Costs to Colorado of mass incarceration are too great

By: Quentin Young

Outlets: Colorado Newsline

Published: April 16, 2026

Words: 858

Last Updated: 2 months, 2 weeks ago

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Colorado incarcerates people at a higher rate than Iran and Russia combined.

According to the most recent figures from the Prison Policy Initiative, 556 of every 100,000 people in Colorado are locked up. That’s compared to 300 in Russia, 228 in Iran and 165 in China, all deeply repressive countries that Americans like to imagine are less free than the U.S.

In August, the state prison inmate population exceeded 18,000 people, straining a system …

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