DENVER—Facing opposition from district attorneys and the governor, Colorado lawmakers are dropping a plan to overhaul sentencing laws this year.
But backers plan to rework the bill to push the state’s criminal justice commission to tackle the issue by asking it to come up with a plan for sentencing reform by Dec. 1.
Sen. John Morse, D-Colorado Springs, said Tuesday he decided to rewrite his proposal (Senate Bill 286), set for a hearing Wednesday, after it became clear Gov. Bill Ritter would not support it.
District attorneys and state Attorney General John Suthers also opposed the measure and had assembled a news conference on the West Steps on Tuesday to denounce the bill, which they said was reckless. Senate Majority Leader Brandon Shaffer used the event to announce lawmakers’ plans to change course and said they instead wanted to take a more collaborative approach to sentencing reform.
The bill was aimed at rolling back sentencing for some lower-level felonies and would have mandated that first-time offenders caught committing property crimes like writing bad checks or trespassing not be sent to jail unless they have a prior record. It also would have made drug possession a separate crime from drug dealing, allowing addicts to be treated under supervision rather than incarcerated.
But district attorneys said tinkering with the state’s complex sentencing system would end up affecting people accused of some violent crimes, including attempted assault and attempted sexual assault. Backers maintained the objections were exaggerated and prosecutors would have charged crimes differently rather than letting violent offenders get off.
Despite objecting to Morse’s bill, Mesa County District Attorney Pete Hautzinger, a Republican, said the state’s criminal code has been a “mess” for a long time.
“This is not a partisan issue. This is a matter of getting it right,” he said.
Ritter, Denver’s former district attorney, has said only that the criminal justice commission created by the Legislature two years ago should review any changes to the state’s criminal sentencing laws.
The panel began meeting in January 2008. Morse, a commission member, thinks it has taken too long to address the sentencing laws, which he says force the state to spend more on its corrections budget while other services must be cut during the recession.
If the commission doesn’t move toward sentencing reform, Morse said lawmakers could reintroduce a bill later to do it instead.
“Everyone understands now that this is a critical issue that needs to be addressed,” said Morse, a former police chief.
Suthers warned the issue could take time and didn’t think a package of reforms would be ready for lawmakers to act on for the next session, which begins in January 2010. Morse said he wants the commission to at least come up with a plan for getting there before the session begins.
