History Colorado researchers told the Colorado Black Racial Equity Study Commission they are compiling historical records on criminal justice in Colorado and have identified patterns they will analyze further. Why it matters: Documentation of historical criminal-justice practices, including executions and policing, is central to understanding systemic harms that may have shaped long-term disparities. Dr. Melissa Jones, the project researcher focusing on criminal justice, said she is examining early-20th-century records through World War II, including police records, attorney files and incarceration rolls. Jones said that, in the first 100 incarcerated persons she examined from early state records, about 10% were listed as persons of African descent; she described work to pair qualitative and quantitative data. Jones reported compiling a list of roughly 103 persons executed by the state across Colorado history and said she is also reviewing roughly 100 people who were sentenced to death but not executed; she said she will continue to corroborate those figures as the work proceeds. Jones told commissioners that in the earliest periods of state history some executions happened within 24–48 hours of conviction and that she plans to analyze chronology, trial records, and press coverage. She also said preliminary review suggests executions of people identified as being of African descent were “botched more often” than those of other groups; Jones characterized that as a disturbing pattern she intends to investigate further. The team is also collecting records of early Black police officers and early Black lawyers who represented defendants and litigated discrimination cases. Commissioners asked about trial records, legal representation and newspaper rhetoric; Jones said such materials are part of the continuing research. The research team emphasized that more data remain to be collected and that their present figures are provisional pending further archival work and corroboration.