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Davenport v. Community Corrections of Pikes Peak Region Inc.6/29/1998
-funded community-based programs designed to divert offenders from correctional facilities and reintegrate incarcerated offenders into society. See People v. Abdul, 935 P.2d 4, 6 (Colo. 1997). As we have previously observed,
ommunity corrections programs utilize a variety of means, including halfway houses and work release programs, to enable offenders to reside in the community. The basic objective of such programs is "to limit confinement to the extent necessary to assure reasonable supervision while permitting a gradual reintegration of the offender into the society to which the offender would eventually return."
Wilson, 747 P.2d at 640 (quoting American Bar Association Standards for Criminal Justice, Sentencing Alternatives and Procedures, Standard 18-2.4, Commentary at 102 (1986 Supp.)). Community corrections programs also provide sentencing Judges with an intermediate penalty that is more severe than probation, yet not as harsh as incarceration. See Beecroft v. People, 874 P.2d 1041, 1045 (Colo. 1994); People ex rel. Van Meveren v. District Court, 195 Colo. 34, 36, 575 P.2d 4, 6 (1978). Furthermore, the General Assembly has determined that direct sentencing to community corrections promotes public safety by increasing the potential for victim restitution and by providing offenders with access to rehabilitation programs. See Section 17-27-101(2)(a). Finally, the fiscal savings associated with the community corrections program are considerable. See Lynn S. Branham, A Federal Comprehensive Community Corrections Act: Its Time Has Come, 12 T.M. Cooley L. Rev. 399, 403-07 (1995).
Imposing an actionable duty in this case would have wide-ranging practical consequences in the community corrections system. Clearly, each offender sent to community corrections poses a potential danger to the public because the offender has engaged in criminal behavior in the past and is likely to have a substance abuse problem. See Martinez v. California, 444 U.S. 277, 281 (1980) (explaining that "the basic risk that repeat offenses may occur is always present in any parole system"). Therefore, requiring Pikes Peak to act as the insurer of its residents would subject community corrections facilities to substantial liability exposure. Furthermore, imposition of a legal duty in this case would subvert the effectiveness of the community corrections program. Pursuant to their authority to "accept, reject or reject after acceptance the placement of any offender in its community correctional facility," each community corrections facility would be forced to screen out offenders posing a foreseeable threat to the general public, thereby limiting the number of offenders placed in the program. See Section 17-27-103(3); People v. Wilhite, 817 P.2d 1017, 1019 (Colo. 1991). Once offenders are admitted into community corrections, the facility would be forced to restrict an offender's community access in order to limit its exposure. Besides the obvious financial burden associated with this increased supervision, program participants would be deprived of the opportunity to fully reintegrate themselves into their communities. See Wilson, 747 P.2d at 640.
After considering each of the factors used to determine whether a defendant owes a common law duty to prevent a third person from harming the plaintiff, we hold that the court of appeals correctly ruled as a matter of law that Pikes Peak owed Davenport no duty to protect him from Rutledge's misconduct.
III.
The decision of the court of appeals is affirmed.
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