Colorado Voters Scrap Bail for People Charged With First-Degree Murder

A state constitutional amendment revoking the right for people charged with first-degree murder to be eligible for bail has passed in Colorado.

During the Nov. 5 election in Colorado, roughly 70 percent of voters, as of current counting, were in favor of Amendment I: revoking the right to bail from people charged with first-degree murder.

Colorado’s state legislature repealed the death penalty in 2020. A few years later, in June 2023, during the case People v. Smith, it was ruled that because the death penalty was abolished, courts had no grounds to treat crimes as capital offenses to set bail.