Tag: Judicial Discretion

By Shaina Cole | Contributing Writer, Rocky Mountain Voice Colorado lawmakers confronted a question this week that has lingered for years under the gold dome: how far should the state go in punishing those who buy and traffic children? Two bills offered two different answers. Senate Bill 26-015 cleared Senate Judiciary on a 6–1 vote and was referred, as amended, to Appropriations. Senator Nick Hinrichsen cast the lone “no.” HB26-1082 went the other direction. Representative Scott Bottoms’ bill would have required life without parole in certain cases involving trafficked minors. It stalled in the House Judiciary Committee. No one in the room disputed the harm. That wasn’t the fight. The debate centered on sentencing, and whether judges should still have ro...