department of corrections
-
Nicolais: Feds discontinue use of private prisons
—
by
It’s closing time for federal prisons run by private companies. And the reasons why say a lot about the current criminal justice system. According to a memo released by the Department of Justice, the Federal Bureau of Prisons will be “beginning the process of reducing – and ultimately ending – our use of privately operated…
-
Nicolais: Boulder sexual assault case provides no answers in a broken system
—
by
I don’t have the answer. I want that to be clear right from the beginning. As a member of the University of Colorado family, an attorney and stepfather to a college-aged woman, the stories regarding Austin Wilkerson and the sexual assault he committed leave me with many more questions than answers. I didn’t sit through…
-
Obama administration to phase out some private prison use by feds
—
by
The Obama administration announced Thursday it will phase out its use of some private prisons, affecting thousands of federal inmates and immediately sending shares of the two publicly traded prison operators plunging. In a memo to the Bureau of Prisons, Deputy Attorney General Sally Yates told it to start reducing “and ultimately ending” the Justice…
-
YESTERYEAR: Reactions vary widely to U.S. Supreme Court ruling overturning Amendment 2
—
by
Twenty Years Ago this week in The Colorado Statesman … Elected officials had a range of reactions to the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision overturning Colorado’s Amendment 2, the ballot measure passed four years earlier by state voters, that would forbid “protected status based on homosexual, lesbian or bisexual orientation.” The court “rejected the equal rights…
-
Romanoff: Colorado could be national leader in mental health
—
by
When you’re raised by a social worker and a prosecutor, you hear a lot about mental health. My mother spent her first year in graduate school performing social work at a state mental institution. Her father, a psychiatrist, conducted evaluations at the same facility. But eventually that hospital, like many others around the country, was…
-
Nicolais: The back-and-forth swing of judicial discretion
—
by
The pendulum of judicial discretion perpetually swings from apex to apex without ever stopping in the middle. Subject to the political whims of its two more political brethren, the judicial branch remains ever subject to changing forces acting upon it. With passage of SB 16-051, the Colorado Legislature has increased the momentum in favor of…
-
McFadyen: Deceptive federal ‘Employee Rights Act’ threatens Colorado workers
—
by
The 2016 elections will play a large role in shaping the future of the American workplace. From issues like the minimum wage to retirement savings accounts, candidates are presenting differing visions for what hard-working Americans need and deserve on the job — and from a job. The downfall of union nemesis Scott Walker’s presidential bid…
