THE PANDEMIC AS A PORTAL: REIMAGINING CRIME AND PUNISHMENT IN COLORADO IN THE WAKE OF COVID-19

There is growing recognition that the phenomenon of mass incarceration fails to achieve public safety, perpetuates cycles of harm in communities, and is costly and ineffective. Most experts agree that it will be impossible to achieve a meaningful decrease in our rates of mass incarceration without considering our response to violent crime. And yet, most recent reform efforts, including those in Colorado, have targeted the "low-hanging fruit" of nonviolent offenses or very limited categories of extreme sentences, such as the death penalty and life without parole sentences for juveniles. In this Article, we argue that the reason this approach has been so limited is because of false and persistent dehumanizing narratives about people who commit acts of violence. These narratives also dominate broader public conversations about crime and punishment and legitimize other excessive and draconian sentences. After unpacking these myths and their consequences for mass incarceration, we examine their impact on Colorado's anemic response to reducing jail and prison populations during the COVID-19 pandemic. Finally, at this significant moment in history, we argue that instead of tiptoeing around the edges of carceral reform, we should be radically reimagining crime and punishment in our state so that we can build a ladder to reach the fruit higher up the tree. For this approach to succeed, we must come to understand crime and violence as multidimensional social problems. We must reimagine justice as a means of holding individuals accountable for their actions while also repairing harm. Simultaneously, we must acknowledge the current damage mass incarceration inflicts upon human beings and expand space for healing in correctional facilities. With those rungs of the ladder in place, we will be positioned to reach higher and decarcerate in a meaningful way.