Author: Pete Lee
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GUEST COLUMN: Getting it right on Restorative Justice
As the prime sponsor of most of Colorado’s restorative justice legislation, I thank Carol McKinley for her December 20 article in The Gazette. She accurately highlighted the astounding 1% recidivism rate in Denver, and the commendable 97% and 85% success rates in Adams/Broomfield and Weld Counties. Significantly, she captured the power of face-to-face dialogue in…
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GUEST COLUMN: Getting it right on Restorative Justice
As the prime sponsor of most of Colorado’s restorative justice legislation, I thank Carol McKinley for her Dec. 20 article in The Denver Gazette. She accurately highlighted the astounding 1% recidivism rate in Denver, and the commendable 97% and 85% success rates in Adams/Broomfield and Weld Counties. Significantly, she captured the power of face-to-face dialogue…
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Colorado, U.S. are addicted to incarceration
Much has been said about SB21-62 — a bill I am sponsoring aimed at safely reducing arrests, cash bail and jail populations — by the Gazette editorial board and critics like Gazette columnist Jimmy Sengenberger. The board began a recent editorial with a false premise, followed by erroneous assumptions and ended with mischaracterizations about my…
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GUEST COLUMN: Protecting the public — and presumption of innocence
Much has been written by The Gazette editorial board and Gazette columnist Jimmy Sengenberger about SB21-62, a bill I am sponsoring to safely reduce arrests, cash bail and jail populations. The board began a recent editorial with the false premise that ending cash bail increases crime. It followed with an erroneous implication that I support…
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GUEST COLUMN: Protecting the public — and presumption of innocence
Much has been written by The Gazette editorial board and Gazette columnist Jimmy Sengetnberger about SB21-62, a bill I am sponsoring to safely reduce arrests, cash bail and jail populations. The board began a recent editorial with the false premise that ending cash bail increases crime. It followed with an erroneous implication that I support…
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POINT | Case is clear: Expand restorative justice
Pete Lee Journalist and critic H. L. Mencken said, “For every complex problem there is a solution that is clear, simple and wrong.” The problem is crime and public safety. The solution, for half a century, has been incarceration. Despite prison not solving the problem, we imposed longer sentences, criminalized mental illness and addiction, and…
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POINT/COUNTERPOINT: Is crime getting worse in Colorado?
Point: John Cooke Colorado is under the grip of two concurrent epidemics; COVID-19, and crime. Both are taking their toll in terms of irrevocable financial loss and lives severely disrupted or even cut short; but only one – the crime epidemic – is largely self-inflicted. The numbers — taken from any reliable source, including the…
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GUEST COLUMN: How COVID-19 underscores the consequences of mass incarceration
The Gazette Editorial Board got it wrong when they called for an end at efforts to bring down our jail and prison populations in order to reduce the spread of COVID-19. Public health officials universally agree that jails and prisons are breeding grounds for infections. According to Dr. Carlos Franco Paredes, MD, MPH from the…
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POINT/COUNTERPOINT: Are Colorado Democrats overreaching this legislative session?
Are Colorado Democrats overreaching this legislative session? Point: Dick Wadhams And the hits just keep on coming from our Democratic masters! Not content with the wreckage of the 2019 legislative session after Democrats won every statewide office along with big legislative majorities in 2018 for the first time since 1936, Gov. Jared Polis and the…
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GUEST COLUMN: Bipartisanship and consensus defined 2019 Legislature
I have spent my entire legislative career working across the aisle to improve the lives of all Coloradans, particularly the people of my district in Colorado Springs. My work has focused on increasing jobs and economic opportunity, reforming criminal justice, expanding behavioral health, promoting renewable energy and improving Colorado’s education system. I proudly ran on…