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Criminal Justice

After hearing Sam Mandez’s story, the judge could only cry Mandez, who was accused...

GREELEY — On Thursday morning inside Weld County courtroom No. 12, even the judge was in tears. Standing before her, head shaved, staring straight ahead...
Former three-term Denver District Attorney Mitch Morrissey barely spoke to his successor, Beth McCann, before she took over for him in 2017, McCann has said. Now, he's considering challenging her in 2020. (Photo via Jeffrey Beall/Creative Commons)

Mitch Morrissey, term-limited as Denver DA in 2017, considers running again The career prosecutor...

Former three-term Denver District Attorney Mitch Morrissey may run for the job again next year. Morrissey confirmed his consideration of a re-election bid during a...

Denver averts halfway-house crisis — for now The city council just put out a...

There will be no mass reincarceration of hundreds of Denver halfway-house residents, the city council ensured Monday. The council voted unanimously to approve one contract...
Photo by Amanda Slater, Creative Commons, Flickr

Guest Post: Colorado’s death penalty does not put inmates to death

Many Coloradans who favor the death penalty might be surprised to learn juries here seldom impose a death sentence, and Colorado rarely executes an...
Troy Riggs, director of Denver's Department of Public Safety, testifies on Monday, Aug. 12, 2019, before the state's committee on prison population management. Riggs says he's optimistic that some 500-plus Denverites won't be sent back to jail or prison as a result of the City Council's decision to kill contracts with two private companies that run halfway houses in the city. (Photo by Alex Burness)

Denver “optimistic” halfway house residents won’t be returned to jail, prison City could seek...

Denver officials say they are hopeful they can reach a near-term agreement to keep six privately run halfway houses open into 2020.  As for what...

The Indy 500: The courage of undocumented immigrants who talk to reporters

We reporters are used to being stood up.  Our sources often get cold feet. And for good reason: Many have a lot to lose by...

Inside Centennial South, the maximum security prison Colorado could soon reopen The Independent tagged...

If you've driven U.S. 50 between Colorado Springs and Cañon City, you may have seen this building. It's called Centennial South, but was formerly known...

Bombshell Denver vote to kill halfway-house contracts has ex-inmates scared, officials scrambling The City...

Hassan Latif, who works to transition the formerly incarcerated back into society, has been on the phone nearly nonstop since the Denver City Council...
More than 1,000 people marched on July 12, 2019 in protest of the detention of immigrants in private prisons, including the detention facility in Aurora, Colo. run by GEO Group.

In stunner, conflicted Denver City Council kills contracts with private prison giants Councilwoman who...

Taking an extraordinary stand against the nation’s two largest private prison companies, GEO Group and CoreCivic, Denver City Council voted late Monday not to...
Portrait of Jeanette Vizguerra, Sanctuary for All. (Photo courtesy of Dave Russell, Buffalo Heart Images)

Guest Post: Our moral imperative to stand up to GEO Group We make these...

Given the U.S government’s increasing criminal disregard for the human rights of immigrants, we the members of Sanctuary for All Colorado applaud the congressional...