One year after a parolee killed Colorado state prisons director Tom Clements, life behind bars — and beyond — is far different for the state’s convicts, reports the Denver Post. After years of declining prison populations — reductions that Clements had trumpeted — the number of inmates has risen in the past year as a direct result of his slaying.
Among factors: The Colorado Parole Board granted an average of 24 fewer discretionary paroles per month, an 8 percent decrease.; authorities cracked down on technical violations by parolees. The parole board, acting on recommendations of parole officers, increased by 37 parolees a month, or 14 percent, the number it sent back to prison for rule violations such as missing curfews and drinking beer. The new Fugitive Apprehension Unit has also rounded up 415 parole absconders across the state, including one who was living in Quartzsite, Az., as a woman the past six years.