Denver’s bid to reform low-level city court sentences by lessening some maximum penalties in a way that could help immigrants avoid deportation won approval Monday night from the City Council.
Some immigrant advocates had pushed for the council to take further steps to more fully insulate those with or without legal status from drawing scrutiny from the federal enforcement system because of local ordinance violations. One way would be to make the maximum penalty for all local violations 364 days.
Robin Kniech, Paul Lopez and other council members supported alterations but couldn’t win enough colleagues’ support. They said they planned to keep pushing for more changes, which could include decriminalizing lower-level offenses such as public urination and unauthorized urban camping, Lopez said.
“This is probably not a conversation that’s over for us as a city as we look at other areas that the community is concerned about,” Kniech said.
The council approved the proposal 12-0.
The changes, proposed by Mayor Michael Hancock’s administration, will split criminal violations of city ordinances into three categories. City code will reserve the current blanket maximum of a year in jail and a $999 fine only for seven of the most serious offenses, including violent assaults and repeated domestic violence.
Petty crimes, including public urination, curfew violations and panhandling, now could net up to 60 days in jail with no fine. Midlevel offenses such as trespassing, shoplifting and initial domestic violence offenses will be eligible for up to 300 days and the current $999 fine.
Immigrant advocates say federal enforcement rules typically put people on the radar for deportation when they are convicted of certain types of crimes that carry a maximum sentence of at least a year in jail. That is regardless of the length of the actual sentence received, spurring the calls to shorten Denver’s maximum sentences.
The revised sentencing ordinance also will gain a hate-crime enhancement. City attorneys will be able to request a boost of lower-tier offenses to the top level if they’re shown to be motivated by race, religion or sexual orientation, among other attributes.
“They’re crimes where it’s not just targeting a victim, but it’s targeting a community that is just like that victim,” said Scott Levin, the Denver-based regional director for the Anti-Defamation League, in support of the enhancement during a public hearing before the vote.
Hancock and council members pitched the changes as an overdue reform of the local criminal justice system, in which ordinance violations are tried in Denver County Court. The changes don’t affect more serious state-level crimes, including some domestic violence charges, which are handled through district court.
But city officials seized on calls for help by immigrant advocates in choosing to pursue the reforms now.
“Over the past four months, the White House has issued a series of executive orders that have exacerbated our broken immigration system and have had a real impact on our community,” Hancock said in a statement issued after the council’s vote. “I have heard from many who are rightfully concerned. Denver is committed to taking actions that will protect our people’s rights and keep our city safe, welcoming and open.”
