Colorado’s prisons have a crowding problem

About this episode

The episode discusses the overcrowding issue in Colorado's prisons and the responses from state officials and lawmakers.

Colorado’s prisons have been filled nearly to capacity for months. And when the state has too many people in its prisons, difficult living conditions can quickly become intolerable. That’s got Colorado Department of Corrections officials, staff and some lawmakers worried. DOC says it needs more money to fund hundreds of additional beds for male inmates. But state lawmakers in both parties say DOC has failed to come up with a plan to address systemic issues. CPR’s Bente Birkeland and KUNC’s Kyle McKinnon dig into how the state got to the point of such high occupancy in its prisons, the ripple effect of crowding in prisons and how conversations on solutions are playing out at the State Capitol. Catch up on our coverage: KUNC News: Colorado’s prisons and jails are overflowing. What’s being done? CPR News: State budget committee rejects request for more prison beds until DOC provides more complete plan KUNC News: Colorado lawmakers reverse course, approve funding for new prison beds Purplish is produced by CPR News and the Capitol News Alliance, a collaboration between KUNC News, Colorado Public Radio, Rocky Mountain PBS, and The Colorado Sun, and shared with Rocky Mountain Community…

People in this episode

Host: Bente Birkeland

Guest: Kyle McKinnon

Topics covered

• prison crowding
• Colorado Department of Corrections
• state budget
• systemic issues
• lawmakers
• prison conditions

Keywords

• Colorado prisons
• overcrowding
• Department of Corrections
• state lawmakers
• prison beds
• living conditions
• systemic issues

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: Colorado Department of Corrections, KUNC News, CPR News, Rocky Mountain PBS, The Colorado Sun, Rocky Mountain Community Radio, Corporation for Public Broadcasting

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