Thank you to the loyal readers and supporters of The Colorado Independent (2013-2020). The Indy has merged with the new nonprofit Colorado News Collaborative (COLab) on a new mission to strengthen local news in Colorado. We hope you will join us!

Visit COLab
Home Tags Prisons

Tag: Prisons

Reformers want Polis to commute the sentences of more inmates during...

Criminal justice reformers are calling on Gov. Jared Polis to commute the sentences of more inmates in Colorado's prisons in response to the COVID-19...

As COVID-19 spreads in Colorado prison, the phone lines go silent...

Update: This story was published on April 24 at 9:30 a.m. On Friday afternoon, DOC said it tested 473 inmates at Sterling on Wednesday...

Update: Colorado Supreme Court denies petition to release more inmates from...

This story was originally published on April 3, 2020. That same day, without explanation, the Colorado Supreme Court denied a petition from defense attorneys...

Colorado places a moratorium on new prison intakes during pandemic The...

Gov. Jared Polis issued an executive order on Wednesday that effectively blocks new inmates from entering the state’s prisons in an effort to manage...

New report highlights racial disparity in Colorado’s booming prison population The...

In 2017, roughly one in 28 adult black men in Colorado was in prison. Put another way, African Americans made up 18 percent of...

Inmate assaults visitors at federal prison

Two visitors were assaulted by an inmate at a federal prison in Florence on Sunday, adding to a dramatic surge in violent attacks that have plagued the prison since April.

More reports of violence point to ailing federal prison system

Deadly assaults in federal penitentiaries are on the rise and they aren't exclusive to Colorado. Following reports that an inmate was stabbed to death in August at the U.S. Penitentiary in the southern city of Florence, there is news from another federal lockup that a guard was assaulted and stabbed multiple times this month, lending credence to correctional workers' claims that the entire system is an understaffed tinderbox.

Federal prison reconstructing inmate yard after outdoor riot

A high-security penitentiary in southern Colorado is separating its outside recreational yard into smaller segments following a violent riot in April that left two inmates dead. Along with the new construction, the penitentiary has been on a continuing lockdown status for almost half a year due in part to an inmate-on-inmate stabbing death in August, according to the federal Bureau of Prisons and sources who work at the facility.

Suthers Supports Out-Of-State God Pods

Colorado Attorney General John Suthers is one of nine state attorney generals who have signed off on a legal appeal supporting Prison Fellowship Ministries'...

Sending Them to Oklahoma

Colorado's Joint Budget Committee is meeting tomorrow in Denver and Rep. Buffie McFadyen, along with House Speaker Andrew Romanoff, are calling on lawmakers to...