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

One of Colorado’s newest federal judges held her formal swearing-in ceremony last week and the state Supreme Court cleared the path for voters to weigh in on a ballot measure, with questions lingering about its constitutionality.

Pianist, Civil War buff, judge

?  U.S. Magistrate Judge Susan Prose joined Colorado’s federal bench in May. The daughter of a small-town probate judge in Kansas, Prose spent many years defending the federal government from litigation, including from prisoners filing civil rights lawsuits. The life-tenured district judges voted last year to appoint Prose to the seat of now-U.S. District Court Judge Nina Y. Wang.

?  “Judge Prose, through her work at the U.S. Attorney’s Office, was very familiar to us on the court,” said Chief Judge Philip A. Brimmer at Prose’s formal swearing-in ceremony on Friday. “I will say that having an attorney be familiar to the judges – sometimes familiarity can breed contempt. But let me assure you that with Susan Prose, that was not the case.”

?  In her personal life, Prose is an accomplished pianist and is interested in Civil War battles. Although she began her new job just under four months ago, she is not the newest member of the court. U.S. Magistrate Judge Kathryn A. Starnella was sworn in earlier this month and will hold her own public ceremony in the fall.

?  Across the entire federal bench, there are two current vacancies: a part-time magistrate judge seat in Grand Junction, following Gordon P. Gallagher’s appointment as a district judge, and a district judgeship in which the nominee, U.S. Magistrate Judge S. Kato Crews, is still awaiting Senate confirmation.

A premature challenge

?  The Colorado Supreme Court declined to say whether Proposition HH, a property tax relief measure that also affects spending and taxpayer refunds, violates the state constitution’s single-subject rule. Instead, the justices decided the ballot title that voters will see is acceptable, and the time to challenge the contents of the measure is after voters approve it in November – if they approve it at all.

Heard on appeal

?  The state Supreme Court has agreed to decide whether a road rage suspect was interrogated in custody without the required Miranda warning. The justices also signaled they may intervene in two cases currently in the trial courts.

?  A Douglas County judge let a man represent himself at trial, even though he didn’t understand the proceedings and was under the impression he was ineligible for a lawyer. The state’s Court of Appeals overturned his convictions.

?  Arapahoe County prosecutors committed misconduct by suggesting the defendant was guilty because he exercised his constitutional right to silence, the Court of Appeals concluded.

In federal news

?  The U.S. Court of Appeals for the 10th Circuit found that Colorado’s regulations on highway-adjacent signage, which differentiate between paid and unpaid advertising, do not violate the First Amendment.

?  The 10th Circuit reinstated a conservative group’s challenge to Colorado’s campaign finance regulations that apply to organizations advocating on ballot initiatives.

?  A jury will decide whether a manufacturing company illegally tried to stifle competition for its product when a competitor entered the market, the 10th Circuit ruled in reversing a trial judge’s order.

?  A federal judge did not follow the rules when he penalized a plaintiff for not following the rules, the 10th Circuit found.

?  Because the U.S. Supreme Court has not authorized this type of claim, a federal prisoner may not sue prison officials for allegedly contaminating his food and making him sick.

?  An incarcerated man may pursue his retaliation claim against a prison dentist, who allegedly became enraged when he learned the plaintiff filed a complaint over his substandard dental care.

?  Former Denver mayoral candidate Lisa Calderón may proceed with her retaliation claim against the city for allegedly terminating her organization’s contract in response to her statements about discrimination, a judge ruled.

Vacancies and appointments

?  Applications are due by Sept. 15 to succeed retiring Denver District Court Judge Shelley I. Gilman, who has spent more than 25 years on the bench.

?  Applications are due by Aug. 30 to be a part-time Denver County Court magistrate. The job entails handling traffic cases, civil protection orders, small claims and arraignments.

Miscellaneous proceedings

?  The man accused of murdering 10 people at a Boulder King Soopers in 2021 is now competent to stand trial.

?  Prosecutors have dropped sentence-enhancing charges against two police officers accused of causing the 2019 death of Elijah McClain in Aurora.

See you in September

?  The Court Crawl will be on break for Labor Day and will return later in September.