Forty-Five Years Ago This Week: “People to whom I’ve talked to say, ‘Yes’,” said Sen. Barbara Holme, D-Denver, “victims of crime should be compensated.”

Holme said she would introduce a victim compensation bill in the upcoming legislative session, but the topic was difficult.

“The subject is more tricky than you might think at first,” Holme said. “Many criminals are never caught, they cannot be made to pay compensation. Those victims only get compensation if the government, i.e. taxpayers, pay.”

Holme said that if the state tried to compensate for only the really heinous crimes like murder or rape, the money needed would be “enormous.” 

“With the 7% limit on increases in state spending, a new, costly program, no matter how worthy, has little chance of getting approved,” Holme said. “So I am just trying to start a much more limited program … just requiring parolees to pay restitution for actual damages.”

According to Holme, some parolees were already paying restitution, but her bill would expand the program. Holme was still in the midst of determining an appropriate level of restitution payments, arguing that making them so burdensome that parolees would return to crime would be counterproductive. 

“Current law provided that someone may be on parole for only one year and that if they break the conditions of parole, they may be sent back to the Cañon City [detention facility] for only three months,” Holme said. “I don’t think three months is enough of an incentive. My bill provides that someone failing to make restitution payments can be sent back to prison for three months to one year.”

Twenty-Five Years Ago: Rep. Gayle Berry’s, R-Grand Junction, ‘Innocent Spouses’ bill, which would grant state tax relief to individuals who are unaware that their spouse did not report certain income in a joint tax return, passed the state House unanimously. 

At the time, federal law did provide for “innocent spouse relief” when a husband or wife was unaware of their spouse’s unreported income and had no reason to be aware of the information. However, Colorado law in 2001 still specified that both parties could be held liable for any unreported income. According to Berry, her bill would bring state law into compliance with federal law.

“Although figures are not available to know exactly how many people will be affected by this legislation, we know of divorce cases and other instances where this has become an issue,” Berry said. “I believe it is unfair to penalize a wife or husband for an inaccurate filing when they do not know about income their spouse has failed to report and do not benefit from it.”

In other news, Gov. Bill Owens presented a special license plate to Congressional Medal of Honor recipient and Adams County resident George Taro “Joe” Sakato.

A native of California, Sakato served in the 442nd Regional Combat Team during World War II. On Oct. 29, 1944, on Hill 617, near Biffontaine, France, after his platoon was decimated by enemy fire, Private Sakato made a one-man rush that encouraged his platoon to charge and destroy the enemy’s strongpoint.

According to the Medal of Honor Museum, “By continuously ignoring enemy fire, and by his gallant courage and fighting spirit, he turned impending defeat into victory and helped his platoon complete its mission.”

Sakato was originally awarded the Distinguished Service Cross, but after a 1990s review of Americans of Asian descent who received the DSC during WWII, Sakato’s award was upgraded to a Medal of Honor. President Bill Clinton honored Sakato at a White House ceremony on June 21, 2000.

George Sakato died in December 2015 at the age of 94.

Rachael Wright is the author of several novels, including The Twins of Strathnaver, with degrees in Political Science and History from Colorado Mesa University, and is a contributing columnist to Colorado Politics, the Colorado Springs Gazette, and the Denver Gazette.