Support Municipal Sentencing Reform in Denver!

Denver’s current sentencing scheme is unfair.

• It is unfair and illogical that when officers write tickets, they decide whether to charge in municipal court– with possible sentences 30x longer than in state court.

• Long jail sentences should not be used to coerce people into treatment for substance use disorder. Coerced treatment increases stigma and decreases the chances of success and we can better meet the needs of our neighbors by investing in community-based treatment.

Homelessness is not solved with incarceration.

• More and more people have lost housing in Denver in the wake of the high costs of living - we need a ramp out of homelessness for these folks, not a ramp into jail.

• Jail exacerbates homelessness. Jail sentences are the least effective, most expensive, and an overall cruel way to address homelessness. Instead, Denver should invest in mental health support, substance use disorder treatment, and permanent housing solutions.

Denver’s code impacts our immigrant neighbors.

• Arresting people for low-level municipal offenses creates more interactions with ICE. Municipal offenses should not threaten people’s entire livelihood with deportation.

• Even the threat of a long municipal jail sentence has immigration impacts. Whether or not someone ends up serving a jail sentence for a municipal offense, having long sentences on Denver’s books means that people’s immigration cases are negatively impacted.

Denver’s ordinances should align with Denver’s values.

• With the recent ruling from the Colorado Supreme Court, leadership from this City Council can and should resolve issues in numerous municipal cases, while inaction may leave attorneys to litigate cases for years.

• City Council has a duty to adopt a municipal code and budget that reflects Denver’s values, which means spending money on solving and preventing problems, not warehousing poor people in jails for poverty-based offenses.