DENVER (AP) - Democrats have rejected a proposal to give Colorado prisons the power to revoke inmates’ earned time, saying the measure raised safety concerns and discouraged good behavior.
A Senate committee rejected the bill on a 3-2 party-line vote Wednesday. The proposal sought to change current law, which says certain earned time cannot be revoked.
Republicans brought the bill as another response to the murder of Department of Corrections Director Tom Clements last year. The suspect in that case received 115 days of earned time during his nearly eight years in prison despite several citations for violent offenses.
Democrats argued the bill could incite gang fights to bait certain inmates to lose their earned time.
The bill had easily cleared the House with bipartisan support.
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