns,” Advance Colorado’s Michael Fields said in a news release after the Truth in Sentencing bill was killed in committee.

“We’re confident that when Colorado voters have the chance to consider this measure, they will strongly endorse this new tool to keep violent criminals behind bars longer and out of our communities.” 

Let’s hope so.

Colorado Springs Gazette Editorial Board