Colorado Criminal Justice Reform Coalition

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

📢 Denver, it's time to Get Real about public safety!

We're urging Mayor Johnston and City Council to invest in what truly works. By empowering local organizations to tackle safety challenges right where they live, we can create genuinely safer communities.

Yesterday, the No More Prisons coalition sent a letter to the JBC urging them to vote NO.

Colorado cannot afford to put more money into prisons when DOC has tools available to responsibly manage the prison population without expansion.

📄Read the letter: bit.ly/NMPtoJBC

Join us on Monday 9/22 to pack the JBC hearing and say NO MORE PRISONS.

DOC wants $2.8M for 153 new private prison beds while Colorado cuts healthcare, housing & education.

For more on how you can take action: bit.ly/JBC_NoPriso...

#NoMorePrisons #copolitics

Safety can't be on the chopping block, and real public safety requires investing in community-led solutions, not just police.

Together, we can advocate for real safety in our communities. Get engaged -your voice can shape the final budget. #GetRealDenver

📄The first draft of Denver’s 2026 budget is live. Join us in asking Mayor Johnston to go back to the drawing board and invest in strategies that:
🟢 Stop harm before it happens
🟠 Intervene early
🔵 Support victims
🟡 Reduce recidivism

▶️ www.GetRealDenver.org/Action
#GetRealDenver

The Importance of Letting Voters Defend Their Rights in Court Courts have recognized a "private right of action" in the Voting Rights Act since the law’s inception.

✊🏿In the 1960s, Black voters in Louisiana sued & won to stop racist election practices. That right of action is under attack. The Colorado Voting Rights Act passed this year ensures that CO voters, including incarcerated voters, can defend their rights in court. www.brennancenter.org/our-work/ana...

Colorado's prison and jail population is spiking. Here's why. The number of inmates in Colorado prisons and jails is spiking after the Polis administration began incarcerating more individuals for technical parole violations.

⏰Colorado’s prison population is spiking as a result of the Polis administration's crackdown on technical parole violations. DOC is hiding the surge by holding people in jails & leaving their treatment beds empty—undermining efforts to manage the prison population.
www.axios.com/local/denver...

📍CCJRC will be tabling this weekend at the Southern Colorado Juneteenth celebration at the Citadel Mall in Colorado Springs!

Come find us Friday (12–9 pm), Saturday (9 am–8 pm), and Sunday (10 am–8 pm).

✊🏿Let’s connect, build, and organize for freedom. #Juneteenth2025

Today on Up to the Minute: a look behind the curtain at the day-to-day work of systems change, with Jennifer Dillon, Communications Coordinator for @ccjrc.bsky.social. Today at noon, 5pm, and 10pm… and on YouTube or wherever you get your podcasts.

🖊️CCJRC's priority bill SB25-190 has been signed into law. People leaving jail will now have better access to support, and long-overdue fixes to Special Needs Parole are finally here!

Thank you to sponsors Senator Matt Ball, @senadorajulie.bsky.social, Representatives Jennifer Bacon & Matthew Soper.

Veto alert! HB25-1147—Municipal Court Fairness—is in danger.

Extreme sentences. No counsel. Closed courts.

📞 Call or email Gov. Polis NOW.
📲 Take action: www.coloradofreedomfund.org/hb25-1147-si...

🚨 We're hiring! Looking for a Denver Campaign Coordinator to lead local advocacy for criminal legal reform, racial equity, harm reduction, and REAL public safety — rooted in community power and reinvestment.
Know Denver? Passionate about change? Apply by April 17th. bit.ly/DenverCampaignCoordinator

BREAKING: Gov. Polis is threatening to veto HB25-1147.

This bill brings fairness to Colorado’s courts—right now, people are getting more jail time just for being in municipal court.

Tell him: Sign the bill. bit.ly/SignHB1147

🎉Our priority bill HB1214 passed through House Judiciary! Thanks to bill sponsor Rep. Clifford & to Reps. Mabrey, Carter, Bacon, Espenoza, Garcia & Zokaie for voting YES to provide better sentencing info to courts, expand recovery & housing support, and remove barriers to community corrections!

🎉Our priority bill SB190 passed Senate Judiciary and moves to the floor! Thank you to bill sponsor Senator Matt Ball, and to Judiciary Committee members Senators @senadorajulie.bsky.social, Weissman, @lindseyforco.bsky.social, and Roberts for voting YES to improve reentry & Special Needs Parole!

A BIG thank you to the HB25-1147 Coalition!

More than 50 organizations are fighting to rein in excessive sentences, expand access to legal counsel, and bring accountability to municipal courts.

Now, it’s on to the Senate. Join the fight here: coloradofreedomfund.org/hb25-1147

The stories shared in this article are exactly why we at @ccjrc.bsky.social do what we do—they inspire and drive us forward.

Thank you to @burness.bsky.social and @bolts.bsky.social for sharing the impact voting has on every Coloradan, no matter where they lay their head at night. #coleg

CCJRC is proud to support this bill! We’re especially excited that our amendment—passed unanimously—ensures that people incarcerated in local jails now have legal standing in the COVRA. #coleg

Tonight, we're co-hosting a listening session for people who’ve been jailed in a Colorado municipal court just for trying to survive.

Follow us for a recap tomorrow.

@ccjrc.bsky.social
@rebeccawallace.bsky.social

🎉We're one step closer to passing the Colorado Voting Rights Act, and ensuring equal and equitable access to the ballot for all!

Thank you to Senate sponsor @senadorajulie.bsky.social, and to Senators Mike Weissman, Tom Sullivan, and Matt Ball for voting ✅YES on SB25-001. #coleg

CCJRC's Kyle Giddings testified in support of SB25-001, the Colorado Voting Rights Act (COVRA). He frequently hears that eligible incarcerated voters are wrongly told they've lost their voting rights due to a felony. This misinformation has silenced generations of voters in Colorado. #coleg

🎉 A victory for evidence & compassion! SB25-044 was voted down 3-4 in the Senate Judiciary Committee. Thank you to legislators who rejected harsh criminalization and failed War on Drugs policies that won’t prevent drug sales, use, or overdoses. #HarmReduction💙

Our Deputy Director Kyle Giddings, in recovery for 11 years, knows firsthand that incarceration doesn’t heal addiction—it makes it worse. Colorado must reject the failed policies of the past. Vote NO on SB-44. #NoOnSB44

The Colorado Senate Judiciary Committee is currently hearing public testimony on SB25-044, which would make possession of any amount of synthetic opioids (ex. fentanyl) a felony.

CCJRC is urging a NO vote.

🔊https://leg.colorado.gov/committee/audio/2747551

CCJRC is deeply disappointed in Mayor Johnston’s veto. By overriding City Council’s 8-5 vote and disregarding the public health experts in his own administration, he has failed in his responsibility to protect the health & safety of the people of Denver.

Appreciate you folks at the CCJRC very much