{"id":463,"date":"2025-05-01T14:00:41","date_gmt":"2025-05-01T14:00:41","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.sewellconsultancy.com\/?p=463"},"modified":"2025-05-05T03:11:20","modified_gmt":"2025-05-05T03:11:20","slug":"harsh-sentencing-in-colorado-municipal-courts-is-unfair-and-deeply-troubling-letters","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.sewellconsultancy.com\/index.php\/2025\/05\/01\/harsh-sentencing-in-colorado-municipal-courts-is-unfair-and-deeply-troubling-letters\/","title":{"rendered":"Harsh sentencing in Colorado municipal courts is unfair and \u201cdeeply troubling\u201d (Letters)"},"content":{"rendered":"

Harsh sentencing in municipal courts is unfair and “deeply troubling”<\/h4>\n

Re: “Polis’ signature can end Colorado’s two-tier justice system<\/a>,” April 20 editorial<\/p>\n

The Denver Post editorial board is right to urge Gov. Jared Polis to sign House Bill 1147<\/a> and end Colorado\u2019s two-tier justice system. Before I served in the legislature, I was a police officer. I\u2019ve seen the promise and the pitfalls of our justice system. What\u2019s happening in some of Colorado\u2019s municipal courts is deeply troubling.<\/p>\n

Poor people are being jailed for months — sometimes nearly a year \u2014 for things like camping or theft of food. These are low-level offenses tied to poverty, yet some municipal courts deny legal counsel and impose 30-times harsher penalties than state courts allow. That\u2019s not justice \u2014 it\u2019s a loophole that punishes unhoused Coloradans who are disproportionately Black, Brown, and disabled.<\/p>\n

HB 1147, Fairness & Transparency in Municipal Court, offers a common-sense solution by requiring city courts to follow minimum state standards for sentencing and access to counsel. It also brings much-needed daylight to municipal courts that too often operate without scrutiny.<\/p>\n

As a lawyer, I support HB 1147 because it protects fundamental legal rights. As a pastor, I support HB 1147 because it reflects the moral character of Colorado: We don\u2019t lock people away for a year for being poor. And we don\u2019t ignore injustice just because it\u2019s happening in city court rather than state court. Cities can be laboratories for new ways of doing things — but not at the expense of Colorado\u2019s most vulnerable residents.<\/p>\n

The bill builds on Gov. Polis\u2019 work to create consistent, fair and just criminal sentencing in Colorado. I urge him to finish that work by signing HB 1147.<\/p>\n

Terrance Carroll, Denver<\/em><\/p>\n

Editor’s note: Carroll is president of the Sam Cary Bar Association and former state Speaker of the House.<\/em><\/p>\n

The reality of mass animal consumption<\/h4>\n

Re: “What animals endure before we eat them,” April 20 commentary<\/p>\n

Thanks for publishing the article by Nicholas Kristof. It takes courage to publish an article about this in a state with such a large livestock industry.<\/p>\n

Most of us probably know, at some level, what happens to animals in the slaughterhouse. It\u2019s just something we\u2019d rather not think about. That, however, does not make it less real. Not thinking about it does not make it go away.<\/p>\n

Also very relevant here (which Kristof does not mention): Raising animals for food is a critical environmental issue as well. A slaughterhouse death is now standard treatment for most mammals on the planet, just because most mammals are livestock. There is now more livestock biomass on Earth than there is of all other large animals on the planet combined — including humans. We have literally obliterated most wilderness and replaced it with a massive system of factory farms.<\/p>\n