department of corrections
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Appeals court says judge, DA, corrections agency could blow past deadlines, still send man to prison
Colorado’s second-highest court determined last month that an Arapahoe County judge, prosecutors and corrections officials could disregard the deadlines in state law and still have the ability to send a youthful offender to prison. The state’s Youthful Offender System enables defendants who were at least 18 at the time of their criminal offense but younger…
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House passes bill to reduce prison sentences for inmates pursuing higher education
An effort to incentivize Colorado prisoners to pursue higher education took a major step forward on Tuesday, receiving near-unanimous approval from the state House of Representatives. House Bill 1037 would deduct six months from an inmate’s prison sentence for earning a certificate while incarcerated, one year for an associate or bachelor’s degree, 18 months for a master’s degree…
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Colorado bill would reduce prison sentences for inmates pursuing higher education
Colorado has among the worst recidivism rates in the country, with over 50% of people released from prison ending up back behind bars within three years. Lawmakers want to change that with House Bill 1037. If passed into law, the bill would deduct one year from an inmate’s prison sentence for every associate, bachelor’s or…
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Dean Williams resigns as executive director of Colorado’s Department of Corrections
Dean Williams, who pushed to reform Colorado’s prisons as executive director of the state’s Department of Corrections, announced in an email to employees that he is resigning from his position. “I have made the difficult decision to transition out of my role as Executive Director as of December 2, 2022,” Williams said in the email.…
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Federal judge finds no merit to inmates’ challenge of prison work program
A federal judge has concluded two Colorado inmates failed to plausibly allege the state’s Department of Corrections violated their rights through its prison work program, which generally requires detainees to participate or lose privileges. Although the plaintiffs repeatedly referenced Colorado voters’ 2018 decision to amend the state constitution to eliminate slavery and involuntary servitude in…
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Judge allows inmate’s lawsuit to proceed against prison officials for failure to protect, retaliation
A federal judge has allowed an inmate to pursue his lawsuit against Colorado prison officials based on allegations they failed to protect him, instructed other prisoners to fight him and retaliated against him for filing grievances. Although the defendants attempted to characterize Terance DeJuan Wilson as a “frequent filer” who regularly pursues scattershot claims in…
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10th Circuit finds judge mistakenly tossed inmate’s disability lawsuit
A federal judge was wrong to dismiss as frivolous a Colorado inmate’s lawsuit alleging prison officials discriminated against him on the basis of his disability, the federal appeals court based in Denver has ruled. Because the U.S. Supreme Court recognized more than two decades ago that the Americans with Disabilities Act “unambiguously” covers state detainees,…
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Justices agree with state, inmate on parole eligibility calculation
The state’s Supreme Court justices agreed with both the Colorado Department of Corrections and inmate Nathanael E. Owens on Tuesday that the government should calculate Owens’ earliest parole date using a “hybrid” method accounting for the varying eligibility protocols in his three consecutive sentences. The justices cleared up in Owens’ appeal any lingering confusion from…
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Justices asked to endorse hybrid model of calculating parole eligibility
In an unusual display of unity before the Colorado Supreme Court, both the government and inmate Nathanael E. Owens agreed that he was entitled to have his parole eligibility date calculated in a way that would move his potential release date one year earlier. However, Owens asked the justices to go further and order the Colorado…
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America’s 1st statewide prison radio launches in Colorado, seeks to build bridges: ‘Feeling human again’
America’s first statewide prison radio station, Inside Wire, launched March 1 in Limon Correctional Facility’s education and library building. A project of the University of Denver’s Prison Arts Initiative, Inside Wire: Colorado Prison Radio originally was envisioned as a first-of-its kind project that could help build trust and connections among the more than 14,000 incarcerated…