Senate Bill 008: “Make My Day Better” Bill
Senator Ted Harvey – Representative Cory Gardner
Bill Summary: Extends the existing “Make My Day” law to give employees and business owners the right to defend themselves, their property, and their fellow employees without fear of prosecution.
Under existing law, employees or business owners who defend themselves from intruders face prosecution:
In January of 2006, Christakes Christou shot a man who broke into his bar at 3 a.m. The intruder was charged with second-degree burglary, and Christou was charged with attempted first-degree murder and first-degree assault. His charges were later plead down to a tampering with evidence charge since he had picked up a spent bullet casing at the scene and put it in his pocket. After months of legal proceedings and thousands of dollars spent on legal proceedings, Christou received a deferred sentence.
Cases like Christou’s give employees and business owners a strong incentive not to defend themselves for fear of prosecution or financially ruinous legal fees. The Make My Day Better bill guarantees the employees’ right of self-defense without fear of prosecution, given the following criteria are met:
1. The intruder knowingly committed unlawful entry into their place of business
2. The intruder intended to commit a crime (in addition to the crime of forced entry)
3. The defendant faced a threat of physical force from the intruder
The protections described above are already allotted to homeowners. This bill extends homeowners’ protections to business owners.
History: the original “Make My Day” law (CS 18-1-704.5) recognized the right of Coloradans to use physical force -- without fear of prosecution -- against home intruders when they have a “reasonable belief” that the intruder has committed a crime and that they face a threat of physical force from the intruder.
The “Make My Day” nickname was attached to the bill by a reporter in 1985, in a nod to the Clint Eastwood movies of the decade. Similar laws exist in other states (AL, AZ, FL, GA, ID, IN, KY, MS, SD) where they are better-known as “Castle Doctrine” laws.
Effects on Crime: from the time the Make My Day Law was enacted in 1985 to 2004, the crime rate per capita fell 21% (from 471 to 373.3 crimes per 100,000 people).
Read the full text of the bill
