In our nationâs capital, the political party that toes the line on law and order has left the building. The party that prides itself on kinder and gentler considerations like forgiveness and second chances â now wields the levers of federal power.
That same alignment continues to prevail in Colorado. And here, the kinder, gentler party has been using its dominant status to experiment with dubious approaches to crime and punishment. Ruling Democrats repealed the stateâs nearly dormant death penalty last year and in recent legislative sessions have pondered a number of revisions to the criminal code that fit under the favored if nebulous label, ârestorative justice.â Among pending efforts in the current session are bills making it easier for some prison inmates to get paroled, and expanding juvenile diversion options for youthful offenders. Thereâs also a particularly controversial proposal curtailing copsâ power to arrest for a host of offenses and
In our nationâs capital, the political party that toes the line on law and order has left the building. The party that prides itself on kinder and gentler considerations like forgiveness and second chances â now wields the levers of federal power.
That same alignment continues to prevail in Colorado. And here, the kinder, gentler party has been using its dominant status to experiment with dubious approaches to crime and punishment. Ruling Democrats repealed the stateâs nearly dormant death penalty last year and in recent legislative sessions have pondered a number of revisions to the criminal code that fit under the favored if nebulous label, ârestorative justice.â Among pending efforts in the current session are bills making it easier for some prison inmates to get paroled, and expanding juvenile diversion options for youthful offenders. Thereâs also a particularly controversial proposal curtailing copsâ power to arrest for a host of offenses and
Close
Workers load an All-Star sign onto a trailer after it was removed from Truist Park in Atlanta, Tuesday, April 6, 2021. Major League Baseball plans to relocate the All-Star Game to Coors Field in Denver after pulling this year s Midsummer Classic from Atlanta over objections to sweeping changes to Georgia s voting laws, according to a person familiar with the decision. The person spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity Monday night, April 5, 2021, because MLB hadn’t announced the move yet. (John Spink/Atlanta Journal-Constitution via AP)
John Spink
The Gazette editorial board
Colorado’s cracked, crumbling and chronically congested highways are perennially blistered by the sun, freeze-dried by the cold and in more recent years, neglected by the Legislature.
Which is to say that even in the best of times when our elected policymakers are doing their job and investing in basic infrastructure our extreme weather still makes road maintenance a challenge. Never mind how bad it can get when lawmakers at the Capitol are distracted by an array of other spending priorities that strike them as more pressing.
Some contend the best of times or, at least, good times are about to return given a major transportation plan pending in the 2021 General Assembly. That proposal as it is shaping up would spend about $4 billion over the next decade-plus on wide-ranging transportation endeavors, including highways.
Colorado’s cracked, crumbling and chronically congested highways are perennially blistered by the sun, freeze-dried by the cold and in more recent years, neglected by the Legislature.
Which is to say that even in the best of times when our elected policymakers are doing their job and investing in basic infrastructure our extreme weather still makes road maintenance a challenge. Never mind how bad it can get when lawmakers at the Capitol are distracted by an array of other spending priorities that strike them as more pressing.
Some contend the best of times or, at least, good times are about to return given a major transportation plan pending in the 2021 General Assembly. That proposal as it is shaping up would spend about $4 billion over the next decade-plus on wide-ranging transportation endeavors, including highways.