Welcome to Court Crawl, Colorado Politics’ roundup of news from the third branch of government.

The state’s Court of Appeals issued multiple rulings last week where appellate panels were divided in their reasoning, plus federal judges heard arguments in unusual cases involving actions by the government.

Heard on appeal

?  By 2-1, a panel of the Court of Appeals reversed a Denver judge’s termination of a cognitively-impaired mother’s parental rights. The majority found a lack of evidence that Denver’s human services department had accommodated the mother’s disability.

?  Also by 2-1, an appellate panel found police in Moffat County did not need to read a woman her Miranda rights because she was not in custody – even though she had been under police supervision for two hours, her hands were bound and she was placed into an interrogation room.

?  Law enforcement in Clear Creek County performed a lawful search of a man’s basement rental unit based on a warrant they obtained using the property’s Internet protocol address. The trial judge and the appellate panel collectively ended up relying on three different justifications for why the defendant’s Fourth Amendment rights were not violated. 

Unlawful mining? Unconstitutional software system?

?  Garfield County and a group of Glenwood Springs residents are alleging the federal agency in charge of public lands has either authorized a company to illegally extract materials from a mine, or else is openly tolerating the illegal mining. The Bureau of Land Management says its investigation into the matter is ongoing – for three years now – and has moved to dismiss the lawsuit. A judge is weighing the motion.

?  A Republican candidate in Arapahoe County claims the state’s campaign finance software erroneously signed him up for voluntary spending limits and also created a phantom candidate for his race. He is asking for a judge to immediately exempt him from the voluntary caps in the final week of the election, and to consider his underlying argument that the online candidate registration system doesn’t comply with the state constitution.

Other federal news

?  After the U.S. Supreme Court made it easier this year to strike down gun safety regulations for violating the Second Amendment, Colorado has seen multiple lawsuits challenging various policies enacted at the state and local levels. Recently, challengers to the statewide ban on large capacity magazines, which was enacted after the 2012 Aurora theater massacre, withdrew their request for a preliminary injunction. Instead, they will focus their efforts on permanently blocking enforcement of the law.

?  Even though Colorado has legalized marijuana use for adults over 21, a federal judge found federal immigration authorities properly denied a woman’s application for naturalized citizenship because her admitted marijuana consumption did not amount to “good moral character.”

?  A jury will decide whether the private company operating an immigrant detention center in Aurora violated federal human trafficking law and unjustly enriched itself off of detainees’ labor, a judge decided.

?  There was no evidence Aurora Public Schools discriminated against a teacher because of his age, but rather appeared to terminate him from his job because he lacked the required qualification to teach English.

Judicial retention election

?  Remember, 135 judges are on the ballot across Colorado who are seeking retention to their trial and appellate positions. Citizen-led performance commissions have recommended that all of the judges meet performance standards.

?  In the lead-up to the election, Colorado Politics has spoken with judges about the strengths and shortcomings of the retention process. Here are two of those interviews:

Q&A with Russell Carparelli | Former judge sheds light on judicial retention

Q&A with Michael Martinez and Christopher Baumann | Denver’s past and present chief judges

?  And here is a counterpoint, raising the reality that some crucial information is not available to voters during retention elections:

BRAUCHLER | Colorado’s judges are picked, and serve, in the dark

Vacancies and appointments

?  The governor appointed Magistrate Matthew R. Zehe to the Larimer County Court to succeed retired Judge Mary Joan Berenato. Zehe has been a magistrate for 16 years and was a public defender prior to that.

?  Eagle County Court Judge Rachel J. Olguin-Fresquez will succeed District Court Judge Russell H. Granger in the Fifth Judicial District, which encompasses Clear Creek, Lake, Eagle and Summit counties. She was previously a magistrate and a deputy district attorney.

?  The governor has chosen federal prosecutor Jeremy L. Chaffin to fill the seat of Mesa County District Court Judge Lance P. Timbreza, who resigned following the Supreme Court’s decision to suspend him in June.

?  Applications are due by Nov. 14 for candidates wishing to succeed Olguin-Fresquez as an Eagle County Court judge.

Miscellaneous proceedings

?  An Arapahoe County judge was wrong to summarily impose the state’s caps on damages to a $33 million wrongful death verdict, the Court of Appeals found.

?  The Colorado Supreme Court has agreed to hear two appeals concerning a noise dispute at Denver International Airport and a bike thief who is challenging the amount he must pay in restitution.

?  This Saturday from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m., people with warrants for non-violent, low-level traffic or misdemeanor offenses in Jefferson and Gilpin counties will have the opportunity to resolve their warrants without arrest. The “fresh start” event is also open to people whose low-level felonies have been reclassified as misdemeanors.