U.S. Department of Justice launches investigation into Colorado prisons, youth detention centers
The U S Department of Justice has launched an analysis into the conditions inside Colorado s prisons and juvenile detention facilities the federal agency informed Monday The probe will examine policies and practices within the Colorado Department of Corrections and Division of Youth Services to ensure that DOC inmates and youths in the custody of DYS are being afforded their rights under the U S Constitution and federal law the Justice Department disclosed in a news release The Constitution protects every American whether they are a young person confined in a juvenile facility or an elderly person confined to a prison Assistant Attorney General Harmeet K Dhillon stated in a report We are committed to upholding our federal civil rights laws so that no one is subject to unconstitutional mistreatment when held in state custody The Justice Department in a letter Monday to Gov Jared Polis declared the analysis will determine whether Colorado engaged in a pattern or practice of violating the constitutional rights of prisoners held at DOC facilities by failing to provide adequate anatomical care and safe and sanitary physical conditions of confinement and whether Colorado violates the rights of detainees by failing to protect youth in DYS facilities from use of excessive force and failing to provide adequate nutrition to detainees The Department will also consider whether Colorado violates prisoners and detainees right to free exercise of religion by housing biological males in units designated for females the letter continued A Polis spokesperson could not be reached at once for comment The establishment s analysis comes on the heels of The Denver Post s reporting about the conditions inside the state s juvenile detention facilities Last month parents described The Post that their kids were losing concerning amounts of weight at the Youthful Offender System facility in Pueblo due to a lack of food One individual a -year-old was hospitalized after going into renal failure due to malnourishment his family disclosed The claims prompted state correctional staff to change inmate privileges concerning the purchase of food Related Articles Colorado woman gets years prison time for creating distributing child sex abuse material Colorado settles hidden fees lawsuit against Greystar in the latest affair resolved with landlord giant Colorado reaches settlement with landlord giant Greystar in price-fixing lawsuit Trump personnel seek to transfer Tina Peters from Colorado prison to federal custody Colorado companies execs charged in Chinese forklift scheme tried to avoid M in tariffs feds say In March The Post located internal nonpublic critical circumstance reports indicated rampant assertions of excessive force by staff members at the state s youth detention and commitment facilities serious injuries sustained by teens while being physically restrained a litany of illicit drugs entering secure facilities and several statements of staff members engaging in sexual relationships with youth in their care The Division of Youth Services in August removed all youth serving sentences at the Lookout Mountain Youth Services Center in Golden over what staff and advocates called deteriorating safety conditions The Justice Department s announcement also comes on the heels of Colorado officers denying President Donald Trump s request to move former Mesa County clerk Tina Peters from a state facility to a federal prison A federal court on Monday denied Peters latest request to leave prison She s now serving a nine-year sentence on election-related charges Trump has repeatedly called for Peters release and a senior Justice Department official has mentioned he s working to free her After Colorado administrators rejected the Federal Bureau of Prisons transfer request last month the president called Polis a sleazebag and stated Peters had been unfairly convicted Peters attorneys in court filings say her physical condition has declined during her time in the Colorado prison Sign up to get crime news sent straight to your inbox each day
