Welcome to Court Crawl, Colorado Politics’ roundup of news from the third branch of government. Two high-powered law firms sponsored the post-swearing-in reception for Colorado’s newest federal judge, and the head of the Colorado Court of Appeals announced his retirement at the end of this year.

Sponsored reception for new judge

?  After a judge’s formal swearing-in, known as an investiture, there is typically a reception that the judge pays for. Sometimes friends, family or colleagues will pitch in as well. But for U.S. District Court Judge Regina M. Rodriguez, the prominent law firms of WilmerHale and Faegre Drinker paid for her party on August 13 at the Denver Botanic Gardens.

?  Rodriguez, who previously worked for both firms (or its predecessor, in Faegre Drinker’s case), was one of the Biden administration’s first judicial nominees. Federal court policy actually allows for such a financial arrangement for receptions, and multiple judicial experts told Colorado Politics the practice wasn’t concerning. 

?  Although Rodriguez indicated during her confirmation that she would recuse herself where there is an appearance of bias, she has handled two cases during her brief time on the bench where Faegre Drinker attorneys represented one of the parties. In the first instance, she was only involved for a month as the case was wrapping up. In the second matter, she informed the litigants that “the firm now known as Faegre Drinker Biddle & Reath will participate in my investiture. I do not know any of the lawyers from Faegre Drinker Biddle & Reath who have entered an appearance in this matter. Recusal is not required in this situation, however, if either party wishes to request that I recuse myself, I will do so.” No one requested it.

Appointments and vacancies

?  Chief Judge Steve Bernard of the Colorado Court of Appeals has announced his retirement effective Jan. 1, 2022. Bernard, a Colorado Springs native, joined the state’s 22-member appellate court in 2006. Former Chief Justice Nathan B. Coats picked him for the top spot in September 2018. Prior to his service as a judge, Bernard was a prosecutor in Adams and Weld counties.

?  “Judge Bernard is a thoughtful and compassionate jurist who exhibits those same characteristics as the leader of the Court of Appeals. In every sense of the term, he truly is a consummate public servant.” -Chief Justice Brian D. Boatright

?  Boatright will appoint the next chief judge from among the court’s members. The person in that position assigns the other judges to three-member panels that hear appeals from the trial courts – around 2,500 cases annually in total. The vacancy will be Gov. Jared Polis’s seventh to fill on the court since taking office. The deadline to apply is Oct. 1.

?  Elsewhere in the state, two finalists are before the governor for a vacancy on the Pitkin County Court to succeed retiring Judge Erin Fernandez-Ely. Ashley Andrews and Susan O’Bryan are in the running to fill the vacancy effective October 31.

?  There are also three finalists from the judicial nominating commission in Denver to succeed retiring District Court Judge Lisa Teesch-Maguire: Arnold Beckman, Stephanie Scoville and Sarah Wallace.

Clarifying the revenge porn law

?  Colorado’s legislature passed a law against “revenge porn” in 2014, criminalizing the act of posting nude or revealing pictures of an adult without their consent – and by doing so, inflecting serious emotional distress and intentionally harassing them. One man tried to get his conviction overturned by arguing the images he uploaded of his ex-financé didn’t count as revenge porn because they didn’t show her entire breast. But the Court of Appeals said that’s not what the legislature intended, and one legislative sponsor agreed.

Detour ahead?

?  Police in Colorado Springs pulled over a driver on a minor traffic violation, but ended up arresting her passenger for being a felon in possession of a firearm. The passenger tried to argue on appeal that the police took an unconstitutional “detour” to investigate him separately from the traffic stop, but the federal appeals court rejected that claim on narrow grounds. Still, one judge, Gregory A. Phillips, registered his concern.

?  “You have this unlimited stop that never stops until they are satisfied to themselves that they can’t investigate and prove another crime. That can’t be the law that they’re allowed to do that,” he said at oral arguments.

Miscellaneous decisions

?  A federal judge reversed her previous decision to toss out a Muslim inmate’s claim that prison officials unconstitutionally denied him a diet that comported with his religious beliefs. She said she misinterpreted the man’s allegations, and he has a viable First Amendment claim after all.

?  An Arapahoe County sheriff’s deputy made a homophobic “joke” towards detainees. A federal magistrate judge did not find it funny.

?  Democrats and Republicans in Colorado responded to the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision to allow an extreme abortion restriction in Texas to take effect.