AltWeeklies Wire
Can Colorado's Prisons Reform?new

After the murder of Tom Clements, can Colorado's prison system rehabilitate itself?
Westword |
Alan Prendergast |
08-26-2014 |
Crime & Justice
Tags: Colorado Prisons, Tom Clements
Will Juvenile Lifers Get a Second Chance?new

They're a tribe within a tribe, aging cons whose adolescent crimes have been deemed so unredeemable that they are condemned to die behind bars, with no hope of release. But hope is hard to kill, even among convicted killers.
Westword |
Alan Prendergast |
11-30-2012 |
Crime & Justice
This One-Man Crime Wave is Going a Hundred Miles Down a Dead-End Streetnew
Victor Arnold Gabler talks fast. Sitting behind a grille at the Adams County jail, he's asked to explain himself; two hours later, the story of his life has sprouted more subplots than the JFK assassination.
Westword |
Alan Prendergast |
12-21-2009 |
Crime & Justice
Clemency for Six Colorado Prisoners Could Serve Justice and Save Millions -- So Why Won't the Gov. Try It?new

To date, Gov. Bill Ritter has issued just two pardons and not a single commutation, a situation that frustrates prisoner advocates.
Westword |
Alan Prendergast |
10-26-2009 |
Crime & Justice
The Way the Adams County Coroner is Running His Office Could be Dead Wrongnew
Jim Hibbard has been a magnet for controversy. His office has been plagued by massive turnover since his arrival, resulting in a drain of seasoned death investigators and a rash of embarrassing blunders by inexperienced staff and interns.
Westword |
Alan Prendergast |
07-06-2009 |
Crime & Justice
In Life and Death, Tattoo Artist Kauri Tiyme Made Her Marknew
Kauri was an artist. She put ink under people's skin and transformed them. In many ways, she was her own finest achievement. Not just the tattoos; she had made her own body a canvas for others, but anyone can do that. What she did was much edgier, more daring. She changed her name, her identity, her ideas as she saw fit.
Westword |
Alan Prendergast |
01-12-2009 |
Crime & Justice
Can a Troubled Colorado Prison Change the Way Inmates Think?new
Director Kevin Estep brought a new approach to the Cheyenne Mountain Re-Entry Center, which requires inmates to forsake the convict code. But not every journey through CMRC has been positive.
Westword |
Alan Prendergast |
11-10-2008 |
Crime & Justice
What Passes for Medical Care at Denver's Downtown Jail Can be Costly and Even Fatalnew
Cancer patient Tim Thomason didn't think he could feel any worse. His Denver jailers showed that he could.
Westword |
Alan Prendergast |
08-04-2008 |
Crime & Justice
What Happens to the Mentally Ill in the Justice System is Just Crazynew
In Colorado, gaping holes in the so-called safety net have made police, courts and emergency rooms the first and last line of contact with people who may be a danger to themselves or others. Too often, the care they receive is perfunctory -- a 72-hour crisis hold, a few pills, a referral to a mental-health center -- with little or no followup.
Westword |
Alan Prendergast |
06-02-2008 |
Crime & Justice
Colorado Inmates Waitin' Around to Dienew
Only one man is on the state's death row, but seven others are waiting in the wings.
Westword |
Alan Prendergast |
03-03-2008 |
Crime & Justice
DA Charges Death-Penalty Fees to the Statenew
How does DA Carol Chambers beat the high cost of a death-penalty prosecution? By billing the prison system.
Westword |
Alan Prendergast |
03-03-2008 |
Crime & Justice
The Poisoned Pen of Fort Lyon Prisonnew
Bought by the state for a dollar, Fort Lyon is rich in history, asbestos, sick inmates -- and trouble.
Westword |
Alan Prendergast |
11-21-2007 |
Crime & Justice
Tags: crime & justice
The Caged Lifenew
Is Thomas Silverstein a prisoner of his own deadly past -- or the first in a new wave of locked-down lifers?
Westword |
Alan Prendergast |
08-20-2007 |
Crime & Justice
Tags: crime & justice
More Pain for Accident Victimsnew
A dubious deal between a law firm and medical providers spins out in Colorado.
Westword |
Alan Prendergast |
07-23-2007 |
Crime & Justice
Tags: crime & justice
The Punishernew
Censured but defiant, Carol Chambers goes after habitual criminals -- and cops, judges and lawyers -- like no other district attorney. But at what cost?
Westword |
Alan Prendergast |
02-13-2007 |
Crime & Justice
Tags: crime & justice