A compelling commentary on the human trafficking of children, published in last Sunday’s Gazette Perspective section, was an urgent call to action for a much-needed ballot proposal that would raise the penalty for this horrific crime in our state. 

The commentary also served as a potent reminder of why Colorado’s Constitution has guaranteed the right to the citizens initiative since 1910. It lets the voting public circumvent the legislature and petition a proposal directly onto the statewide ballot — when tone-deaf state lawmakers have utterly lost touch with reality on an issue like this one.

Proposition 133 on the Nov. 3 ballot — mandating life in prison without parole for human trafficking of a child for sexual servitude — represents just such an end run on Colorado’s pathetic crop of criminal-coddling lawmakers at the Capitol. The crime is currently a Class 2 felony, and the ballot proposal would upgrade that to Class 1.

The proposal is the proverbial no-brainer. Life behind bars is the punishment that fits this heinous crime. It’s something all voters should be able to agree on.

As Lori Gimelshteyn, executive director of the Colorado Parent Advocacy Network and Parents United, put it in Sunday’s Perspective, “Children young enough to be losing baby teeth, learning multiplication tables, and deciding what to be for Halloween are instead being subjected to horrors most adults can barely bring themselves to imagine.” (Read her full commentary: https://www.denvergazette.com/2026/08/23/perspective-colorados-kids-are-not-for-sale/)

But try telling that to the “justice reform” ideologues among ruling Democrats who dominate debate on criminal-justice issues at the legislature. Last spring, when essentially the same measure as Proposition 133 was introduced as House Bill 26-1082, all seven Democrats on the House Judiciary Committee voted to kill the measure before it could reach the House floor. 

Among those disgracing justice were some of the State Capitol’s most notorious apologists for Colorado’s criminal element, including Judiciary Committee Chair Javier Mabrey of Denver; Vice Chair Michael Carter of Aurora; state Rep. Yara Zokaie of Fort Collins, and state Rep. Jennifer Bacon of Denver. Joining them were fellow Democratic state Reps. Cecelia Espenoza of Denver; Rep. Lorena Garcia of Adams County, and Rep. Chad Clifford of Centennial.

Testifying in support of the bill during the committee hearing were representatives from organizations as diverse as the Concerned Women for America, the Autistic Freedom Network and the Colorado Catholic Conference, as well as a host of citizens stepping forward to testify on their own.

Opposing the bill were only the usual suspects — for whom any criminal penalty seems too stiff — the ACLU of Colorado; the Office of the State Public Defender, the Colorado Criminal Defense Bar and the like.

Of course, the Judiciary Committee Democrats already had their minds made up. They weren’t about to put anybody in prison for a longer period of time, no matter how horrendous the crime. 

Hard statistics — showing how Colorado’s crime rate climbed over the years as its incarceration rate declined — don’t matter to them. Their dogma tells them criminals are victims and punishment is barbaric.

To say they least, they are out of step with the general public. And it’s a textbook case of why Colorado needs the citizens initiative process. 

Some 3,300 volunteers from across Colorado helped gather more than 170,000 signatures to qualify Proposition 133 for the November ballot. They understand true justice. 

Owing to their efforts — and to the citizens initiative — the voting public now will have a chance to weigh in.