Initiative 112 lets voters decide whether certain felons serve longer sentences

Colorado voters will decide whether to force people convicted of certain so-called crimes of violence — like murder, assault and kidnapping — to serve out more of their prison sentences before they are eligible for parole.

Initiative 112, which qualified Thursday for the November ballot, would require anyone who commits those crimes after July 1, 2025, and is convicted, to serve 85% of their sentences before they are eligible for parole, up from 75%. It would also prevent them from being eligible for good-behavior or other reductions in their sentence until they have served 85% of their prison penalty.

Other felony convictions that would be affected by the change are those for:

• Second-degree murder
• First-degree assault
• First-degree kidnapping
• First- and second-degree sexual assault
• First-degree arson
• First-degree burglary
• Aggravated robbery

Initiative 112 would also make it so people convicted of those offenses committed after July 1, 2025, ineligible for parole if they have been twice-previously convicted of a crime of violence. To make the ballot, supporters of the initiative had to collect signatures from roughly 125,000 Colorado voters.

Nonpartisan analysts at the Colorado Capitol say the measure, if passed, would eventually increase state spending on prisons by up to $28 million a year because more offenders would be incarcerated for longer periods. The analysts said it currently costs $56,972 per year to house someone in a state-run prison and $8,387 per year to supervise an offender on parole.

“Since the measure will apply to offenders convicted after the measure’s passage, impacts on the correctional system are not anticipated before the mid-2030’s, based on the average sentences for these offenses,” the analysts wrote.

Advance Colorado, a conservative political nonprofit, is the group behind Initiative 112. It’s also behind Initiative 157, which would order the legislature to set aside $350 million for a new law enforcement officer training and support fund, and Initiative 138, which would reinforce in the state constitution the right for parents to choose whether to enroll their child in a public school, charter school, private school; homeschool them; or send them to another district through open enrollment.

Advance Colorado, which doesn’t disclose its donors, is also behind a pair of property-tax-cutting measures that are expected to be pulled from the ballot after state lawmakers convene next week for a special legislative session. The session is aimed at completing a property tax deal between the governor, lawmakers and Advance Colorado.

“This is the worst of the worst that we’re talking about,” Michael Fields, who leads Advance Colorado, said of why Initiative 112 is needed. He said that many offenders convicted of the offenses that would be affected by the measure serve a fraction of their sentences when good behavior and other earned time is factored in. The measure would not affect the governor’s power to offer parole to offenders when “extraordinary mitigating circumstances exist and such offender’s release from institutional custody is compatible with the safety and welfare of society.”

The ACLU of Colorado is among the groups opposing Initiative 112.  “The way that this initiative is sold is trying to be tough on the worst crimes,” said Sophia Mayott-Guerrero, director of advocacy and strategic alliances at the ACLU of Colorado. But in reality, she said, the measure could reduce the incentives for incarcerated people to seek out sentence reductions through good behavior, education, counseling and other rehabilitation.  Mayott-Guerrero also said there isn’t evidence that Initiative 112 would reduce recidivism or crime rates.

Initiative 112 is expected to be among a laundry list of measures on the November ballot.
Voters are also expected to decide whether to enshrine abortion access in the state constitution, make major changes to the state’s election system and impose an excise tax on firearms and ammunition sales.

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Article by Colorado Sun