Denver aligns local laws with state sentencing rules

Denver City Leaders Align Municipal Code with State Law

DENVER — Denver city leaders are working to align municipal code with state law. This follows a Colorado Supreme Court ruling that found it unconstitutional for municipal courts to impose harsher sentences than state courts for the same crime.

Supreme Court Ruling Details

“It came out right before Christmas, so it kind of snuck in under the wire there, but it’s actually under our state constitution equal protection provision. The Supreme Court looked at a couple of situations where people were charged with crimes under city criminal ordinances that carried a potential sentence that was quite a bit higher than what you could get if you were charged with the exact same conduct under state criminal law,” said Sarah Parady, a Denver city council member.

Impact of Sentencing Disparities

Parady noted that the court found differences in sentencing between the state and cities can create a higher risk for racial and other disparities. Most sentences deemed excessive relate to lower-level offenses.

Examples of Sentencing Disparities

“It impacts Denver, because we have extremely long sentences for a lot of conduct… that, under state law, would be limited to, like, a 10-day sentence. So, we need to get our constitutional ducks in a row,” Parady said. In many cases, Denver defendants faced 10 months in jail when a state sentence would have been 10 days.

Specific Offenses and Sentences

“Almost a year in jail, and that includes offenses like shoplifting less than $300 a single time, park curfew violations, like just things that are really very minor… so, you can be charged at the state level, but they would carry a 10-day sentence. So, it’s a really big sentencing disparity, 10 days versus 10 months for those sentences,” Parady explained.

Efforts to Address the Issue

Parady mentioned that Denver city leaders have been working on this issue for two years, long before the Supreme Court’s December ruling. “It’s not as straightforward as you might think, to kind of line up different ways that crimes are defined. You know, the city and the state often use different language. One might be broader than the other, but we’ve been working on it for quite some time,” she said.

Future Legislation Plans

Parady expressed hope that they might quickly pass legislation to remove the 300-day sentence from the books. This would replace it with sentences that align with state law where applicable. It would also provide guidance to prosecutors, public defenders, and courts.

Timeline for Alignment

City leaders hope to finish aligning most Denver municipal sentences with state sentencing guidelines within the next few months.