Recently, the State House Committee voted down a bill that would reverse the life sentences of 48 murders in Colorado.  Each of these individuals was a juvenile at the time they committed the offense for which they are incarcerated.  Between 1992 and 2006, Colorado applied life without parole to certain juvenile offenders.  This was changed in 2006.  However, for those juveniles sentenced between 1992 and 2006, parole is not possible despite this change in the law.

What HB 1287 would have done is granted people convicted as juveniles parole eligibility after 40 calendar years in prison.  Even if paroled, they would have remained under the supervision of the Colorado Department of Corrections as parolees for a lifetime.  Parole would not have been automatic, and instead would only have given these individuals a potential second chance.

Several victims’ families vehemently opposed the Bill.