Colorado Criminal Justice Reform Coalition

Today at 4pm! Let's talk about it! 🔜 bit.ly/DenverKickOff

On the House floor, Representative Yara Zokaie read letters from incarcerated Coloradans describing staffing shortages, canceled programs, and barriers to completing parole plans.

These voices are rarely heard at the Capitol. They should be.

Will Colorado lawmakers hold DOC and the Administration accountable for a runaway prison budget and policies driving prison growth—even as felony commitments and crime trend down? Or keep expanding prisons while cutting education, healthcare, and housing? It doesn’t have to be this way.

Text reads: Denver Sentencing Reform Launch, Wed. Feb. 18 via Zoom, 4-5 PM with Denver City Council Members Serena Gonzales-Gutierrez, Shontel Lewis, and Sarah Parady. In the top right corner, the logos for Colorado Freedom Fund and Colorado Criminal Justice Reform Coalition. Below the text, yellow handwritten text reads "Get Engaged!". Council members are pictured at the bottom of the screen with a button that reads "Register to attend." Pictured: Sarah Parady, a white woman smiling with dark brown shoulder length hair and dark-rimmed glasses is pictured on the left; in the middle Council Member Gonzales-Gutierrez, a Latina woman with long dark brown hair, smiling and wearing a red suit; on the right, Council Member Lewis, a Black woman smiling with brown hair styled in a twist out and wearing dark-rimmed glasses.

Big things are happening in Denver! Join City Council Members Gonzales-Gutierrez, @shontel4council.bsky.social, and @paradyatlarge.bsky.social to talk about their work championing municipal court reform this year.

CFF and @ccjrc.bsky.social are hosting a virtual launch event:

Wed. 2.18.26 at 4PM

In Colorado, insurance companies are treated as “victims” in criminal cases, allowing them to collect restitution — with interest — on top of the premiums they already receive.

HB26-1017 would ensure criminal restitution is reserved for people directly harmed by a crime.

🎉It's happening!

Our priority bill this session ✨SB26-036✨ strengthens existing law to help the Colorado Department of Corrections safely manage the prison population before overcrowding becomes a crisis.

Learn more: bit.ly/SenateBill36

The Joint Budget Committee reversed its decision and granted the Department of Corrections funding for 788 additional prison beds. But will they help Colorado avoid the disaster of a new prison?

Text reads: 2026 Municipal Court Convening; Thursday, January 29 via Zoom. 4-5 PM, Q&A 5-5:30 PM. Special guests Rep. Javier Mabrey and Westminster City Council Member Jack Johnson. Rep. Mabrey and Council Member Johnson are pictured. Rep. Mabrey is a Latino man with short brown hair, he’s smiling and wearing a blue suit. Council Member Johnson is a white man with short blonde hair and black framed glasses, he’s smiling and wearing a blue plaid shirt. A purple button reads “Register to attend.” At the bottom of the graphic, a banner reads “Thank you, co-conveners!” followed by pictures of logos for El Movimiento Sigue, Colorado Coalition for the Homeless, ACLU-Colorado, and Colorado Criminal Justice Reform Coalition.

📅 The 2026 CFF Municipal Courts Convening is just over one week away, so register now! Join us on Zoom with @javiermabrey.bsky.social and Westminster City Council Member Jack Johnson on Thursday, 1/29 at 4pm MST.

Join us next Thurs. at Colorado Freedom Fund’s 2026 Convening, to learn what's happening in Colorado's municipal courts since the recent state Supreme Court decision, & fight back against all things carceral at the legislature and on the ballot.

RSVP to attend: us06web.zoom.us/webinar/regi....

People power works! Today, Colorado’s Joint Budget Committee rejected DOC’s request for 788 new prison beds and demanded a real plan to manage the prison population.

The fight continues. Join the #NoMorePrisons coalition: CCJRC.org/Get-Involved

Go to ccjrc.org/Get-Involved to join the No More Prisons coalition, and RSVP to attend the JBC Hearing on Weds, Jan 21st at 9:30 a.m.

Colorado kids deserve a future with educational opportunities, healthcare, clean air & water — not just concrete walls and barbed wire.

The BIG budget story this legislative session is one you might not hear about. The Department of Corrections is hijacking CO's state budget, asking for $83M to open 788 new prison beds & give a huge raise to the private prison industry — all while scouting for a new prison.

⏰ Just a few hours left of Colorado Gives Day!

Don’t miss the chance to invest in the change you want to see right here in Colorado. 💛

Give before midnight to make the biggest impact:
🔗 www.ColoradoGives.org/CCJRC

Let’s finish strong together! 💪🏽
#GetRealDenver #NoMorePrisons

Today is Colorado Gives Day, the day our state shows what’s possible when we invest in each other.

We’re fighting for real safety — solutions that prevent harm and build strong communities.

Join us today. www.ColoradoGives.org/CCJRC

#ColoradoGivesDay #GetRealDenver #NoMorePrisons

💥 New episode of UP TO THE MINUTE today! @ccjrc.bsky.social CO Criminal Justice Reform Coalition hosted a teach-in this month: “How Did We Get Here? Understanding Mass Incarceration in CO.” Colorado Radio for Justice’s Trevor Jones was there.
Listen/watch right here: uptotheminute-crj.transistor.fm

Your Colorado Gives Day pledge powers advocacy, organizing, and bold policy work to build real safety across our state.

Colorado doesn’t need new prisons — it needs new possibilities. #ColoradoGivesDay #WaveofGenerosity

🔗http://coloradogives.org/organization/CCJRC

📺LIVE! Denver City Council is proposing and voting on amendments to the 2026 Denver Budget.

Councilmembers Torres, Gonzales-Gutierrez, Lewis & Parady are bringing forth an amendment for a Community Led Safety Grant Program! 🎉 denvergov.org/Government/A...

Fight over at-large Denver City Council measures intensifies A mailer arrived this week supporting the measure and backed by a dark money group.

🚨 Denver! Vote NO on Referred Measure 2G.

Splitting Denver’s at-large City Council races into two separate contests would limit voter choice and invite political gamesmanship.

The fact that it’s backed by dark-money group One Main Street says it all.

Read more: www.axios.com/local/denver...

CCJRC's Denver Campaign Coordinator, Kym Ray, testified before a full house at last night's City Council public hearing on Denver's 2026 Budget:

📺LIVE! Tune in to the Denver City Council Public Hearing on the 2026 Budget. We're joining with community advocates across Denver to ask city council to prioritize funding for Community Led Safety!

➡️https://denver.granicus.com/player/camera/2

Get Real, Denver! Community-led safety prevents violence before it occurs, and makes our neighborhoods safer and stronger.

Tonight, we're asking community to show up & show support for real community safety at the Denver City Council Budget Hearing. See you there!

🗣️Tonight! Join us at Denver City Council's 5:30pm budget hearing. Let's pack the chamber and call on city leaders to get real about community safety by investing in what works.

We'll have signs & buttons. Bring your energy!

Today, elected leaders & community advocates joined @ccjrc1's #GetRealDenver campaign on the steps of the City & County Building. We’re calling for $5M for a Community-Led Safety Grant Program to fund prevention, intervention & victim support that stops harm before it starts.

Denver! We need you to show up at City Council on Monday at 5:30pm and tell our City Council to GET REAL!

Kym Ray sat down with Malik tha Martian this week to explain what our 2026 Denver budget campaign is all about and why funding community-led safety is so important.

ICYMI: FOX31 spotlighted the Get Real Denver campaign and its push for the city to invest in community-led crime prevention, violence intervention, and victim support in Denver's 2026 budget. Watch the full story at kdvr.com/.../advocate...

📺Tune in to KDVR FOX31 📷TONIGHT📷 at 4pm or 5pm to hear CCJRC's Kym Ray discuss the effort to include a Community Led Safety Grant Program in Denver's 2026 budget!

➡️Take action at getrealdenver.org/Action

Every email, every voice, every body in the room matters! We're coming together to say: Denver deserves real investment in community-led safety.

Stay connected: GetRealDenver.org

Let’s send the message loud and clear!
1️⃣ Use our action kit at GetRealDenver.org/Action to email the mayor and city council
2️⃣ Sat., Oct. 4th, attend the Budget Convening from 11am-1pm at Carla Madison Rec Center
3️⃣Plan to attend the Oct. 27th Budget Hearing

This year's budget is tight, so let's make every public safety dollar count.

Invest in community-led programs that curb crime, interrupt violence, support victims, and cut recidivism. It's not just about responding to problems; it's about strengthening our neighborhoods.

Denver invests more than half a billion dollars annually in addressing crime after it occurs, with police, courts, and jails.

Our polling reveals a different desire: voters are eager to invest in community programs designed to stop harm before it starts. www.getrealdenver.org/polling