It’s come to this.
Coloradans will have to bypass our state legislature to ensure violent criminals serve most of their sentence behind bars instead of being released after a few years to cause even more mayhem.
And who better to lead the cause than the protector of our hard-earned paychecks and Taxpayer Bill of Rights champion Michael Fields, president of Advance Colorado.
Page Two over on Complete Colorado reports Fields is pursuing such a measure to appear on next year’s ballot alongside the presidential contenders.
The measure before the Title Board is currently known as Initiative 71, and it would require violent offenders serve most of their sentence to reduce recidivism rates and crime in Colorado.
Violent criminals shouldn’t be getting out of prison after only serving 43% of their sentences. We need to pass a ballot measure to change this. #copolitics #coleg https://t.co/uwEKVBTFhy
— Michael Fields (@MichaelCLFields) July 24, 2023
The effort was sparked by the infamous case of Kenneth Dean Lee in 2021, who was released on a life sentence after serving less than 10 years. While on parole, he assaulted a seven-year-old girl in Aurora, gaining access to her through her parents by impersonating a federal immigration officer.
From Page Two:
“Why do we have the fourth worst recidivism rate (in the country), but we’re letting people out after only serving 40 percent of their sentence,” Fields said. “I understand good behavior, you get a little time off. But 23 years to life, how are you out after just nine years?”
Fields initially attempted to put this on the 2022 ballot, but it was submitted late in the process and Attorney General Phil Weiser’s representative on the state’s title board was able to block it, Fields said.
The soft-on-crime policies promoted by the Democrat Party is having a tragic and devastating effect in Colorado.
If Democrat lawmakers won’t take action to keep residents safe, then we’ll have to do the work ourselves.