In what sponsors called a step toward reforming Colorado’s juvenile-justice system, the state Senate approved a measure Tuesday stripping from the statutes mandatory life sentences for youths convicted of murder.
Passage of the scaled-down bill – giving future juvenile offenders convicted of murder an optional parole hearing after 40 years – complements last week’s House approval, and it will head to the desk of Gov. Bill Owens after a final Senate vote today. The governor has indicated he will sign it.
Senate sponsor Ken Gordon, D-Denver, withheld a planned amendment to reduce the time frame for eligibility below four decades to recognize a recent compromise struck between House sponsor Lynn Hefley, R-Colorado Springs, and prosecutors who wanted to ensure that no youths become eligible for release until they are at least in their 50s.
Still, both sponsors said, the seemingly modest bill takes an important step forward toward rewinding the clock to fairer sentencing laws. A 1990s legislative crackdown on youth violence led to locking up 45 youths forever.
Gordon, who cited science showing that teenage brains aren’t fully developed in judgment centers, said parole options must be available to future teens who are convicted of felony murder. In that crime, charges can be brought against someone involved in certain felonies in which a person dies, even if the accused did not personally or directly cause the death.
“With felony murder, you can get a (life without parole) sentence for a kid who never hurt anyone,” Gordon said, noting that he is disturbed by a series of past cases leading to convictions in the last decade.
One senator, Jim Dyer, R-Littleton, sought a debate opposing the bill on the Senate floor, saying details surrounding past crimes are “so bad it’s almost breathtaking.” Youths who commit murder should never be released, he said.
Following approval, Hefley praised senators who supported her legislation, stressing that it also provides treatment and education for current offenders who now are at the bottom of the list for such prison programs.
“I really believe this is the first step toward future reform,” said Hefley, who has worked seven years to give juvenile convicts a chance at parole.
Staff writer Miles Moffeit can be reached at 303-820-1415 or mmoffeit@denverpost.com.
