Support Humane Jail Population Management

Tell Governor Jared Polis and your state senator to continue the work they committed to in 2020.

In 2020, the Colorado legislature passed one of the country's most sweeping police accountability bills into law. After signing the bill, Governor Jared Polis said that more work must still be done. "We cannot go back to normal," Polis said. "We need to create a new normal where everybody's rights are respected.

SB21-62 is the next step to make Colorado more equitable, just, and safe for our entire community.

- Colorado's prison population has grown 800% since the 1970s.

- Over 60% of Coloradans in jail aren't convicted of a crime; they simply can't afford bail.

- During COVID, sheriffs, judges, public defenders, and DAs reduced Colorado's jail population by reserving jail beds solely for people who pose a safety risk to others.

- Depopulation has proven to show no overall increase in crime and would save taxpayers millions a year if enshrined into law.

Use this form to automatically email your state senator and Governor Polis.

Dear [Your Senator] and Governor Polis,

My name is [Your Name] and I am a constituent from your district. I'm writing to urge you to support SB21-062, Jail Population Management Tools.

Personalize the message below for maximum impact!

On 4/22, SB21-062 Bill sponsor Pete Lee announced an amendment to further clarify the language  of the bill and address stakeholder concerns. This amendment is vetted by Colorado District Attorneys Council and approved by a united coalition of organizations in Colorado, including Black Lives Matter 5280, NAACP CO-MT-RY, and Colorado Freedom Fund, the Colorado Criminal Defense Bar and the Office of the State Public Defender.

I urge you to not undermine the purpose of this bill by advocating for further amendments that are not supported by the coalition. In particular, I ask that you hold the line against any amendment to remove Class 5 and 6 Felonies from the bill. George Floyd was murdered by police while being arrested for a crime that would be a Class 5 felony here in Colorado.

As Representative Leslie Herod said at the press conference by Black Democratic Legislative Caucus of Colorado on 4/20: “The reason why there needs to be a Senate Bill 62 is because we are harassed, we are targeted, we are seen as threats, and we are met with force for even for the smallest suspicion, and that has to change.”

SB21-062 is smart, safe, pre-trial reform that has been carefully vetted through an 8 month stakeholder process. As a result, it has won the support of Attorney General Phil Weiser, several prominent District Attorneys, the Colorado Department of Public Safety, and the Colorado Democratic Black Caucus, the Colorado Democratic Latino Caucus. While local law enforcement continually lift the mantle of victims to explain why they oppose this bill, please know that there is no victim group opposition to this bill, the Colorado Crime Survivors Network supports it, and many crime survivors have testified in open support of this bill.  Locking up people who aren’t a public safety risk and holding people in jail because of poverty doesn’t make any of us safer.

SB21-062  safely reduces arrests, cash bond, and jail populations, while leaving WIDE discretion to arrest and detain people who pose a risk to the safety of others.   Right now, Colorado has too many people jailed because of drug addiction, mental illness or poverty.   Incarceration is harmful to them and a waste of our tax dollars.

With SB21-062, Colorado has an opportunity to address significant systemic injustices in our carceral system while maintaining community safety. 60% of Colorado’s jail population are unconvicted people, incarcerated only because they cannot afford to post cash bond. People in prison and jail are disproportionately poor and disproportionately people of color compared to the overall population, and pretrial detention can send people’s lives into a downward spiral — those who can’t post bond face losing their job, their housing, their medical care, and custody of their children.

Research shows that pretrial detention puts people at a higher risk for future involvement with the criminal legal system while increasing convictions and causing steeper sentences. SB21-062 maximizes freedom for presumptively innocent people while protecting public safety.

We can and must address the mass incarceration problem in Colorado, and the unjust and grossly inequitable effects it causes in the lives of the poorest and most marginalized people in our society. SB21-062 is a practical and sound way to do so.

I once again urge you to support SB21-062 AS-IS with the Coalition Amendment and NO further amendments. Thank you for your dedication to the people of Colorado and to making our state a more just place for all.

Sincerely,

[Your Name]

[City], [State] [Zip]

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