Polis (again) greases the skids for unions. The cost of "compassionate" policies. Lastly, an example of how the justice system (the whole system, lawmakers on down) fails us.
Greasing the skids for unions in Colorado (pt 2).
This is kind of an older issue, but I'm not posting here so much for a current events thing as a "future events" thing.
In early June, our "Libertarian Leaning" and "Business Minded" governor signed a bill that could easily slip under the radar. In fact, save for editorials like the one linked first below and their counter-editorials, I couldn't find many news items on SB23-111 (linked second below).
Before delving into why this is significant, let's go back a bit in time for some context. After successfully allowing state employees to unionize earlier, in 2022 Polis balked at signing a similar bill that would have done the same for local governments. There were likely numerous reasons why, but the uproar by local governments was one likely driver in his reticence.
Fast forward to a quiet bill in this last Assembly session. A bill that, as both the op ed below and a quick look at the bill's summary (see the attached screenshot) show, is doing everything BUT setting up public employee unions at the local government level.**
With this bill signed, would anyone like to take a guess as to the next move on the board in the coming 2024 Assembly session? Anyone care to guess as to whether the media will pay as much attention to any of the seemingly innocuous bills that come?
If you face resistance coming straight ahead, well, just play the long game and make smaller quiet moves that won't get as much notice.
**Remember that the "local government level" (again, as you can see in the screenshot if you read the paragraph above the bullet points) contains some surprising entities you wouldn't consider to be governmental.
https://gazette.com/opinion/editorials/editorial-polis-ok-s-backdoor-unionization/article_6f1a1684-0721-11ee-80ba-7be2b1994352.html
https://leg.colorado.gov/bills/sb23-111
The consequences of "compassionate" policies.
Back in 2020, the Assembly passed, and then Gov Polis signed, SB20-100 (see the first link below), ending the death penalty in Colorado.
Whatever your thoughts about the death penalty, this action has had major consequences now thanks to a recent Colorado Supreme Court ruling. The Colorado Politics article linked second below has more details, but here's the upshot. Our State Constitution forbids bail for people accused of capital crimes (crimes that could carry the death penalty as a punishment).
As we no longer have a death penalty, we no longer have a restriction on bail. People who commit murder can now seek and get out if they can front the (likely quite high) bill.
Sound like a good idea to you? Yeah, me neither. Brauchler, in his usual bombastic style, gives his thoughts on why having people facing life in prison free on the streets is a bad idea in his op ed linked third below.
While I don't necessarily agree with his style of writing or his every thought, I do agree with his point that we don't want people with little to lose if they chalk up more offenses roaming around freely.
I think it would be hard to say that the Democrats who abolished the death penalty (and let's remember that not all of them supported its repeal--Sen Fields being a good example) could have foreseen this consequence, but whether or not they could foresee it then, they damn well can see it now.
And they're not inclined to do anything about it until the next Assembly session from what I have seen and heard.
Why would they? After all, having people out on bail for murder isn't a pressing safety concern.
Tearing down coal fired plants before they're fully paid off (so we customers can still be paying on the plant without having any power to show for it), yes. Murderers out on bail? No.
https://leg.colorado.gov/bills/sb20-100
https://www.coloradopolitics.com/courts/colorado-supreme-court-rules-ex-death-penalty-crimes-eligible-for-bail/article_72ae0fd2-0f8a-11ee-8468-9328697c3ac4.html
https://gazette.com/denver-gazette/column-bailing-out-killers-in-polis-colorado-george-brauchler/article_3e59dfd6-1101-11ee-accb-63c9c5bb1f02.html
Staying with public safety and dangerous people on the streets for one more ...
The previous post was about having people we probably don't want roaming free, free. So is this one, although you could probably better put this one under the heading of a cautionary tale.
I will leave it to you to read up on the full story yourself if you'd like to.
I would like to highlight one thing before signing off, however. I'd like you to note as you read that what you see here is an example of what I've mentioned before: note that the failure of our justice system to keep us safe here and to prevent crime is the result of multiple failures at different levels.
Public safety does get influenced by policy, yes. But we need to remember that decisions made by parole officers, judges, prosecutors and others in the judiciary play a significant role in the problem too.
Any solution, therefore, would need to involve all the parties listed above.
https://www.westword.com/news/colorado-domestic-violence-victim-killed-serial-abuser-plea-deals-17166720