Colorado Criminal Defense Bar
955 Bannock Street, Suite 200
Denver, CO 80204
Phone: 303-758-2454
Fax: 303-623-0714
Web: www.ccdb2.org
Dan Schoen
Phone: 303-758-2454
Email: danschoen@ccdb.org
Organization Profile
The Colorado Criminal Defense Bar is dedicated to protecting the rights of the accused. The organization is unalterably opposed to the death penalty and committed to providing training and support to the criminal defense community.
The Colorado Criminal Defense Bar (CCDB) is a growing professional association of attorneys, investigators, and paralegals who represent persons accused of crime. The CCDB was founded by a handful in 1979. Today, the CCDB has over 800 members. The CCDB and its members are professionals of principle and dedicated to protecting the rights of the accused. The CCDB supports an active professional network, an excellent defense training program, 10 chapters statewide, and numerous public and member services.
Colorado Juvenile Defender Coalition
670 Santa Fe Drive
Denver, CO 80204
Phone: 303-825-0193
Fax: 303-825-0182
Web: www.cjdc.org
Kim Dvorchak
Email: kim@cjdc.org
Organization Profile
Colorado Juvenile Defender Coalition's mission is to improve the quality of juvenile defense and the treatment of youth in Colorado’s juvenile justice system.
Pendulum Foundation
5082 E. Hampden Ave., #192
Colorado Springs, CO 80222
Phone: 720-314-1402
Web: www.pendulumfoundation.com
Mary Ellen Johnson
Email: maryellen@pendulumfoundation.com
Organization Profile
Pendulum Foundation was established as a non-profit in 2001, and is dedicated to educating the public about the issue of children in adult prisons, and in transforming the lives of all those youthful offenders who are currently behind bars. Under its 501(c)(3) designation, the Foundation educates the public about kids serving time in adult prisons. The Foundation's particular focus is children who are sentenced to life without parole (LWOP). The Foundation stays in close contact with the 50 juveniles serving life and their families, and continually work with local and national media to be a voice for those juveniles and this issue. The Foundation is also collaborating with juvenile facilities and community organizations to implement prisoner reentry programs, including restorative justice and mentoring. In 2006, the Foundation's priority is to introduce transformational programs inside Colorado’s Department of Corrections for our juvenile LWOPS. Under its 501(c)(4) arm, founded in 2004, Pendulum Juvenile Justice, the Foundation has introduced comprehensive juvenile sentencing reform bills, as well as possible retroactivity sentencing changes for Colorado's current LWOP system. Pendulum Juvenile Justice’s number one priority is to raise money for a ballot initiative dealing with the juvenile-adult sentencing issue.
Found 30 matches.
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Re-Directing Justice: The Consequences of Prosecuting Youth as Adults and the Need to Restore Judicial Oversight
Tags: Colorado | Youth in the Adult System | Reports
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Executive Summary-- Re-Directing Justice: The Consequences of Prosecuting Youth as Adults and the Need to Restore Judicial Review
Tags: Colorado | Youth in the Adult System | Reports
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Legislative Task Force to Study School Discipline, 2011 Report to Legislative Council, November 2011
Tags: Colorado | School-to-Prison Pipeline | Reports
In November 2011, the Juvenile Justice Task Force of the Colorado Commission on Criminal and Juvenile Justice submitted a report to the Legislative Council discussing zero tolerance policies, alternative disciplinary measures, victims' rights, school resource officers, and data sharing. The report recommends that the legislature pass a law limiting mandatory expulsion, discouraging referrals to law enforcement, implementing graduated sanctions, and increasing training for school resource officers.
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Colorado Juvenile Justice Task Force to Collect Data on School Discipline Strategies, S.B. 133
Tags: Colorado | School-to-Prison Pipeline | Legislation
The Juvenile Justice Task Force of the Colorado Commission on Criminal and Juvenile Justice must study and collect data on the use of criminal justice sanctions and specific school discipline strategies in Colorado public schools. In November 2011, the task force submitted a report to the Legislative Council discussing zero tolerance policies, alternative disciplinary measures, victims' rights, school resource officers, and data sharing.
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Colorado Reduces Juvenile Detention Bed Cap by 57 Beds, S.B. 217
Tags: Colorado | Community-Based Alternatives and Supervision | Deinstitutionalization | Detention | Legislation
The cap on the number of juvenile detention beds in Colorado was reduced by law from 479 to 422 beds. Bed caps on detention originated from S.B. 94 in 1991; the state periodically revises the caps as the utilization rate declines. When the cap is exceeded, the state must do an emergency release. The bed reduction also allows the legislature to reduce corresponding costs.
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Colorado Limits Court Involvement in School Truancy Issues, H.B. 1053
Tags: Colorado | School-to-Prison Pipeline | Status Offenses | Legislation
Judicial proceedings to compel a youth to attend school in Colorado may only be used as a last resort for addressing the problem of truancy. To minimize the need for court action and the risk of detention, such proceedings are now allowed only after a school district has attempted other options for addressing truancy that employ best practices and research-based strategies.
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Colorado Requires Standards for Integrated System-of-Care Family Advocacy Programs, H.B. 1193
Tags: Colorado | Family and Youth Involvement | Institutional Conditions | Mental Health and Substance Abuse | Legislation
The Colorado General Assembly declared an explicit need for the development of rules and standards for family advocacy mental health juvenile justice programs, as well as technical assistance and coordination for such programs. The legislation makes permanent a demonstration program for system-of-care family advocates and family systems navigators for youth in the juvenile justice system with mental health issues.
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Colorado Explicitly Prohibits Staff Sexual Contact with Youth in Juvenile Facilities, H.B. 1277
Tags: Colorado | Detention | Institutional Conditions | Legislation
State law now protects both youth and adults in Colorado from sexual abuse and exploitation while confined. Prior law prohibited a correctional employee or volunteer in an adult criminal justice facility from engaging in sexual activity with an inmate; but youth in detention or commitment facilities were not explicitly protected under the law.
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Colorado Limits Prosecutorial Discretion to File Adult Charges Against a Youth, H.B.
Tags: Colorado | Youth in the Adult System | Legislation
A new law increases the minimum age at which certain youth (excepting those charged with murder and sex offenses) are eligible to be "direct filed" -- or charged in adult criminal court by a prosecutor without a transfer hearing -- from 14 to 16. The legislation also establishes factors that the prosecutor must consider in determining whether to direct file a youth, and requires a 14-day notice of intention to direct file. During this time, youth can provide information to the prosecutor regarding the enumerated factors.
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Colorado School Districts Must Provide Educational Services for Youth in Adult Jails, S.B. 54
Tags: Colorado | Youth in the Adult System | Legislation
A law requires school districts in Colorado to provide educational services during the school year to youth being held, pending trial as adults, in jails located within the district. The law also requires school districts to comply with the federal Individuals with Disabilities Education Act if a youth has a disability.
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Colorado Raises Minimum Age for Direct File, Colorado, H.B. 1413
Tags: Colorado | Youth in the Adult System | Legislation
Increases from 14 to 16 years old the minimum age at which certain youth (excepting those charged with murder and sex offenses) are eligible to be "direct filed," or charged in adult criminal court by a prosecutor without a transfer hearing.
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Caging Children in Crisis: An Adult Jail Is No Place for a Child, Colorado Juvenile Defender Coalition
Tags: Colorado | Youth in the Adult System | Reports
Document describing the conditions in adult prisons and asserting that juvenile offenders should not be sentenced to serve time in such prisons.
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Certain Colorado Youth Tried as Adults May Be Held in Juvenile Facilities Rather than Adult Jail, H.B. 1321
Tags: Colorado | Detention | Youth in the Adult System | Legislation
Juveniles who are tried as adults may be placed in a juvenile facility prior to trial, rather than an adult jail, if the district attorney and defense counsel agree on the placement. Additionally, the district attorney may agree to change the place of confinement from adult jail to a juvenile facility at any stage of the proceedings. To determine the appropriate placement, the district attorney and defense counsel must consider several factors, including the nature, seriousness, and circumstances of the alleged offense; the youth's history of prior criminal acts; and the youth's age, physical maturity, mental state, and mental maturity.
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Colorado Increases Age of Eligibility for Sentencing in the Youthful Offender System, H.B. 1122
Tags: Colorado | Youth in the Adult System | Legislation
A new category of youth was established by the Colorado General Assembly to be eligible for sentencing in the Youthful Offender System (YOS) for certain offenses. YOS offers these youth -- referred to as "young adult offenders" -- alternatives to what would otherwise be a mandatory prison sentence. Young adult offenders are those who were at least 18 years old but under 20 years of age when the crime was committed and under 21 years old at the time of sentencing. YOS offers educational and vocational programming and a shorter period of community supervision than an adult prison and parole sentence. All YOS youth have a suspended adult prison sentence, which is two to four times longer than the two- to seven-year determinate YOS term. Successful completion of YOS discharges the adult prison sentence.
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Colorado Allows Youth Charged as Adults to Petition for Expungement of Records When Sentenced as Juveniles, H.B. 1044
Tags: Colorado | Youth in the Adult System | Legislation
Colorado law permits a juvenile who is charged as an adult by the direct filing of charges in district court, but sentenced as a juvenile in the same matter, to petition the court for the expungement of his or her record. Previously, such youth were not eligible to have their records expunged.
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Senate Bill 94 Reference Manual, Colorado Department of Human Services, Division of Youth Corrections, January 2009
Tags: Colorado | Community-Based Alternatives and Supervision | Deinstitutionalization | Detention | Administrative/Regulatory Policies
Bed caps on detention originated from S.B. 94 in 1991; the state periodically revises the caps as the utilization rate declines. When the cap is exceeded, the state must do an emergency release. The bed reduction also allows the legislature to reduce corresponding costs. S.B. 94 also created a Juvenile Services Fund to fund local alternatives to incarceration.
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Discipline of Students with Disabilities, Denver Public Schools Discipline Policy JK-F
Tags: Colorado | School-to-Prison Pipeline | Administrative/Regulatory Policies
Revised disciplinary policy from the Denver Public Schools system, focusing on more progressive and less harsh responses to disciplinary issues.
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Model School Discipline Policies and Programs, Part 1, Jim Freeman, Advancement Project
Tags: California | Colorado | School-to-Prison Pipeline | Administrative/Regulatory Policies
Compilation of model discipline policies and programs from Denver Public Schools and the Los Angeles Unified School District.
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Colorado Includes Restorative Justice in Children's Code, Colorado, H.B. 08-1117
Tags: Colorado | Community-Based Alternatives and Supervision | General System Reform | Legislation
Amends Children's Code to include a provision for restorative justice for most offenses.
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Colorado Establishes Juvenile Clemency Board, Colorado, Executive Order B-009-02
Tags: Colorado | Administrative/Regulatory Policies
The Colorado governor established a seven-member clemency board to review clemency and commutation requests by juveniles who were tried as adults and sentenced to state prison.
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Press Release About Creation of Colorado's Juvenile Clemency Board, Colorado, Executive Order B-009-07
Tags: Colorado | Youth in the Adult System | Administrative/Regulatory Policies
Press release about Colorado's establishment a seven-member Juvenile Clemency Advisory Board to review clemency and commutation requests by juveniles who were tried as adults and sentenced to state prison.
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Colorado Creates Commission on Criminal and Juvenile Justice, Colorado, H.B. 07-1358
Tags: Colorado | General System Reform | Legislation
Commission is to address prevention and recidivism, among other issues.
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Colorado Ends Juvenile Life Without Parole, Colorado, H.B. 06-1315
Tags: Colorado | Life Without Parole and Parole Issues | Legislation
Ends life without parole for juveniles. The law sets the maximum sentence that a youth can receive as 40 years before parole.
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Colorado Aligns with JJDPA Requirements, Colorado, H.B. 06-1112
Tags: Colorado | Detention | Institutional Conditions | Legislation
Amends the state's Juvenile Law to align with requirements of the Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention Act. The law now limits temporary detention to a maximum of six hours and requires separation from adults in prison.
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A Telephone Survey of Likely Voters, State of Colorado, The Pendulum Foundation, Prepared by RBI Strategy & Research
Tags: Colorado | Public Opinion and Messaging | Reports
Results of survey in Colorado, with questions regarding treatment of youth in the justice system.
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Colorado Protects Juvenile Competency, Colorado, H.B. 05-1034
Tags: Colorado | Juvenile Defense and Court Process | Legislation
Makes it illegal for youth determined to be incompetent to stand trial or be sentenced. If competency cannot be restored, services must be supplied to the youth.
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Education on Lockdown, Advancement Project
Tags: Colorado | Florida | Illinois | School-to-Prison Pipeline | Reports
Examination of the emergence of zero tolerance school discipline policies and how these policies have pushed students away from an academic track to a future in the juvenile justice system. Report specifically examines (1) how zero tolerance, a policy originally designed to address the most serious misconduct, morphed into a "take no prisoners" approach to school discipline issues and created a direct track into the juvenile and criminal justice systems; (2) the expanding role of law enforcement measures in schools; (3) the disparate impact of these practices on students of color; and (4) how the track is unfolding in Denver, Chicago, and Palm Beach County.
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Thrown Away: Children Sentenced to Life Without Parole in Colorado, Human Rights Watch
Tags: Colorado | Life Without Parole and Parole Issues | Reports
Report challenging Colorado's sentence of life without parole for youth, and offering recommendations for reform.
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Poll Results: Kids in Adult Prisons, Pendulum Foundation
Tags: Colorado | Public Opinion and Messaging | Reports | Research
Survey results detailing public opinions about juvenile justice issues in Colorado.
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Comparison of Colorado, Texas and Missouri Juvenile Rehabilitation Programs, Pendulum Foundation
Tags: Colorado | Missouri | Texas | General System Reform | Reports
Review of facilities and operations, transfer, sentencing procedures, recidivism rates, expenditures, and cost-effectiveness.