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

The federal appeals court that covers Colorado held a judges-only meeting two weeks ago and received a visit from a U.S. Supreme Court justice, plus the state Supreme Court returns this week for oral arguments.

10th Circuit judicial conference

?  The U.S. Court of Appeals for the 10th Circuit, which is headquartered in Denver, holds annual conferences like its sibling circuits do. In even years, the conferences are a big to-do in Colorado Springs, featuring lawyers who practice in the six-state region of the circuit and extensive media coverage. However, in odd years, the conference is just for the judges.

?  The newest member of the court and the head of the programming committee, Judge Veronica S. Rossman of Colorado, described to Colorado Politics what happened at this year’s early September conference in Santa Fe. There were sessions covering the work of the Supreme Court, sentencing reform and election law.

?  Even though the 10th Circuit doesn’t see a lot of election law challenges, “judges – not just appellate judges, but district judges in the 10th Circuit – need to be thinking about how to understand the recent Supreme Court jurisprudence and to anticipate there might be cases concerning election law issues in their courts,” Rossman said.

?  Justice Neil M. Gorsuch also made an appearance. A 10th Circuit judge from Colorado before his elevation to the Supreme Court, Gorsuch reportedly did not talk about any of the controversies engulfing the institution. Instead, he spoke about civics education and his time as a circuit judge.

?  Speaking of judicial appearances, last week U.S. District Court Judge Regina M. Rodriguez, an appointee of the Biden administration, spoke at a continuing legal education event at Coors Field, right before a Rockies ballgame. The event was sponsored by the law firm of Williams Weese Pepple & Ferguson and the Association of Corporate Counsel. A spokesperson for ACC told Colorado Politics it was not allowed to attend.

Colorado Supreme Court returns from vacation

 ?  The state Supreme Court is back this week and will hear oral arguments in six cases starting tomorrow:

People v. Owens: A man convicted in 2008 of murdering two witnesses to a crime is claiming racial discrimination in jury selection and improper evidence during trial should require reversal of his convictions.

Stone v. People: Can police officers enter a home with consent, leave, then re-enter for a different reason without gaining consent again?

Kaiser et al. v. Aurora Urban Renewal Authority et al.: Arapahoe County’s assessor and the state tax administrator are asking the justices to overturn a lower court’s ruling that would decrease tax revenue available in urban renewal areas to local governments.

United States et al. v. Golden et al.: This is a water law case involving the federal government and multiple jurisdictions across Colorado.

University of Denver v. Doe: Can universities be held liable for failing to deliver a “thorough, impartial and fair” investigation into a student’s alleged sexual misconduct on campus?

Denver v. Board of County Commissioners of Adams County et al.: Adams County is attempting to force Denver to use a noise monitoring system at Denver International Airport, as it agreed to do decades ago, but Denver argues Adams County waited too long to take it to court.

 ?  The Supreme Court issued three decisions last week. First, it walked back a ruling from the state’s Court of Appeals that found lawyers pursuing certain class action lawsuits could be sued for inflammatory statements they make when publicizing their litigation.

 ?  Second, the justices decided there is no constitutional requirement that there be strong evidence of guilt before criminal defendants can enter an Alford plea (a guilty plea made while the defendant maintains his innocence).

?  Finally, counties aren’t required to contact tribal nations to see if a child in a welfare case is American Indian, as long as the allegations of tribal heritage are so vague they don’t provide a “reason to know” that the child is American Indian.

?  In other Supreme Court news, Justice Monica M. Márquez was one of six attorneys who received an award from the Colorado Women’s Bar Association Foundation for their work to improve wellbeing in the legal profession.

?  “We really fronted the importance of wellbeing in the (judicial) department,” said Justice Melissa Hart, the emcee for the awards ceremony. “Turns out, an award brings out the competitive spirit in all of us. So, we’ve encouraged people to think about how we can do better.”

?  The Supreme Court has agreed to hear a case out of El Paso County that questions whether criminal defendants may challenge the legality of restitution orders years after their convictions.

In federal news

?  The 10th Circuit determined a state trooper’s stated reasons for investigating a driver for drug trafficking – the driver planned to stop at a religious center in Denver, he had a messy vehicle and was “overly cooperative” during the traffic stop – didn’t establish reasonable suspicion.

?  Because a trial judge issued a jury instruction that didn’t accurately describe the law, the 10th Circuit reversed the jury’s $39,000 award to an oilfield worker.

?  By 2-1, a 10th Circuit panel restricted the ability of judges to step in and address unfair outcomes in the privately run arbitration system.

?  The federal judge located in Colorado Springs has agreed to mediate a First Amendment dispute between the Woodland Park School District and its teachers’ union, which could result in revisions to a restrictive communications policy recently imposed on district employees.

?  Following the lead of many other cases, a federal judge issued an injunction from Colorado authorizing the seizure of bootleg merchandise at the remaining tour dates of musician Jelly Roll.

Vacancies and appointments

?  Applications are due by Oct. 6 for those wishing to succeed retiring District Court Judge Patricia Herron in the 18th Judicial District (Arapahoe, Douglas, Elbert and Lincoln counties). Before her 2016 appointment, Herron was a trial judge in Oklahoma, and also a tax appeal judge there.

Miscellaneous proceedings

?  The Colorado Republican Party is seeking to intervene in a state lawsuit that could result in Donald Trump‘s disqualification from the 2024 ballot, due to his role in encouraging the Jan. 6, 2021 attack on the U.S. Capitol.

On break

?  Court Crawl will take a break next week and will return in October.