Denver District Attorney Mitch Morrissey faults bill to create drug sentence system

Denver D.A Mitch Morrissey (The Denver Post file)

The idea behind Sen. Pat Steadman's proposal to overhaul Colorado's drug sentencing laws on its surface is simple: Prioritize treatment over incarceration and, in turn, lower the recidivism rates of habitual drug users.

But even as the Denver Democrat's effort has garnered the support of his Republican colleagues, it's caused a rift with Denver District Attorney Mitch Morrissey, who staunchly opposes the legislation and argues it gives high-level drug dealers a break when it comes to prison sentences and offers more incentive to continue breaking the law.

Senate Bill 250, which passed out of the Senate by a vote of 34-1 on Wednesday and now heads to the House in these final days of the legislative session, is derived from the work of the state's Commission on Criminal and Juvenile Justice and creates a specialized drug-only sentencing system.

In Colorado, drug sentencing is included in the same sentencing system with violent crimes.

"Drug addicts a lot of times are getting felonies for repeated arrests," Steadman said. "They have a physical dependency, and it's keeping them in the prison system."

The coalition of lawmakers, judges, prosecutors and police at CCJJ established within the bill a sentencing structure that allows the court to vacate felony convictions and enter a misdemeanor conviction if an individual completes probation and community-based treatment.

The aim, say proponents, is to separate users and addicts from high-level dealers and manufacturers.

Steadman, whose House sponsor on the measure is Rep. Claire Levy, D-Boulder, says the United States "has been fighting a war on drugs for 40 years, trying to do something on the supply side, and it hasn't worked."

"Yes, the dealers are preying on people and pumping poison into the streets," he said. "But the reason they're doing it and making profits is because there's all these people who are addicted, and if we combat addiction, we can curb the demand."

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Denver District Attorney Mitch Morrissey faults bill to create drug sentence system