Beyond Bars highlights stories of criminal justice reform all over the country, and sometimes we find reformers where we least expect them.

In our new video “What Works in Colorado,” we tell the story of Mesa County DA Pete Hautzinger, who serves in one of the most conservative districts in Colorado. The reception area of his office is covered with framed newspaper clippings proclaiming the success of massive drug busts. It’s a place where being “tough on crime” goes without saying.

But when DA Hautzinger was faced with an epidemic of methamphetamine in the early 2000s, he didn’t tackle the problem in the stereotypical way with more crackdowns and more prison sentences. He took a different path, investing in treatment, and was so successful, his district saw dramatic reductions in all kinds of crime in the years since. That success inspired the CCJJ, a commission of cops, sheriffs, prosecutors, defense attorneys, judges, mental health professionals and others to come together to overhaul the system. Our video features interviews with several of these courageous reformers including the late Tom Clements, the head of Colorado prisons, who was recently gunned down outside his home.

Colorado has recently legalized recreational marijuana use, but there are still many outdated sentencing laws on the books, particularly for those who are arrested for drug possession or minor drug dealing. Our video features Democratic State Representative Claire Levy and Republican State Senator Steve King urging their colleague to pass these reforms, indicating just how far the two parties have come together in their approach to public safety.

Still, not everyone is pleased. Martin Beeson, the district attorney for the 9th district, just north of Mesa County, wrote a scathing commentary in the regional newspaper calling the new approach “dangerous,”  “a path of Russian roulette” and that if the changes are made, “they will bring enormous human cost.”  This is the same kind of resistance we find all over the place when it comes to changing course on mass incarceration - it is fear blinding someone to facts, also
known as channeling Bill O’Reilly.

But DA Hautzinger didn’t stand by silently. He wrote his own op-ed (emphasis mine): "Our goal throughout has been to find ways to eliminate criminal behavior. If a drug addiction is causing criminal behavior and we can eliminate that criminal behavior by eliminating the addiction, I believe it would be irresponsible not to pursue that alternative."

We couldn’t have said it better ourselves.

“Tough on crime” has always been poor policy that has been proven ineffective in reducing recidivism and victimization. That is starting to change across the country, even in conservative Mesa County, Colorado.

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