Face The State Staff Report
Highly touted as the first of its kind in the nation, Colorado's juvenile clemency board is now being questioned by state legislators and juvenile justice advocates concerned about its lack of action.
At the end of August 2007, after aggressive lobbying by juvenile justice advocates, Gov. Bill Ritter, a Democrat, established an executive clemency board designed exclusively for the consideration of clemency for youth offenders who were tried as adults and serving life without parole or extended prison sentences.
Beckius as a childCourtesy Kathy Beckius
The seven seat advisory board included members of Ritter’s cabinet, juvenile justice experts, two psychologists, a Denver judge and at least one member to represent crime victims.
But the board's work has been slow. A year into its existence, it has only reviewed two cases, and has denied clemency in both. The treatment of juveniles convicted as adults of serious felonies is a hotly contested issue in Colorado where the laws are some of the strictest in the nation. Colorado is one of 14 states that permit "direct file," a system that allows prosecutors the sole discretion to charge juveniles as adults. In most other states, the decision is left up to judges.
Shawna Geiger, an attorney for the state's Alternate Defense Counsel, said direct file often puts juries and judges in difficult positions. “My concern is that the District Attorney can overcharge a juvenile, and there is nothing the judge or jury can do about it,” she said.
The board's creation a year ago earned Ritter national attention from juvenile-justice advocates. Today, however, much of the praise has faded. Mary Ellen Johnson, director of the Colorado-based Pendulum Foundation, an advocacy group for youth prisoners, said her organization gets frequent calls from other states wanting to emulate the panel's setup. “This is a great deal for Ritter because he can look good without ever doing anything,” she said.
Of the two applicants that have already been denied clemency by the board, Johnson said there has been no information released about why their applications were rejected.
“The whole process is secret and that’s what really bothers me,” she said. “They won’t share anything and don’t have to. Nobody knows what the heck is going on.”
But according to Evan Dreyer, Ritter’s spokesman, the law mandates confidentiality. Dreyer told Face The State in an e-mail, “Much of the information presented at a clemency proceeding is confidential by law – including information about victims and criminal justice, medical and mental health records. As a result, the law also limits what can be said about decisions that are rendered based on those proceedings.”
Joshua Beckius was one of the two applicants denied. He received a 40 year sentence for second-degree murder. Joshua Beckius was 14 when he committed the crime and 16 when he was sentenced.
According to his stepmother, Kathy Beckius, an older boy talked Joshua into robbing a movie theater. During the robbery, the movie theater's manager was shot and killed. The older boy pinned the crime on Joshua Beckius, who maintains he did not pull the trigger. While the other, young lookout boys were sentenced to a maximum sentence of six years, Joshua Beckius has been in prison for 16. When he heard about the board's creation last year, he began working on his application immediately.
“We just want to find out why he got denied, and they won’t tell us,” said Kathy Beckuis. “They won’t tell us anything.”
In April, the Rocky Mountain News reported that the board’s strict application rules were excluding more than half of all juveniles serving life sentences. They were ineligible to apply because they were sentenced after turning 18. According to Dreyer, this issue has been resolved. “The board clarified the criteria – applications are now tied to the date of offense, not the date of sentencing,” he wrote.
While juvenile justice advocates question the board's lack of action, Dreyer points to the fact that the board was not up and running until April 2008.
“There are going to be some growing pains, and I think that’s normal,” said Maureen Cain, Legislative Liaison of the Colorado Criminal Defense Bar. Cain says the CCDB has contacted board chairman Jeanne Smith and offered pro-bono representation to anyone applying for clemency but has not heard back. “I would think [the board] might want to tap the groups that are interested in helping and use their knowledge,” Cain said.
Smith did not respond to Face The State's multiple interview requests.
Beckius (R) with his familyCourtesy Kathy Beckius
Kathy Beckius remains cynical about the process. Rep. Don Marostica, R-Loveland, who represents the Beckius family in the state House, reviewed Joshua Beckius’s case. He said he even stopped by Ritter’s office to plead Beckius’s case. “I thought he was a perfect candidate,” he said. “It seems like if [Josh’s] case isn’t eligible, I can’t imagine whose would be.”
Marostica believes Ritter is hesitant to grant clemency or to commute any sentence of a violent juvenile offender because of the possible political implications. “No governor wants to make a mistake they’ll end up having to live with,” he said.
Former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee found himself in hot water over the issue late last year during his short-lived presidential bid for granting 1,033 pardons and commutations in his 10 years as governor, twice as many as his three predecessors combined. Comparatively, former Republican Gov. Bill Owens granted clemency 13 times, commutations, or pardons during his eight years in office. Ritter has not granted any. Dreyer declined to say how many requests Ritter’s Executive Clemency Board has received, but the Owens administration received about 200 requests annually.
Marostica's suggested that the board invite legislators in to see how the decisions are made. "That would be nice for us, so when our constituents come asking about this we have something to tell them," he said.
“This is an administration steeped in law enforcement background,” Greiger said. The Denver Post previously reported that during Ritter’s 14 years as the Denver DA, he sent more teens to prison for life without parole than any other district attorney in the state.
Despite calls for more transparency and skepticism from juvenile justice advocates, Dreyer writes, “we are confident in this process and that it is working as intended.”
Johnson considers the board’s progress minimal and the application criteria very strict. Any inmate with a pending appeal is not eligible, and if an application is denied, the prisoner must wait three years before reapplying. Inmates serving life sentences can only apply if they have served 10 or more years of their sentence, while inmates in the Youth Offender System need to have served a third of their sentence, requiring that juveniles serving a 40 year sentence need to spend little over 13 years in prison before they can apply for clemency or commutation. Those within 15 months of a parole hearing are also not eligible.
As of August 2007, Colorado was home to 45 juvenile offenders serving life without the possibility of parole. In addition, according to Johnson, there are as many as 1,200 inmates arrested as juveniles but not sentenced until after turning 18 who will never see the outside of a prison. Recent state legislative reforms have eliminated life sentences for juvenile offenders convicted of serious felonies, but eligibility for the new 40 year maximum is only limited to those not already convicted. Colorado's laws have drawn national media interest, including a feature in Rolling Stone magazine and a nationally televised PBS Frontline documentary.
Johnson says that many of 45 offenders serving life sentences are eligible to apply for clemency or commutation but are unconvinced the board will give them a fair shake.
Dreyer's response: “I seriously doubt there would ever be a shortage of applicants as long as this option is available.”