Should first-degree murder be a non-bailable offense? [Video]

DENEVR — Colorado voters will officially decide this November if they want to reinstate the option for defendants accused of first-degree murder to be held without bond.

House Bill 24-1225 — titled First Degree Murder Bail & Jury Selection Statute — as well as House Concurrent Resolution 24-1002 cleared their final hurdle in the Colorado Senate on Thursday morning, meaning voters will make the ultimate decision at the ballot in November.

HB24-1225 was introduced on Feb. 8 alongside HCR24-1002 and passed in the Colorado House of Representatives by a vote of 59-5 on March 4. It then proceeded to the Colorado Senate, along with HCR24-1002. They both passed unanimously on Thursday morning.

Currently, any Colorado defendant charged with first-degree murder has the right to bail.

HB24-1225 and HCR24-1002 were introduced in the wake of the People v. Smith decision from June 2023, in which the Colorado Supreme Court unanimously ruledthat because the state had abolished the death penalty, any person charged with first-degree murder …