Up to the Minute

UTTM 06-11-26 Joybelle Phelan Kyle Giddings
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Introduction
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Joybelle Phelan: Hello and welcome You've tuned into Up to the Minute on Colorado Radio for Justice. I'm your host today, JoyBelle Phelan, and I'm joined by Kyle Giddings here at the Colorado Criminal Justice Reform Coalition. Colorado's 2026 legislative session wrapped up May 13th,over 120 days, hundreds of bills, and a very tight budget that shaped everything.

People inside Colorado's prisons and jails, for people coming home, for families navigating the criminal legal system, this session had real stakes. Some bills [00:01:00] passed that will change lives. Some were narrowed down until they barely recognized themselves, and some didn't make it at all. So today on Up to the Minute, we're gonna break down what happened, what it means, and kind of where we go from here.

Kyle Giddings is the deputy director here at the Colorado Criminal Justice Reform Coalition, which is one of the state's leading advocacy organizations working on behalf of people impacted by incarceration. Kyle has also lived this work in a deeply personal way, and we're glad to have you. Welcome, Kyle.

Kyle Giddings: It's good to be here, as always.

Second Look / Post-Conviction Relief
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Joybelle Phelan: I wanna start with second look. So this was Senate Bill 26-115, and this was second look for post-conviction relief, if you're not familiar.

I would say this might be one of the biggest wins of this session from my view. Yeah. How, how would this land for you?

Kyle Giddings: Yeah, definitely. the coup that happened at joint, the Joint Budget Committee where we, we were able to hold up, uh, the DOC's budget allowed for this [00:02:00] slate of wonderful bills to get through and negotiated and signed by the governor.

All these bills have now been signed, and I would definitely agree that second look is, like, one of the most impressive bills that made it through this session.

Joybelle Phelan: this was originally conceived to include people who committed their offense under age 21. That provision was stripped out. Yeah.

Can you give us any insight onto why?

Kyle Giddings: the governor hated it.

Some of the DAs didn't like it either. Um, we pushed, uh, we being Spero Justice Center, pushed a lot to try to keep that provision, but it became very clear that if it, the provision wasn't removed, um, it would, uh, the bill would've been vetoed.

also, the state has no money right now, the fiscal analysis person said it would cost quite a bit of money to implement. luckily, they were able still to preserve the, um- Section where a prosecutor could initiate a second look procedure with someone that related to their sentence.

there's no age limits on any of that or, uh, crime exclusions as far [00:03:00] as I'm aware. So the prosecutor could still go in and for the people who are younger, still be able to go in and file a motion.

Joybelle Phelan: So, if someone has a family member who's listening, and you just mentioned the prosecutor has some authority now- Mm-hmm

to take that second look, uh, how might someone go about getting their prosecutor to do that?

Kyle Giddings: direct advocacy to their office is the best way to do it. Um, you either, your loved one or you who are currently incarcerated, writing letters to the prosecutor, um, setting up meetings to discuss the case and the, um, walk them through.

You know, prosecutors, the DA's office usually changes every eight years. There's a new DA. Some of them don't have term limits, but a lot of them do. And so, like, I think Arapahoe County is the best example right now, um, where they were under John Selders and before then they were under George Brauchler, but now they're under Amy Padden, who is much more progressive and much more forward-thinking about second look and redemption and making sure people have, [00:04:00] uh, reasonable sentences, um, that reflect the crime that was actually committed.

So advocacy directly to the DA's office.

Joybelle Phelan: so probably including, like, how you have changed- Mm-hmm ... maybe how laws have changed. Yep. Like, kind of painting a picture of why the DA should take time to look at your case.

Kyle Giddings: Yep, absolutely.

Lay out that case and show how you've really changed.

Joybelle Phelan: So this passed 18 to 17- Mm-hmm ... on the last, literally the last day of session.

Can you take us inside that and maybe talk about, like, how close did this come to maybe dying, and what got it across that finish line?

Kyle Giddings: It was a super close vote.

I think there's still a lot of, um, turmoil, I think, is the best way to say it, uh, inside of the Democratic caucus about how to deal with, uh- The criminal justice system and how to respond in a way that is not only honoring to victims, but also, uh, shows a path for redemption for those who are involved and incarcerated.

That 18th vote was [00:05:00] Senator Matt Ball, who actually sponsored the special needs parole bill last time- Mm ... um, and got it passed and signed. But he requested a, a three-year sunset review- Mm ... to see if this law's actually doing anything. Um, and so I don't know the deep inner workings.

I, there was a lot of floor spe- speeches from some Democrats talking about how this is very much so goes in the face of victims- Mm ... and, uh, we shouldn't be doing this and da, da, da. Uh, including Senator Tom Sullivan, whose son was murdered at the Aurora theater shooting.so it's just complicated to say the least.

but what matters is it got across the finish line- Mm-hmm ... and it was signed by the governor.

Joybelle Phelan: can you talk a little bit about, like, what does second look actually mean, and why does CCJRC believe that that's the right approach?

Kyle Giddings: second look in Colorado even means something different than it does in other states. we have, uh, a case here from the Colorado Herrera decision, which means that, um, when someone [00:06:00] is sentenced, it is absolute and won't retroactively change, unless if they are re-sentenced.

say I was sentenced to 10 years for robbery- Mm ... and the law changed saying that the max amount I could serve was five now because, under the same circumstances, same charges, same conviction.

Joybelle Phelan: Mm-hmm.

Kyle Giddings: I, there's nothing I can do, um, without changes in the law to just retroactively h- automatically have my sentence changed.

Joybelle Phelan: So just because the law changed, your sentence doesn't change.

Kyle Giddings: Exactly. Uh, Herrera says it's absolute, um, unless if you go before the court and get a rehearing.

We have to go through a whole procedure to have a judge re-sentence you to a new term of confinement for X amount of years for whatever your sentence was. And so it is really important that we lean into second look though, as a form of, uh, redemption and recidivism, um, combating recidivism that's really high.

Um, because there's a lot of folks who are [00:07:00] in the criminal justice system right now that were caught up in the system when the laws were very different.over the last 10 to 15 years, the laws have really changed and, like, have been reflective based on research, agreements between the district attorneys and the defense counsels, and everybody, and activists and community, that, like, maybe these sentences are too extreme and let's reduce them.

so we have to unfortunately create that whole process here in Colorado for them to go through to get re-sentenced, and there's no guarantee that they will get re-sentenced. Yeah. Um, but it is, like, a true avenue to help folks find justice, um, and, like, fulfill the purpose of the criminal justice system, which is, um, uh, turning people's lives around.

It's not just to incarcerate them forever-

second chance laws and all that give an opportunity for folks to have their case heard and then have their, um, sentence reduced and hopefully be able to move forward in life.

Joybelle Phelan: only 137 people in Colorado are currently eligible to [00:08:00] petition under this new law.

Kyle Giddings: Mm-hmm.

Joybelle Phelan: That's a small number when we're talking about 17,000 people- Right

Kyle Giddings: now ...

Joybelle Phelan: in prison, right?

Kyle Giddings: Yeah.

Joybelle Phelan: this would be considered a win.

Kyle Giddings: Mm-hmm.

Joybelle Phelan: But it's only 137 people.

Why is it a win?

Kyle Giddings: getting one person out is a win. the largest group of people in the Department of Corrections are people aging over the age of 50. Mm. And so while this seems like very limited right now, they are the largest growing population.

So in the next 5 to 10 years,I would not be shocked if it doubled, tripled as time goes on because of the growth- Right ... in the aging population side of the prisons.

and having that prosecutor-initiated provision in the law is a really big win, 'cause right nowYou have to go through and file all the motions by yourself. you have to hire a lawyer for the appeals process, they have to do all that. Under this,

the prosecutor has the ability to just go like, "This person needs to be re-sentenced." And a lot of prosecutor's offices, especially here on the Front Range, have,

A review process. Yeah. There's a panel that reviews cases and determine if that was a fair sentence or if this person was actually probably not [00:09:00] guilty and was sentenced as guilty and are sitting in incarceration. Integrity units, I think that's what they're called. Mm. Mm-hmm.

Yep. So this is a great opportunity for a lot of these integrity units to use this law and come in and activate, prosecutors file the motion themselves for a re, uh, sentencing, which is a very strong step up, uh, for the people who would go in front of the judge.

Joybelle Phelan: I know a gentleman, um, who's currently in community corrections. Um, I met him while he was at Skyline in the Beacon program. I don't know the details of his case, But he did write about his story, um, for the Prison Journalism Project.

he had a specific case where he did reach out to the prosecutor, and his prosecutor did see the immense amount of change in his life. Mm-hmm. And I think that's part of why he's now in community corrections- Yeah ... and not still in a program inside prison. Yeah.

Kyle Giddings: Totally.

Joybelle Phelan: 100%. So it is fully possible for people that are listening and are like, "No, a DA would never do that."

They might.

Kyle Giddings: it's always worth a shot

Joybelle Phelan: Never hurts to try.

let's move on [00:10:00] now to an issue that I know is near and dear to your heart.

Restitution Reform
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Joybelle Phelan: Restitution reform.

Kyle Giddings: So what does this law do?

To put it very simply, an insurance company, a multi-billion dollar corporation, will no longer be, uh, seen as a victim automatically within the criminal justice, uh, system for defendants to have to pay restitution to.

Um, so say, uh, there's a theft, and the insurance company pays out to the victim. That is the purpose of insurance companies, is to make people whole. You- they pay premiums for that. Mm-hmm. Um, and so we decided that that didn't make any sense. Mm-hmm. And then also, when it comes to restitution, we should be prioritizing, uh, natural victims, like real people like me and you- Mm-hmm

and not a corporation. so we stripped the ability for them to get criminal restitution. Now, what they can still do is sue you in civil court. Mm-hmm. But most people who are involved in the criminal justice system, um- are judgment-proof because they tend to be indigent. Mm. Okay. Um, or people of [00:11:00] much lower income, don't have a lot of assets or any assets.

but if you do have a lot of money, a lot of assets, then you will likely not be judgment-proof, which- Right ... you should pay back anyway but for a lot of folks, uh, who I know and personally myself, who were involved in the system and we were indigent,

There was a reason why we were committing crimes- Yeah ... in many of these cases. Um, you wouldn't be able to be slapped with a restitution order anymore. Um, and it's already in effect, so if you have a case going on right now involving an insurance company, make sure your, um- Aware

public defender is hyper-aware that that insurance company cannot file a motion for restitution.

Joybelle Phelan: you've shared publicly that you paid restitution- Mm-hmm ... for over a decade and- Still do ... still owe more than when you started. Me too.

let's talk about how that's possible for people that might not understand

Kyle Giddings: Here's my circumstances. Um, I pled out in a case. Um, and when you plead out, you don't get the right to argue really your restitution order. You're gonna have a hearing where you can argue it, but you've already pled out, you've agreed that you're [00:12:00] guilty,and most of the time these hearings for restitution happen well after the fact.

Joybelle Phelan: And you're already in prison at that point.

Kyle Giddings: You're already in prison- Mm ... or you're in jail or you're on probation, whatever the case is. the burden is on you to prove that you didn't steal the things that they said you stole. in my case,I was very aware of many things I did steal from my particular victim, but then they turned around and gave a long list- Mm

of things that they said I stole, which I'm like, "I didn't steal two-thirds of this." But didn't matter because I had already pled out and there was no way for me to prove that I didn't steal it.so I was hit with, uh, $76,000 in restitution, um, and started paying it little by little. Like, I didn't have a lot of money.

now my wages are garnished because it's been so long and I haven't paid it off, and I owe that money to a multi billion-dollar corporation insurance company, not to the actual victim. they also get 8% interest on the balance every single year-

until the final balance is paid, and then you're allowed to start paying off the interest. [00:13:00] So now I owe, uh, $68,000 in just interest. I'm almost done paying off the original balance, but so it's double what it was. Mm-hmm. It feels very unconstitutional to me and many legal scholars who say that's excessive fees and fines.

and so next session we're gonna try to figure out a path forward- like create a process for someone to, uh, file a motion in court to be like, "Hey, I have paid off my original balance. Um, I should have my interest waived- Mm-hmm ... and like given re- gone removed, especially now with this new law in place,"

we're gonna figure out what that process needs to look like 'cause there- Right ... there is a process. We just gotta figure out what it needs to look like on paper.

Joybelle Phelan: If you've already got a restitution amount due, you're sort of stuck with still paying that- Mm-hmm ... even if it's an insurance company?

Kyle Giddings: Right now, there is not a process for us to go back and retroactively get rid of it.

Joybelle Phelan: Let's talk a little bit about the

Reentry Support
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Joybelle Phelan: reentry support bill. Mm. So this one was 26-1256.

This is the one that makes the $100 [00:14:00] release allowance mandatory for all people leaving Colorado prisons each year. It also prohibits the DOC from denying ID documents due to outstanding legal financial obligations.

I thought well, wait a minute, they were already giving people $100, 'cause I remember people talking about getting gate money. But the difference is the prior law said DOC may provide, this law says they must.

When we go from may give $100 to they must give $100-

Kyle Giddings: Mm-hmm ...

Joybelle Phelan: what's the difference in practice, and who was falling through that gap?

Kyle Giddings: going from, uh, may to must means that no longer will your $100 be eaten up by, uh, the cost of your clothes for why you lea- when you leave, the- Oh ... fines and fees, right? Like we were hearing stories of people getting, starting at $100 but then having that whittled down to like 20, 30 bucks because they owed this, this, that, and this, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah.

And [00:15:00] so they can no longer just take money out of that $100 to pay back for clothes or whatever. They have to give you $100 no matter what.

$100 might be what you need to get that first meal in your belly, and then, uh, a bus ticket up to Denver if your parole officer is meeting you in Denver the next day. Yeah. Um, it might be what you just need to like make ends meet for that first 24 hours.

And then the vital documents part, DOC is already supposed to be providing all these documents, and they just haven't very well. Um, there's a lot of mayhem, especially around state IDs- they were processing people's state IDs as soon as they arrived instead of at the other end.

Mm-hmm. And so they were registering people to vote.That's a felony." the key's gonna be implementation- Mm-hmm

making sure DOC is actually doing it. So CEO, um, uh, Center for Employment Opportunity- Mm-hmm ... was the organization that pushed this bill forward and got it- Okay ... across the finish line.

Joybelle Phelan: Great.

Kyle Giddings: And so I know they've been talking about what does accountability and implementation look like from here.

Joybelle Phelan: I know so many people that have gotten out and

Had a job lined up [00:16:00] ready to go, but without an ID, how do you have a job?

Kyle Giddings: Can't get a job.

Joybelle Phelan: in this bill in particular, is there anything in this one that was surprising or that you think people are maybe underestimating?

Kyle Giddings: I think people really underestimate how much $100 means to people.

it's very easy for, uh, folks on the outside to just be like, "Well, 100 bucks, like, whatevs. Like, that's like a slightly nice night out on Denver."

Joybelle Phelan: if you're fresh out of prison, that might be a Starbucks coffee that you've seen on TV and you've wanted to try.

Kyle Giddings: Yeah. Uh, I have a I had a friend, uh, Jeff, who all he wanted was to try an Arby's sandwich, 'cause he'd just watched commercials where we have- Yep ... the meat.

his ability to use that $100 to go get that sandwich, like, was a big morale boost for him.

Joybelle Phelan: having $100 makes a difference.

from a taxpayer brain, right?

Kyle Giddings: Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm.

Joybelle Phelan: Who's paying for that 100 bucks? Where does that come from?

Kyle Giddings: It does come from the general fund. It's been inside the DOC's budget year after year, and it's often underspent, yeah, because they're not using it well.

as a taxpayer here in Colorado- [00:17:00] I think there's no better investment into someone's first day of re-entry than having money in your pocket to be able to go do something that feels beneficial to yourself.

there was one guy that we knew, I talked to once who was, um- He walked out, he had a warrant in Tennessee, and they picked him up and drove him to Tennessee where he had to go resolve that case. That took him about four hours to resolve, and then they didn't take him home.

they left him in Tennessee, and he had to report to his parole officer pretty quick. And so we had to, like, pool money together and get him a ticket to get home.

100 bucks then could have helped him a lot.

Joybelle Phelan: let's talk a little bit about, um, there was a bill, um, 26095, which was about

Trauma-Informed Training
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Joybelle Phelan: trauma-informed training.

Kyle Giddings: Mm-hmm.

Joybelle Phelan: Now, this one passed almost unanimously.

Kyle Giddings: Yeah.

Joybelle Phelan: And what this one is, is it requires two hours of annual trauma-informed training for all peace officers, specifically on how trauma affects survivors of sexual assault, domestic violence, stalking, [00:18:00] and trafficking, and on how officers should respond. Now, this one was surprising to me because I was like, "Wait, if you're a police officer- Yeah

a sheriff, like if you're someone in law enforcement, don't you already get some form of trauma-informed training?"

Kyle Giddings: It's usually a general lecture at, during your recruitment and, like, during that process, like in academy. Really? It's not like an actual training. Yeah. Um, so this is a really great step in the right direction as well.

Yeah. Uh, especially for, uh, survivors of, uh, sexual assault in particular. we hear a lot of horror stories of how they are treated within the first 24 hours after they were, um, assaulted, and police tend to be very dismissive. They don't always report everything.

And it is important that when they respond to crime, that they are like equipped with everything they need to respond to victims.

Joybelle Phelan: 'Cause there's so much happening. Like-

Kyle Giddings: So much happening ...

Joybelle Phelan: yeah, like all, any- they could walk into something they thought it was [00:19:00] one thing, and it turns out being 180 degrees different.

Kyle Giddings: Exactly, and being able to pivot and understand and have empathy. Um, you know, I have friends that are in law enforcement and firefighters, and the empathy part is very hard to keep your hands on- Mm

um, after dealing with so much for so long.but there's never more a moment for empathy than when sitting down with a victim of any crime, let alone a sex assault.

Joybelle Phelan: what happens when a responding officer doesn't understand trauma?

Kyle Giddings: They, um, re-traumatize the victim, and in some cases make it to the point where the victim doesn't even wanna move forward with the case, and then there's no justice for anybody in this situation. Um, I've heard stories from victims as well as people involved that because of the poor response from law enforcement towards the victim, that,

They lost, um, the ability to actually prosecute the individual who committed the crime, and it is... It can [00:20:00] completely make everything fall apart and that person feel victimized continuously for- All over again ... all over again, and likely for a good portion of the rest of their life because

They never got justice. people tend to feel incredibly victimized for the rest of their life when the police show up and re-victimize them and dismiss their case or just respond really poorly.

Joybelle Phelan: especially as a woman, right? Yeah. There's a lot of stories around, "Well, what were you doing wearing that outfit?" Mm-hmm. Or saying that thing or, you know, you know, women- Why were

Kyle Giddings: you there at that time of the day?

Joybelle Phelan: A lot of stuff like that, yeah. Yeah. I mean, it just, which isn't, you know, that kind of misogyny is certainly not, you know, limited only to people who work in- Yeah

law enforcement. No. Like, it's everywhere, right?

Extra: Yeah.

Joybelle Phelan: But it is that sort of thinking. Um, so I'm curious, so CRJ, Colorado Radio for Justice, covers both sides of the system, right? Mm-hmm. People who have been victimized and people who are incarcerated, and often those are exactly the same people.

Kyle Giddings: So this is two hours of annual training.

Joybelle Phelan: How does this bill connect to the broader conversation around how trauma [00:21:00] shows up throughout the system of people we're working with?

Kyle Giddings: that is also our experience over and over again, is that people that tend to commit crimes were victims well before they committed their first crime.

when police walk into situations and see, um, a victim and are trying to help that victim, to recognize that everybody around that person is also a victim- Mm-hmm ... of the circumstances. But they may not have been the person that was directly harmed, but they were harmed in a way.

there's a ripple effect. that first interaction with a victim, I think establishes how the rest of everything else is gonna go. Mm. And might even establish how that victim responds to their family members after the fact.

if we can stop the continuation of victimization of these folks, um, by having the police respond properly the first time-

we're able to prevent a lot of other issues down the road for not only that person, but the people that they care for or their, um, their children, their spouse, anything [00:22:00] like that.

Joybelle Phelan: I hear often, someone gets sentenced to prison, then there are community corrections hearings, and there are parole hearings, and there are all of these avenues-

Extra: Mm-hmm ...

Joybelle Phelan: by which people can then, you know, be released from prison. And I regularly hear victims upset around, " Well, wait a minute.

He was sentenced to X. He or she was sentenced to X amount of time. What do you-- Why am I every six month attending a community corrections- Yeah ... review or a parole hearing?" Mm-hmm. And so I just, like, I think, I think this, this bill is a step in the right direction, but I think there's so much more to be done-

Kyle Giddings: Yeah

Joybelle Phelan: around educating victims on the system.

Kyle Giddings: I think if we invested some portion of the Department of Corrections budget into, like, restorative justice as well as, um, a larger portion that's currently budgeted, uh, restorative justice, victim services directly connected to the criminal justice system, I think we would have a much more, um, redemptive system for both sides.

Joybelle Phelan: I wanna give you a chance to sort of step back in before we close [00:23:00] out.

if you had to

Session Grade & Looking Ahead
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Joybelle Phelan: give this session a letter grade, like we were in school, for what it did or didn't do for people impacted by incarceration in Colorado, what grade would that be- Oh, man

Kyle Giddings: and

Joybelle Phelan: why?

Kyle Giddings: Well, I'll tell you, when we were coming into session, I thought it was gonna be a solid F.

Joybelle Phelan: Okay.

Kyle Giddings: I thought we were gonna fail miserably. I didn't think we were gonna be able to do anything that we were able to. I think if I had to give this session a grade for incarcerated or justice-impacted people- Mm-hmm

I would give it a B.

Yeah. It would be an A if we didn't expand the prison beds that we did expand.

but I would give it a solid B. It was like- Okay

resoundingly one of the most successful sessions we've had in a long time. Okay. And it's because of community showing up and organizing and helping us hold the Department of Corrections hostage.

Joybelle Phelan: So I'm curious, so our final question before we close out, what's on the table for next session that didn't make it in this time?

Kyle Giddings: Oh my gosh. Um, that didn't make it in? Mm-hmm. I have no idea yet. Really?

Okay. Um, I am trying to recover my brain from [00:24:00] session.

Something that did pass was the DOC working group. Mm-hmm. And so that is gonna be going into effect here. Oh, that's right. Yeah, and so, um, and the increase in earned time as well passed and was signed into law.

And so there's a lot of, like, front work to get ready for that working group. Yeah. And so I know Christie Donner, our executive director, is working to gather an advisory board of formerly incarcerated people,

as well as, like, just getting, making sure the right people are in the right seat for that- Yeah

working group so we can actually have some real impact. So we'll see. I, you know, there is, the restitution forgiveness is on the horizon- Okay ... and definitely on the docket of attempting to figure out how to do that. But beyond that, I don't know. Okay. New governor, new legislature. Right, yeah, things are gonna change.

Lots of people out, lots of people in. We'll see. There's a lot to figure out still.

Extra: [00:25:00]