After 30 years as a Denver District Court judge, Morris B. Hoffman has announced his retirement, with the vacancy effective on May 1.

Denver voters last retained Hoffman in 2018, with approximately 77% supporting his continuation on the bench. He graduated from the University of Colorado School of Law in 1977 and worked in private practice prior to his appointment.

Currently, Hoffman is handling a collection of cases involving hundreds of patients suing Porter Adventist Hospital in central Denver, who allege injury from the hospital’s failure to properly sterilize surgical equipment. The Colorado Supreme Court this month affirmed Hoffman’s handling of the hospital’s request to exclude confidential company documents that the plaintiffs received through an open records request to the state.

In November, Hoffman and three other researchers published findings in the Columbia Journal of Gender and Law that examined 2,995 criminal sentences from 285 judges in Colorado. They concluded that young, female judges gave sentences, on average, that were 25% harsher than their older female or male colleagues.

“For high harm crimes, younger female judges sentenced convicted defendants more harshly,” they wrote. “We controlled for the independent effect of judicial experience, leading to the conclusion that age – and not just experience on the bench – is driving the results.”

Hoffman also published a book in 2014 titled The Punisher’s Brain: The Evolution of Judge and Jury, about how innate human urges to punish have manifested within the legal system.

A nominating commission will receive applications, interview candidates and ultimately recommend three finalists to Gov. Jared Polis, who will make the ultimate appointment. Applicants must live in the Second Judicial District – Denver – and be admitted to practice law for the past five years.

The appointee will serve a provisional term of approximately two years before standing for retention on the ballot. The Judicial Department indicated that applications are due by Feb. 19, and the nominating commission will meet on March 5.