Presumptive Sentencing; Colorado's New Sentencing Act
| Jurisdiction | Colorado,United States |
| Citation | Vol. 8 No. 12 Pg. 2349 |
| Pages | 2349 |
| Publication year | 1979 |
1979, December, Pg. 2349. Presumptive Sentencing; Colorado's New Sentencing Act
Colorado's new sentencing act was born on March 29, 1979, when Governor Richard Lamm signed House Bill ("H.B.") 1589 into law. It was conceived in 1977 when the Colorado legislature that year passed the original version of what has since become known as the "Gorsuch Bill." The 1977 bill provided for "flat time" sentencing (Table A in Appendix). The bill allowed the sentencing judge discretion to increase the sentence, not exceeding 20 percent where "aggravating circumstances" were found to exist, or to decrease the sentence, not exceeding 20 percent where "mitigating circumstances" were found to exist.
The 1977 version of H.B. 1589 had an effective date of July 1, 1978. When Governor Lamm was unsuccessful in vetoing the bill,(fn1) he convened an extraordinary session of the legislature and succeeded in delaying the effective date to April 1, 1979. Before the bill could become effective, as a result of adverse reaction to the substance of the bill, it was amended by the 1979 Colorado legislature and the effective date was again extended, this time to July 1, 1979. Thus, Colorado's new sentencing act became effective on July 1, 1979.
The 1979 version of H.B. 1589 differs from its predecessor in two important aspects. First, instead of eliminating the judge's discretion with reference to the term to which the convicted offender must be sentenced, the amended version allows a "presumptive range," albeit limited, within which the sentencing judge must select a "definite" term. Second, the lengths of the terms to which convicted offenders can be sentenced under the new act are significantly higher than those provided under the original act (see Tables A and B in Appendix).
The Colorado legislature in 1971 passed a new criminal code(fn2) that defined three types of offenses: felonies, misdemeanors and petty offenses. Each in turn was divided into "classes." Felonies were divided into five classes; misdemeanors into three; and petty offenses into two. The classes were graduated according to the severity of the offense, with the lower numbers being the most serious and bearing the greater penalties.
Since the Colorado Criminal Code went into effect on July 1, 1972, the penalties assigned to the various classes
of misdemeanors and petty offenses have gone unchanged. In fact, they are not affected by H.B. 1589. Felonies, on the other hand, have undergone somewhat of an evolutionary process. When the Colorado Criminal Code first passed, it provided a maximum and minimum range for all classes of felonies.(fn3) The sentencing judge was required to establish a maximum and minimum term within such range and was prohibited from fixing a definite term of imprisonment.(fn4)
In 1973, new requirements were prescribed for class 4 and 5 felonies. As a result of a legislative amendment, in sentencing an offender convicted of either a class 4 or 5 felony, the judge was required to fix a maximum period beyond which the convicted offender could not be imprisoned, but was prohibited from fixing a minimum period of confinement.(fn5) That same amendment...
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