Welcome to Court Crawl, Colorado Politics’ roundup of news from the third branch of government. There are now two judicial nominees for Colorado before the U.S. Senate, and the state Supreme Court has now censured another state judge just one month after its last censure.

Update on Biden nominees

?  President Joe Biden has chosen public defender Veronica S. Rossman to fill the vacant Colorado seat on the federal appeals court based in Denver. Some progressive groups applauded her selection, as judges with public defender experience represent under 10% of the federal judiciary. There are currently two vacancies on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 10th Circuit, which hears federal cases from Colorado, Wyoming, New Mexico, Utah, Oklahoma and Kansas.

?  Circuit court judgeships are a big deal because the vast majority of federal appeals end there, and the judges consequently clarify the law for all of the lower courts in their geographic region. Filling appellate judgeships was a priority of the previous Republican administration and GOP-controlled Senate: during his single term as president, Donald Trump appointed as many circuit judges as Barack Obama did in two terms.

? This Thursday morning, the Senate Committee on the Judiciary will vote on another Biden nominee for Colorado, Regina M. Rodriguez, who is the president’s choice for a trial court judge on our seven-member court. Given that no criticism of her surfaced during her confirmation hearing – indeed, only two senators bothered to show up and ask questions – the Court Crawl is expecting a favorable outcome.

TABOR case takes centerstage

? Speaking of the 10th Circuit, there was a rare all-judges “en banc” hearing last Monday to review whether local governments in Colorado have legal standing to try to overturn the 1992 Taxpayer Bill of Rights constitutional amendment. The oral argument largely skirted the controversial tax provision itself, but instead focused on what the judges should do with Congress’s 1875 guarantee to Colorado of a “republican” form of government, as the Founders envisioned it in the U.S. Constitution.

?  “It seems to me we’re not in a position where you can call into a deposition, subpoena [James] Madison, and say, ‘Hey, what did you mean?'” -Judge Carolyn B. McHugh

?  The governor and attorney general of Colorado are asking the 10th Circuit to abide by its previous decision that local governments cannot sue their states for an alleged constitutional violation.

Another judge gets disciplined

?  On Thursday, the state Supreme Court publicly censured and accepted the retirement of Baca County Court Judge Debra M. Gunkel. Gunkel had two arrests for driving under the influence, and the Court noted there were questions about her impartiality given that she was also serving a probationary sentence which prosecutors could move to revoke.

?  This is the second judicial censure in a month, as the Court in April accepted the resignation of Arapahoe County District Court Judge Natalie T. Chase for her own incidents of misconduct.

In other news from the Supreme Court

? A federal court has ruled that Colorado’s Judicial Department does not have to turn over documents related to an explosive memo alleging uninvestigated and unaddressed misconduct in the state’s court system. The request for documents came as part of a hiring discrimination lawsuit.

?  The General Assembly has asked the Supreme Court to weigh in on the extent to which lawmakers can prescribe the work of the legislative and congressional redistricting commissions. The state legislative redistricting commission has called proposed legislation “unconstitutional infringements and interference by the legislative branch.”

Vacancies and appointments

?  Gov. Jared Polis has appointed Margaret Vellar, a chief deputy district attorney, to be a Pueblo County Court judge to succeed David L. Lobato on July 1.

?  Also in Pueblo County, the governor tapped personal injury attorney Timothy M. O’Shea to succeed Kim Karn as a district court judge.

?  In Boulder County, James Keith Collins, currently a civil magistrate in the 20th Judicial District, will replace District Court Judge Judith L. Labuda effective tomorrow.

?  In the Second Judicial District in Denver, the governor will select from Arnold Beckman, Adam Espinosa and Stephanie Scoville to replace retiring District Court Judge Kenneth M. Laff on July 3.

?  Meanwhile, Andrew Fitzgerald, Crystal Littrell and Kristan Wheeler are the contenders to succeed Jefferson County Court Judge Thomas E. Vance in the First Judicial District.

?  Weld County District Court Judge Thomas J. Quammen will retire on July 31, and interested parties have through May 28 to apply.

?  Finally, there is an immediate vacancy in Baca County Court to fill the seat of Judge Debra M. Gunkel (see above).

Miscellaneous decisions

?  Bad news for folks who commit a crime in Colorado, flee to another country, are prosecuted there, get acquitted, come back to Colorado, and get prosecuted and convicted: your conviction does not violate double jeopardy, the Court of Appeals ruled.

?  Although technically they didn’t declare anything unconstitutional, the Court of Appeals agreed that the legislature acted contrary to the constitution when it added restrictions to a defense people may use at trial against medical marijuana-related charges.

?  Pointing to the high stakes of the lawsuit, a federal court allowed the city of Aurora and its officers to receive certain medical and personal information about Elijah McClain, the 23-year-old man who died after an August 2019 encounter with Aurora police. However, the magistrate judge labeled as a “fishing expedition” the city’s attempt to obtain any opioid and child services details for McClain.