Colorado Program Employs Prisoners as Professors
David Carrillo, 49, was released from prison on January 31, 2024, a month after Colorado Gov. Jared Polis (D) commuted his sentence. Polis praised Carrillo for completing a GED, a bachelor’s degree and a master’s in business administration while in prison. Carillo is also one of the first professor-prisoners, teaching macroeconomics to prisoners at Colorado Territorial Correctional Facility in Cañon City.
Adams State University is pioneering this unique approach to prison education by employing incarcerated professors. The university partners with the state Department of Corrections to hire prisoner graduates into the program, offering them valuable experience and income while also addressing staffing difficulties that the college has faced.
The program provides benefits both to prisoner participants and to the population on the other side of the bars. The first is reduced recidivism, which studies show is a direct result of prison education, saving tax dollars that might be spent re-incarcerating prisoners like Carrillo, using the money instead on initiatives that prevent crime, such as mental health care, housing for the homeless and pre-trial diversion programs.
Before receiving news of his commutation, Carrillo said he would like to keep his job teaching at the prison if he ever got out. “I didn’t expect this,” he said. “Once I was leading guys into this place. Now, I’m doing my best to lead guys out.”
His clemency was the only one that Polis granted involving a murder conviction; for conspiring to commit a fatal 1994 gang shooting, Carrillo was sentenced to life without the possibility of parole. His brother, Anthony Carrillo, fired the fatal shot, but he took a plea deal, so he was released on parole in 2019. Meanwhile David Carrillo was the only one of eight original defendants still in prison when Polis granted clemency.
Adams State plans to hire more incarcerated instructors, including a law professor at Denver Women’s Correctional Facility. The university is also developing a training curriculum and a new humanities graduate program. One potential hurdle is fundraising needed to support prisoner students. Another challenge is negative perceptions about prisoners leading classes, including concerns about power dynamics and potential exploitation. Nevertheless, program leaders stress its positive impact and its potential as a model for other states.
Sources: Chalkbeat Colorado, Denver Post, KDVR
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