EDITOR’S NOTE: THIS IS A DEVELOPING STORY AND WILL BE UPDATED LATER THURSDAY
DENVER | A state House panel narrowly approved a proposed change in state law late Wednesday that would reverse Aurora’s recent push for local heavy-handed jail sentences for crimes like shoplifting, trespassing and car theft.
After hours of testimony in the Colorado House Judiciary Committee, the panel moved House Bill 1147 forward on a 6-5 vote, mostly along party lines.
The bill, which would cap non-felony criminal sentences imposed by city courts, limiting them to state court sentencing levels. The measure directly targets cities like Aurora and Pueblo, and was met with fierce opposition by city officials.
The measure would also require automatic legal representation for in-custody defendants, and ensure transparency of who’s charged with what crimes, and what their sentences are. Sponsors of the bill said cities like Aurora violate constitutional equal protection clauses.
Opponents, including some city officials and law enforcement, argue that municipal courts allow communities to address local crime issues effectively.
Both cities have for the past few years imposed mandatory jail time and other “get tough on crime” sentences for shoplifting, vagrancy and crimes such as stealing cars or car parts.
“Home rule municipalities by the essence of Article 20 of the Constitution, they and the city council that is elected, have the ability to respond to the needs of their individual communities.” Aurora City Attorney Pete Schulte said. ”That is why we are so firm against this, because it is encroaching our home rule authority.”
Proponents of the bill pointed to desperate and poor people being sent to jail for theft of small food items or personal hygiene products in some cities and counties, where outside of those places, sentencing severity would be far less.
The proposed change in law focused on local control by elected officials in “home rule” counties and towns, and Constitutional demands for equal protection and sentencing.
Some witnesses and committee members repeatedly pointed to the disparity in sentencing for stealing food from a store on either side of Arapahoe Road, one dividing line between Aurora and unincorporated Arapahoe County.
Aurora imposes at least three-days in jail for a theft of items such as a food or other necessities, witnesses told the committee Wednesday, but there would likely be no jail time for such a conviction in Arapahoe County. The Aurora law imposes the jail requirement only for a theft worth $100 or more.
Committee members and others supporting the proposal say the disparity in sentencing across the state, especially in places like Aurora, Pueblo and Grand Junction, has created a system that inflicts harsher punishment on the poor and minorities, which perpetuates more hardship for them.
Those opposed to the bill, including the majority of Aurora City Council, claim that the harsh punishment has been successful in reducing auto and shopping theft crimes in the city.
City officials in Aurora regularly point to a small reduction in reported cases of shoplifting across Aurora, but crime metrics in communities outside Aurora, and across the state and nation, show a similar decline in those types of crime.
Aurora police or other officials have not made public any data linking sentences to crime crime rates. Several national studies over several decades insist that harsher sentences do not affect minor or major types of crime.
“I have to disagree with Mr. Schulte that this conversation is based on data,” Councilmember Alison Coombs told the committee, pointing out that she was speaking independently from the rest of Aurora City Council. “When we went to remove the sunset provision for our mandatory minimums, I asked for the data, and they said, ‘We can’t distinguish in our data, between the different types of cases.’”
Schulte and others on Wednesday told the House committee that the strain high-rates of shoplifting puts on local businesses prompted city officials to use their power of local control to address the problem. While admitting that increased police presence can help drive down shoplifting rates, cities like Aurora don’t have the resources to focus police on the problem in a way that could measurably reduce the rate of theft.
The Aurora Police Department is currently understaffed and focused on addressing violent crime, city officials say.
Those representatives voting no were Ryan Armagost, R-Berthoud, Max Brooks, R-Castle Rock County, Jarvis Caldwell, R-El Paso County, Chad Clifford, D-Centennial, and Rebecca Keltie, R-Colorado Springs. Voting yes were representatives Jennifer Bacon, D-Denver, Cecelia Espenoza, D-Denver, Lorena Garcia, D-Commerce City, Yara Zokaie, D-Fort Collins, Michael Carter, D-Aurora and Javier Mabrey, D-Denver.
The bill was moved to the House floor for further consideration.
People are fleeing Colorado for more than economic reasons.
WORD SALAD ALERT:
“Aurora imposes at least three-days in jail for a theft of items such as a sandwich, witnesses told the committee Wednesday, and there would likely be no jail time for such a conviction in Arapahoe County, though the Aurora law only imposes the jail requirement after a theft of an item worth $100 or more.”
Was it the reporter’s intent to give credibility to unidentified witnesses even though their verbal testimony directly conflicts with Aurora’s actual written ordinance? This all in a one-sentence salad?
Stealing a sandwich doesn’t land one in jail unless its a $100+ sandwich so please stop with this hyperbolic nonsense. We need unbiased journalism and this isn’t it.
I want to see that sandwich. Must be a 6-footer, at least, probably with extra meat and cheese.
The ordinance is Aurora Muni Code Sec. 94-74(d)(2) and it imposes a three-day mandatory minimum jail sentence for stealing $15 or more of food or beverage from a public establishment. Conversely, Sec. 94-85 imposes a three-day mandatory minimum jail sentence for retail theft if the value of the property is more than $100.00. If you steal a $99.00 shirt, you’ll get less time than if you steal a $15.00 sandwich. That doesn’t make sense and the punishment doesn’t fit the crime for dine-and-dashers. But, that’s Jurinsky’s math and another example of how she has used her elected position to benefit herself and her business.
I’ve said it before, who, except socialist leaning citizens, care what Alison Coombs has to say about anything? Yet you constantly continue to post her statements on most anything because she opens her mouth on anything and everything. Says a lot about the Sentinel Blog.
Anyway, Aurora’s, harsh laws for misdemeanors help keep our children more under control as parenting in Aurora isn’t the best for a positive society. Don’t let the State control us in this. If they pass it, fight it in court. Our Democratic State legislature is not a friend to Aurora, it appears
Our children? Whose children are you able to keep under control with Aurora’s harsh laws for misdemeanors? If you see some kids doing something you don’t like, do you tell them that stealing sandwiches gets them three days in the pokey? Let us know if that really works.
The Fourteenth Amendment guarantees all people the equal protection of the laws. While that doesn’t require absolutely identical laws and sentences, it certainly should require that similarly situated defendants shouldn’t be subject to unequal law enforcement and sentencing for what are also state criminal laws.
It is hardly a secret that municipalities love jail sentences because they generate income. And no person should be treated unequally because an officer has the discretion to charge either a state code violation or a city code violation where the state law is unlikely to result in incarceration while the city law is unlikely to do so.
Municipal courts cease to be halls of justice when the motivation behind sentencing is purely monetary. Try convincing the citizenry that they’re being treated equally. They can feel the hand in their pocket.
And try explaining to your employer that the reason for your absence was that you were in jail. Give anyone a financial incentive for their choices, such as charging revenue enhancing ordinances and not revenue neutral statutes, and “justice” is hollow indeed.
This kind of crap has been going on for decades. Aurora cannot justify this behavior with a straight face. Call it what it is: a scam.
Just how in the heck do jail sentences generate income? That has to be the single dumbest opinion stated as a fact I have heard in a week.
Every city jail I know of charges defendants for the cost of incarceration.
Then you ought to be able to link to an example.
You are one of those guys that thinks the State charges those executed for the costs of the method of execution, aren’t you?
Actually our Democratic State legislature is a friend to Aurora, because the majority of citizens in Aurora are Democrats and don’t believe in treating human beings like trash (unlike the majority of the City Council). Thanks Alison, for always standing up for what the majority of this city wants.
They ought to mind their own business. The “broken windows” theory of policing works. Punishment for a small crime can be a deterrent for a bigger one.
Does it though? Most criminology studies show that punishment does not deter crime. Besides, are the benefits of “broken windows” worth the damage to personal liberties and rights?
This really isn’t a correct interpretation of the research on this matter. Studies show that the certainty of being caught is more effective at deterring crime than increasing the severity of punishment. In other words, if you believe that you won’t get caught, or that no one cares, having greater consequences won’t deter you.
Some research indicates that criminal behavior is the result of a rational thinking process. Criminals reason and think about their crimes prior to committing them, often making a cost-benefit analysis to determine if the crime is worth committing based upon the potential rewards and the risks involved. The punishment is a factor in this assessment.
If criminals generally thought of consequences, they wouldn’t be criminals.
But they don’t.
3 days of jail is harsh? This bill demonstrates Democrat policies that implicitly encourages crime. Colorado has suffered a severe crime wave under Democrat control.
At the end of the day breaking the law should be punished regardless of a person’s economic status. The same people passed laws like this in California and everyone saw what happened, crime skyrocketed and businesses left the cities and state. If people want Colorado to become like the Hot mess that is California, they need to wakeup and stop voting people into office. All they do is pick and choose the Constitution, as long as it supports thier narrative and attack it when it goes against thier democratic socialest party’s narrative.