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STOP THE SPREAD OF COVID-19 IN COLORADO JAILS AND PRISONS Experts are sounding the alarm of the public health threat that prisons and jails pose during this pandemic. There is a heightened risk of infection for people who are involved in the criminal legal system – people living in it, people working in it, and the communities they return home to. It is not a question of if the COVID-19 virus will take hold in Colorado’s prisons and jails; it’s a matter of when. We need everyone's.... | Read More
A Matter of Public Health: ACLU Urges Colorado Sheriffs to Reduce Jail Population During COVID-19 Crisis
March 26, 2020 DENVER – ACLU of Colorado called on all Colorado sheriffs to collectively help stop the spread of COVID-19 by safely and swiftly reducing the jail population. In a letter that went out to sheriffs in 52 counties throughout the state, ACLU of Colorado cited the medical necessity of drastically reducing community spread in county jails as a matter of public health and constitutional duty. “This epidemic has the potential to become the Coming Prison Plague,” Dr. Franco-Paredes,.... | Read More
ACLU of Colorado Statement on Gov. Polis’ Guidance to Local Law Enforcement
March 25, 2020 Statement by: ACLU of Colorado, Office of the State Public Defender, Office of Alternate Defense Counsel, Colorado Criminal Defense Bar, Denver Municipal Public Defender, Colorado Freedom Fund and Office of Respondent Parent Counsel. On March 17, nine criminal justice and indigent defense organizations sent a letter to Governor Polis and Chief Justice Coats, among others, urging immediate action to address the heightened risk of COVID-19 spreading to incarcerated.... | Read More
Colorado Now the 22nd State to Repeal the Death Penalty
Even in the midst of coronavirus shut-downs, we have an opportunity today to celebrate. Today, Governor Jared Polis signed Senate Bill 100 repealing the death penalty in Colorado and clearing death row. This long-overdue achievement makes Colorado the 22nd state to repeal the death penalty, finally ending this broken, costly, and unjust system in our state. As I complete my last month as Executive Director of the ACLU of Colorado after almost eight years in this position, I am particularly happy.... | Read More
ACLU of Colorado is Calling for the Release of Incarcerated Youth to Prevent a Public Health Crisis
March 19, 2020 DENVER — Today a coalition of organizations sent a letter to Colorado juvenile justice officials outlining immediate actions to take to protect incarcerated children. As these youth are particularly vulnerable to the COVID-19 pandemic, we are asking system actors to respond swiftly to recommendations put forth by public health experts — specifically calling for the immediate release of youth identified by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) as vulnerable, as.... | Read More
Governor and State Officials Urged to Reduce Jail and Prison Population During COVID-19 Pandemic
March 17, 2020 DENVER – With the number of confirmed cases of Coronavirus/COVID-19 climbing in Colorado, several organizations called on Governor Polis, State Court Administrator Vasconcellos, and Chief Justice Coats, as well as the Colorado Department of Corrections, the Colorado Parole Board and the Colorado Department of Safety, to take immediate action to protect the lives of vulnerable inmates, guards, correctional and court staff, attorneys, probation officers, parole officers, their families.... | Read More