Category Archives: Criminal Justice Reform

Colorado Senate Defeats Death Penalty Repeal by 1 Vote

Crime and Punishment, Criminal Justice Reform, Death Penalty, Democrats, Dumbasses and Authoritarians, Government Waste, History, Human Rights, Legal, Politics, Republicans, Theory and Ideas

Like déjà vu but this time in reverse, the Colorado Senate voted down the bill which would repeal the death penalty and use the savings to fund cold case homicide investigations by a single vote*. Though the Senate stripped out the death penalty provision just 15 minutes before the scheduled vote on Monday, the conference committee decided to put the death penalty back on the table to force each Senator to directly say “yea” or “nay” on the controversial issue. All 14 Republicans (mostly “pro-life” Republicans to be sure) plus 4 Democrats decided once again that its perfectly okay for the State of Colorado to kill.

Of the 4 Democrats who joined the majority, Mary Hodge who is opposed to the death penalty was quoted in The Denver Post as saying “It’s the hardest vote I’ve ever taken.” She went on to explain that she voted against the bill because she didn’t like how it conflated the issues of the death penalty and cold case funding.

Well congratulations Mary, Mary, quite contrary! Thanks to your vote the death penalty will remain. I hope you can sleep well at night knowing that you missed an opportunity to repeal this repugnant punishment because you felt the issues of the death penalty and cold case funding “are not connected.”

I beg to differ.

Colorado has limited resources to dedicate to criminal justice; the death penalty consumes nearly $1 million of those resources annually**. The victims of unsolved homicides have just as much right to bring their killers to justice as those whose killers have been convicted.

Most disappointing of all is the idea that far too many people have far too much faith in their government and their criminal justice system despite its many flaws.

» Read more

Stephen Littau
http://fpffressminds.blogspot.com/

Last Minute Senate Rewrite Jeopardizes Colorado Death Penalty Repeal

Crime and Punishment, Criminal Justice Reform, Culture, Death Penalty, Democrats, Economics, Election '12, Government Waste, Human Rights, Legal, Politics, Republicans, Theory and Ideas

Only 2 weeks ago the Colorado House passed H.B. 1274, a bill which would repeal the death penalty and use the savings to solve homicide cold cases, by a single vote. Foes of the bill in the Senate stripped out the death penalty repeal provisions and added an alternative source of funding to satisfy those who support additional cold case spending: a $2.50 surcharge on individuals convicted of a crime. According to The Denver Post, the rewrite happened a full 15 minutes before the Senate was scheduled to vote and with only a few days left in the current legislative session.

The Denver Post article goes on to explain how the rewrite puts the death penalty repeal in doubt:

Sponsor Sen. Morgan Carroll, D-Aurora, blamed the amendment on some colleagues’ anxieties over the controversial topic of repealing the death penalty and said the maneuver leaves little time to work out compromises and no time for public hearings or fiscal analysis of the new draft.

“Some people are looking for ways to avoid voting on the core issue,” Carroll said. “This is a totally different bill that’s not had a public hearing. It’s gamesmanship that makes a mess of public policy.”

Carroll had the backing of a broad coalition of groups — including the families of victims of unsolved murders, whose painful stories helped push the idea that ending the death penalty could be used as a funding source for cold-case investigations.

With their needs potentially met, however, the remaining death-penalty foes in the coalition could lose one of their most poignant and persuasive voices.

I think Sen. Carroll is mostly right. Her colleagues in the Senate are probably thinking more about the 2010 election than any principle regarding the death penalty. With the rewritten provisions to fund the cold case unit and taking the death penalty off the table, her friends in the Senate can avoid making a controversial vote and not have to worry about angering voters.

I’m sure that Gov. Bill Ritter (D) who is also up for re-election in 2010 is most relieved of all about these developments. So far, Gov. Ritter has managed to remain on the fence on the issue with his finger firmly in the air to determine which way the political winds are blowing. Perhaps the only clue as to where he stands – when Ritter was the Denver D.A. he unsuccessfully pursued the death penalty in 7 cases.

Perhaps the “limited resources” and economic arguments was not the best strategy to pursue after all. While these are, in my view, persuasive arguments they should be secondary considerations to the real moral and legal question: should the state have the right to kill? This is the question that far too many politicians do not have the courage to answer.

The article continues:

Carroll said there is too great a risk of wrongful conviction to chance an irreversible penalty such as death.

“How many colleagues do we have in the Senate who believe the state or the government is infallible?” she asked.

As I have written on many occasions, infallible the government is not. This is especially true for our broken criminal justice system.

Stephen Littau
http://fpffressminds.blogspot.com/

Fake Cops, Fake Raid, Real Guns

Castle Doctrine, Crime and Punishment, Criminal Justice Reform, Individual Rights, Keep and Bear Arms, Legal, Multimedia, Police Watch, Property Rights, Security, The War on Drugs

Here’s yet another example illustrating why the practice of SWAT style raids should be ended: robbers posing as cops.

Here’s the news story from WRAL:

This is the unedited surveillance video:

As bad as this situation was, it could have ended much worse. It’s very fortunate that the armed robbers encountered the man on the porch first and the others inside could see what was happening thanks to the surveillance video (had this individual not been on the porch, the robbers could have gained entry as police officers serving a lawful warrant). Also, the fact that one of the patrons was armed and able to return fire was the difference in being cleaned out by the robbers (and possibly murdered) and forcing the robbers to abandon their criminal pursuit. It’s just too damn bad that neither robber was killed.

Of course if the police didn’t routinely use paramilitary tactics to raid poker games or those suspected of drug possession in the first place, then individuals would know without question that the intruders are indeed criminals attempting to do harm and could respond appropriately without fear of killing a police officer.

Hat Tip: The Agitator

Stephen Littau
http://fpffressminds.blogspot.com/

Cato Report: Portugal’s Seven Year Experiment with Drug Decriminalization “a Resounding Success”

Crime and Punishment, Criminal Justice Reform, Culture, Freedom, Healthcare, Legal, Liberty, Multimedia, Strategies For Advancing Liberty, The War on Drugs, Theory and Ideas

greenwald_whitepaper

In July of 2001, Portugal tried something which would horrify policy makers the world over: the decriminalization of all drugs. As a result, Portugal turned into a country overrun with drugs, stoners, drug tourists, and criminals…right?

Not according to a report by Cato’s Glenn Greenwald entitled Drug Decriminalization in Portugal: Lessons for Creating Fair and Successful Drug Policies. Greenwald concludes:

“The data show that, judged by virtually every metric, the Portuguese decriminalization framework has been a resounding success. Within this success lie self-evident lessons that should guide drug policy debates around the world.”

While this result may shock most people, this comes as no surprise to Libertarians. The question is, will the rest of the world learn from Portugal’s experiment with drug decriminalization?

More Information on this report:

Click here to view the Cato policy forum event related to this report.

Stephen Littau
http://fpffressminds.blogspot.com/

Colorado One Step Closer to Abolishing the Death Penalty

Crime and Punishment, Criminal Justice Reform, Death Penalty, Democrats, Economics, General, Government Waste, History, Human Rights, Legal, Politics, Republicans

20090422_013500_deathpenalty
The Colorado House passed the bill which would eliminate the death penalty by 1 vote.

The Denver Post reports on the dramatic moment:

In the hushed state House chamber, all eyes Tuesday stared up at the vote board, which showed lawmakers deadlocked 32-32 on whether to repeal the death penalty in Colorado.

All but Rep. Edward Vigil’s eyes, that is.

The Fort Garland Democrat sat at his desk with a hand held to his forehead, contemplating his suddenly crucial decision.

Heads swiveled in his direction. Whispers filled the silence. Seconds passed.

After nearly a minute, Vigil pushed a green button and, in doing so, pushed House Bill 1274 on to the state Senate in a dramatic 33-32 victory for death-penalty foes at the Capitol.

“Hopefully this will make us a better society in Colorado by not having a death penalty,” Vigil said afterward, “though I have my reservations.”

The bill would eliminate the death penalty as a sentencing option going forward and would use the projected cost savings to fund a cold-case unit in the Colorado Bureau of Investigation.

Only 1 Republican voted in favor of repealing the death penalty on pro life grounds: Rep. Don Marostica of Loveland.

As evident from the article, Coloradans are very divided on the question of the death penalty, despite the fact that only 1 person has been executed in Colorado since 1976. How the vote will go down in the Senate and whether or not former prosecutor Gov. Bill Ritter (D) will sign the bill into law is anyone’s guess.

It’s my hope that Colorado will ultimately make the right decision and follow New Mexico’s lead.

Stephen Littau
http://fpffressminds.blogspot.com/
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