Colorado murder bill advances: Sentencing cuts collide with voter mandate
By Shaina Cole | Contributing Writer, Rocky Mountain Voice
Colorado voters approved Proposition 128 in November 2024 with 62 percent support, requiring those convicted of second-degree murder and several other violent felonies to serve at least 85 percent of their sentence before becoming eligible for parole.
Seventeen months later, House Bill 26-1281 is headed to the House floor. While much of the debate has focused on how the bill treats completed murders, most of its effect may come from how it changes penalties for attempted cases — incidents far more common in Colorado.
The bill would reclassify some first-degree murder convictions as second-degree and also reduces penalties for attempted cases—crimes that occur far more often than completed homicides, including drive-by ...

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