In Colorado, 112,000 people are behind bars or under supervision (probation, parole, and community corrections / halfway houses). The state’s incarceration rate of 614 per 100,000 people means that Colorado locks up a higher percentage of its people than almost any democratic country on earth. And, 50% of those who get out of detention in Colorado will go back into custody. This state has the 5th highest recidivism rate in the U.S.

The criminal-legal system in Colorado and the U.S. is characterized by three interlocking crises. The first crisis is mass incarceration. U.S. detention rates are far higher than any other nation on earth. 

Recidivism is an accompanying crisis. 95% of detained citizens will return home to their communities, but many will be reincarcerated. Recidivism rates in some states are over 80%.

A third crisis is a systemic abandonment of human values. U.S. schools, police, courts, and prisons too often reject the dignity of people who are accused of committing harm. The system erroneously equates punishment with accountability. People in custody are deprived of compassion or agency. This less-than-human treatment persists from punitive schooling cultures, to police brutality, to excessive sentencing laws, to unsupported reentry processes. U.S. culture is steeped in narratives that suggest that this situation is correct or acceptable. And so our neighbors, colleagues, and family members continue to return to prison and languish there.

Colorado Radio for Justice (CRJ) believes that a narrative shift, led by system-impacted voices, is critical to end these crises and refocus American attention on human values.

Colorado Radio for Justice plays a unique role in ending this crisis of incarceration & recidivism: supporting people in sharing their stories, building community and skills, and establishing the foundations they need to fulfill their dreams of a life of meaning and purpose.