DENVER — Among the many measures Colorado voters will see on November’s ballot is one asking them to change parole eligibility for certain violent crimes.
Proposition 128 would increase the time people convicted of certain violent crimes — including second-degree murder, sexual assault, aggravated robbery, first-degree assault, arson and kidnapping — would have to serve before they could become eligible for discretionary parole or earned time reduction.
The state parole board released convicted sex offender Kenneth Dean Lee less than six years into a sentence that was supposed to be 23 years to life. The parole board said Lee was “at low risk to society to reoffend.”
"I will be known as the person who can be trusted," Lee said in his parole hearing.
About 18 months after his release, he was arrested again. According to the Aurora Police Department, Lee sexually assaulted a 7-year-old girl while posing as an immigration official. He pleaded guilty in 2023 to sexual assault of a child, burglary and sexual exploitation of a child and was sentenced to 40 years in prison
Michael Fields with Advance Colorado said releasing someone like Lee sent a terrible message.
"I think it tells a message to the community saying we care more about letting these people out early than we do about keeping your children safe or you safe in general,” said Fields.
That’s why Fields pushed to get Proposition 128 on November’s ballot. It would require offenders convicted of certain violent crimes to serve 85% of their sentence before they could become eligible for parole or be released early for earned time. Under current law, they have to serve 75% of their sentence before becoming eligible for parole.
Earned time reduces the time spent in prison by up to 10 to 12 days per month in exchange for pursuing goals to help them rehabilitate.
“We need to keep people safer,” said Fields.
Under Proposition 128, offenders would spend more time in prison. Supporters say this will lead to safer communities.
“If we want to protect people from violent criminals, we need to make sure that they're serving longer in their sentence,” said Fields.
But opponents say it will lead to more state spending and won’t reduce crime.
“I think Prop 128 takes us back to a time that we should not go to,” said Anaya Robinson, senior policy strategist for the ACLU of Colorado.
Robinson said keeping people imprisoned longer will not make Colorado safer.
“Not everybody who goes before the parole board is getting approved. They have to make a very documented case as to why they deserve to leave before their sentence is up,” said Robinson. “And in reality, the folks who are getting out that early on discretionary parole are very likely posing little to no threat any longer to the community.”
Opponents of Proposition 128 also say it would take away incentives for offenders to earn early release and would increase Colorado’s prison population.
“We're looking at potentially having to build more prisons to keep folks in prison longer,” said Robinson.
“I want people when they get out of jail to be productive members of society. That should be our goal, but it's not our number one goal,” said Fields. “Our number one goal is to protect people.”
Proposition 128 would only impact offenders convicted on or after Jan. 1, 2025. It would also make offenders convicted of a third violent crime ineligible for parole or earned time reduction.
Proposition 128 would take a simple majority to pass.
Denver7 is committed to making a difference in our community by standing up for what's right, listening, lending a helping hand and following through on promises. See that work in action, in the videos above.
