Colorado Department of Corrections

Juan Flores: Who's to blame for inmate's early release -- and where is he?

At this writing, Juan Flores is a free man -- but he's not supposed to be. Flores was released early from Adams County Jail. He's been at large for the better part of two weeks now -- and the Department of Corrections, which has had to answer uncomfortable questions about why alleged killer Evan Eb ... More >>

Tom Clements: Murdered prison chief seen in new video urging drug-law reform

Tom Clements, the reform-minded head of the Colorado Department of Corrections who was murdered at his home last month by a parolee, makes a posthumous appearance in a new video advocating for one of his favorite causes: more substance abuse treatment for chronic, low-level offenders, freeing up cos ... More >>

Photos: Twenty most memorable mug shots of March 2013

March in Colorado crime was dominated by Evan Ebel, who's thought to have murdered pizza-delivery man Nathan Leon and Colorado Department of Corrections executive director Tom Clements before being gunned down in Texas. But he was far from the only person whose booking photos rose to the top of the ... More >>

Mike McLelland second Texas prosecutor killed in two months: Tom Clements murder link?

The investigation into Evan Ebel, the man thought to have gunned down pizza-delivery man Nathan Leon and Colorado Department of Corrections executive director Tom Clements, has taken another bizarre twist in a continuing series of them. On Saturday, Texas prosecutor Mike McLelland and his wife Cynth ... More >>

Darrell Havens: Paralyzed inmate denied clemency, surgery

His doctors have told Darrell Havens that surgery could help relieve his deteriorating condition, but the wheelchair-bound inmate's keepers in the Colorado Department of Corrections aren't exactly eager to okay the operation -- or to release him to seek care on his own. Havens, who was left a quadri ... More >>

Sexy letters -- and Men's Health? -- banned by new prison censorship rule

A recent push by state prison officials to crack down on the sexual content of inmates' mail has greatly expanded the range of books and magazines intercepted by prison censors, including such staid fare as Rolling Stone and Men's Health. The move has also prompted complaints from inmates' loved one ... More >>

Albert Abeyta: Prisoner's coma-inducing latex allergy triggers lawsuit, burning questions

A prisoner's lawsuit against the Colorado Department of Corrections, claiming a latex allergy so severe that he's suffered burns and respiratory problems when touched by glove-wearing guards, appeared to have been resolved last month when DOC officials testified that they no longer use latex in thei ... More >>

Michael Hancock announces three new finalists for independent monitor

Will the second time be a charm? A screening committee has submitted a trio of finalists for Denver's independent monitor job to Michael Hancock -- two months after the mayor's choice to fill the vacancy left by Richard Rosenthal turned him down, and the mayor declined to extend the offer to either ... More >>

Twenty fabled moments in Denver Music: #14: Marc Cohn gets shot in downtown Denver, 2005

Over the course of the next few weeks, Backbeat will be counting down the twenty most fabled moments in Denver music history. Today, a look back at when Grammy winner Marc Cohn got shot in the head in downtown Denver during a car-jacking attempt gone awry. Marc Cohn might be a superhero. At least t ... More >>

Prison rape: Justice Department says poor design, training, attitudes fuel assaults

Last year a federal review panel heard some amazing excuses from corrections officials about why their jails and prisons have exceptionally high rates of sexual assault. One sheriff even claimed inmates were faking stories of rape in order to get cookies from researchers.

Solitary confinement: Isolating prisoners overused in Colorado, study suggests

​A study by researchers at the National Institute of Corrections has found that Colorado's approach to locking down its most unruly prisoners in 23-hour-a-day isolation is "basically sound" -- but could be used a lot less. Instead, even as the state's prison population is declining slightly, t ... More >>

Reader: Prison rape does occur in the Colorado system whether officials want to admit it or not

Alan Prendergast's post about prison rape, which one sheriff compared to UFOs and other cultural delusions, sparked a response from a reader identifying himself as a veteran correctional officer. He says such incidents are no fantasy.

Prison rape: Sheriff compares it to UFO sightings, other "cultural delusions"

​Corrections officials are understandably defensive about a controversial Bureau of Justice Statistics survey that indicates a high incidence of prisoner sexual abuse in their facilities. But is that any reason for jail bosses to claim inmates are concocting fake stories of prison rape in orde ... More >>

Michael McCullar, 11 others, sentenced in violent Adams County meth ring (PHOTOS)

Big pics below.​How many addicts does it take to make a meth ring profitable? Fewer than you might think. According to the Seventeenth Judicial District DA's office, a group of a dozen just-sentenced dealers and compatriots, led by Michael McCullar, are thought to have regularly serviced betwe ... More >>

Fort Lyon prison "repurposing": Five best new uses for an aging hoosgow

Mark Manger​A delegation from Bent County and Governor John Hickenlooper's office went to Washington this week in an effort to interest the federal government in "repurposing" the Fort Lyon Correctional Facility, a remote and troubled state prison on the eastern plains that's scheduled to clos ... More >>

Top 25 most violent fugitives in Denver: A mug shot and offense gallery (PHOTOS)

"I'm only No. 20?"​The Denver Police Department has trimmed its fifty most wanted fugitives list by half but multiplied the mayhem via its roster of the city's 25 most violent fugitives. The mug shots of those who follow first target Robert Juan Gee stand out thanks to the best neck tattoo (No ... More >>

Mentally ill prisoners in solitary confinement: New bill seeks to stop the madness

​Roughly four out of every ten prisoners in solitary confinement in Colorado is either developmentally disabled or mentally ill, a figure that's been rising steadily over the past decade. Senate Bill 176, headed for a statehouse committee review later this week, seeks to drastically reduce tha ... More >>

Solitary confinement study "deeply flawed," says ACLU

​As reported here last summer, a controversial state study suggesting no harmful psychological effects from solitary confinement was drawing heated protests from prison activists even before it was published. Now that it's been released, psychiatric experts and the ACLU of Colorado are saying ... More >>

Prison advice about snitching, shanks and pretending that man with makeup is a woman

​Here at the Criminal Affairs Desk, we get letters from inmates. Boy, do we get letters. But one recent missive from a Colorado prisoner offers some of the best advice we've ever heard for negotiating a long stretch in the state prison system. Such as: Don't ask, don't snitch. Keep an eye out ... More >>

Labia-lift searches of female prisoners have to stop, ACLU tells Ari Zavaras

​A few months ago we first reported on the "labia lift" -- an extremely invasive search process that the Colorado Department of Corrections has started using at its Denver women's prison. Now the American Civil Liberties Union of Colorado has taken notice -- and demanded that the DOC immedia ... More >>

Roberto Rodriguez's conviction: A warning to groping coaches everywhere

Roberto Rodriguez.​In recent months, two high school coaches -- Broomfield's Trevor Masse and Longmont's Alex Tinsley -- have been busted on suspicion of inappropriate sexual contact with students. So the five-year sentence handed to Roberto Rodriguez, a middle-school soccer coach, for doing p ... More >>

Dirty prison tricks: Kansas adopts Colorado's asbestos removal program for inmates

Mark MangerFort Lyon inmates say they faced asbestos exposure in maintenance operations. ​A recent story in the Topeka Capital-Journal about a 2005 renovation at a Kansas women's prison has a familiar ring to it. Inmates and corrections employees have long claimed that they were forced to rem ... More >>

Census problem: Are Colorado prisoners rural residents or urban visitors?

​The 2010 census gives states a new option for how to count their prison population, a move that could provide additional political leverage to urban areas -- which, in Colorado, means more power to the Front Range and less to places like Fremont, Logan and Crowley counties. In the past, the ... More >>

Comment on this: State employee's prolific Denver Post postings draw fire

​Davies loves a good debate. The avid Denver Post reader posted 624 comments in response to articles on the newspaper's website during a nine-month period that started last February -- an average of fifteen comments a week -- on topics ranging from Afghanistan to global warming, campaign fina ... More >>

Will throwing more money at the prison system reduce inmate violence?

​Recent Denver Post stories about increasing inmate violence at some state prisons have arrived just in time for the annual budget battle between lawmakers and the Colorado Department of Corrections -- a nice bit of timing that should be regarded with a certain wariness. The DOC would like t ... More >>

New website shines light on dark corners of the prison system

What goes on beyond the fence? Solitary Watch wants to know.​Get in serious trouble, go to prison. Get into some bad shit inside prison -- attacking staff, running heroin, or maybe somebody doesn't like your gang tattoo -- and you go to the hole, also known as solitary confinement or (in priso ... More >>

This one-man crime wave is going a hundred miles down a dead-end street

Clemency for these six prisoners could save millions and serve justice -- so why won't Governor Ritter try it?

Colorado's answer to swine flu: Close the prisons?

You got to love the way officials in this state think. According to this item in the Colorado Springs Gazette, the Colorado Department of Corrections has decided to ban visitors and volunteers from state and private prisons for at least a week, describing the move as a "precautionary" step to keep ... More >>

If David Isberg can beat cancer, why not the prison bureaucracy?

Medical treatment for prisoners and halfway-house residents can be tough to swallow. Health care inside prison walls can be downright criminal, a situation we’ve chronicled in some detail in our Crime and Punishment Archive. But the care can actually be worse for parolees, since the Colorado ... More >>

Colorado inmates may soon have "missing person" playing cards

A missing-person playing card. Soon, playing cards in Colorado jails could be replaced by ones emblazoned with the photos of missing persons and unsolved homicide victims, says a Colorado Department of Corrections representative, who adds the new playing-card program "hasn’t actually started, ... More >>

Inflation, low pay and the high cost of prison bumwad

Swapping One McPrison for Another

Westword Now Exhibit A in Death Penalty Tussle

The Pen is Mightier Than the Pen

If the Jailhouse Is Rockin'…

Wine, Wine, Wine

Grape Expectations

The monks have moved on, but it's another vintage year in Cañon City.

The Price You Pay

The cost of sending money to prisoners just went up -- way up.

Year in Review: Strange But True

From kitty cut-ups to an airline named Ted, this was one oddball year.

Letters to the Editor

From the week of January 2, 2003

Off Limits

Sugar and spice

Follow That Story

Jokin' Joe Has Left and Gone Away

A Real Harass Man

Joe Paolino played a major role in cases that have cost the state more than a million dollars.

Off Limits

A snitch in time...

Side Effects

Pharmacist Bob Gusich has been a real pill for the state prison system.

Just Hop on the Van, Man

Transported by private companies, wayward inmates discover that their journey to prison can be a long, strange trip.

Con Jobs

Frying taco shells, growing zinnias--it's all in a day's work for Colorado prisoners.

This Jail for Hire

Colorado's cheap solution to prison overcrowding has cost inmates plenty. It could cost the state millions.

ON THE OFFENSIVE