A second federal judge in Colorado appears to have adopted the practice of summarizing her decisions in plain English for people who represent themselves before the court.

U.S. District Court Judge Charlotte N. Sweeney, a 2022 appointee of President Joe Biden, recently issued multiple written orders in cases where the plaintiffs are “pro se,” meaning without an attorney.

In a departure from usual protocols, Sweeney added a separate section explaining what she was doing using non-legal language.

“The Court said that if you did not explain why you had not served these Defendants that it would also dismiss your claims against them with prejudice, meaning that it would permanently close your claims against them in this lawsuit,” Sweeney wrote on Feb. 17, describing why she was throwing out an incarcerated man’s lawsuit against medical personnel who allegedly deprived him of adequate care.

Colorado Politics previously reported on the adoption of pro se summaries by another member of the federal bench, U.S. Magistrate Judge Maritza Dominguez Braswell. She also joined Colorado’s federal trial court last year, although unlike Sweeney, who was appointed by the president and confirmed by the U.S. Senate, Dominguez Braswell was appointed by the district judges to assist with the court’s workload.

Magistrate judges tend to focus on preliminary and administrative matters in cases and frequently interact with self-represented litigants.

“If I give them information in terms that are simple and straightforward, it helps them better understand the ‘what’ and the ‘why,’ and it moves things along,” Dominguez Braswell said earlier this year.

While Dominguez Braswell was the first to adopt plain English summaries in Colorado, a small number of other federal magistrate judges have been using the technique for years. U.S. Magistrate Judge Allison Claire, based in Sacramento, suggests the use of pro se summaries to the magistrate judges she trains.

“It takes more time to be concise than to be verbose,” Claire told Colorado Politics. “I think it’s worth it.”

Colorado Politics did not discover any federal district judges besides Sweeney who have incorporated the plain English summaries into their decisions. In response to emailed questions, neither Sweeney’s staff nor the clerk’s office for the U.S. District Court indicated what prompted her to adopt the practice or whether she will continue to use the summaries.