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

A state judge decided against disqualifying a former president and current presidential candidate from next year’s primary ballot, plus the state Supreme Court held oral arguments in criminal and civil cases earlier this month.

Trump remains eligible to run, for now

?  Before Thanksgiving, Denver District Court Judge Sarah B. Wallace went further than other judges who have considered the issue and determined Donald Trump, as president, engaged in an insurrection when he encouraged the deadly Jan. 6, 2021 attack on the U.S. Capitol. However, she did not deem Trump disqualified from seeking the presidency in 2024, as the disqualification provision for insurrectionists contained in the 14th Amendment does not apply to the president, Wallace believed.

?  “I was surprised by the basis for the ruling because I regard the claim that the president is not an officer to be perhaps the weakest objection,” said Michael C. Dorf, a constitutional law professor at Cornell University. “I would not be surprised to see that conclusion reversed on appeal.”

?  We’ll find out soon. The Colorado Supreme Court has already accepted the case and will hear oral arguments on Dec. 6. Any decision from there will be appealable to the U.S. Supreme Court. Although the people who brought the case are only asking for a reversal of Wallace’s finding that the 14th Amendment does not apply to Trump, the former president is seeking broader reconsideration of her order.

Meanwhile, at the Supreme Court

?  The state’s justices held oral arguments in several cases earlier this month: They appeared skeptical that vehicle insurance policies covering only antique cars violate state law. They seemed willing to uphold the disbarment of an attorney in Colorado, which was triggered by his disciplinary proceedings in the District of Columbia. They suggested the state’s Court of Appeals went too far in determining when first responders relinquish their immunity for injuries they cause. They questioned whether a Denver student had notice of his “safety plan” before school officials searched him. They considered requiring defendants to provide their informed consent before allowing their lawyers to abandon postconviction challenges. Finally, they wondered if a trial judge should recalculate the $9.2 million a jury awarded to a now-deceased medical malpractice patient.

?  The state Supreme Court clarified that the threshold for accessing withheld records in child neglect cases is less burdensome than obtaining similar attorney-client privileged information in criminal proceedings.

 ?  The court upheld a jury’s $940,000 award to a Denver man who was severely injured in his attempt to rescue a taxicab driver from a violent passenger.

 ?  Oil and gas leases don’t terminate just because there is a temporary pause in production to perform maintenance, the justices decided.

 ?  The court’s members also agreed to review several appeals involving 1) a murder case where the expert witness was never officially declared an expert due to an oversight in the trial court, 2) the ability of plaintiffs suing the government to use Colorado’s open records law to obtain evidence, 3) a prosecutor being called as a witness in the case she is prosecuting, 4) the reviewability of a magistrate’s probable cause ruling, 5) the ability of defendants to challenge their lengthy sentences under Colorado’s “three strikes” law, 6) the duty to preserve evidence in civil lawsuits, and 7) whether municipalities may punish criminal offenses more harshly than state law does.

Heard on appeal

?  The Court of Appeals clarified that judges may weigh the urgent need to forcibly medicate someone with their lawyer’s ability to prepare a defense when deciding whether to delay a hearing.

?  The Court of Appeals upheld the sentences and convictions of two men who made death threats against multiple judges.

?  Even though an Adams County prosecutor misstated the law and the facts, the Court of Appeals found no discrimination occurred when the prosecution removed the only person of color from a criminal jury pool.

In federal news

?  The former Adams County sheriff can’t appeal a trial judge’s ruling that he, as a stand-in for the county government, will face a civil trial for alleged retaliation against his subordinates, said the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 10th Circuit.

?  A federal judge refused to block a new Colorado law requiring a three-day waiting period for gun purchases, and in the process criticized the conservative-majority Supreme Court’s recent gun rights precedent.

?  A former Weld County principal may proceed to sue his superintendent for allegedly retaliating against him on the basis of his religious association.

?  Jurors will now decide if a Loveland police officer acted reasonably when he shot a puppy in the head who was running over to see him, a federal judge ruled.

?  A judge partially dismissed the claims of a former Teller County fire chief, who alleges his governing board fired him in retaliation for speaking out about potential unlawful conduct.

?  Republican former Mesa County clerk Tina Peters is suing in federal court to halt her state-level prosecution over allegations she tampered with election equipment.

?  The U.S. Department of Justice has filed suit against the state for alleged disability discrimination, in the form of unnecessarily confining people to nursing homes.

Vacancies and appointments

?  The governor has appointed Magistrate Amanda J. Philipps, a former public defender, to succeed retiring District Court Judge Thomas K. Kane in the Fourth Judicial District (El Paso and Teller counties).

?  The governor has also selected Moffat County Court Judge Brittany A. Schneider, a former prosecutor and public defender, to succeed retiring District Court Judge Sandra H. Gardner in the 14th Judicial District (Grand, Moffat and Routt counties).

?  The governor has chosen federal public defender Natalie G. Stricklin to succeed retiring District Court Judge Patricia Herron in the 18th Judicial District (Arapahoe, Douglas, Elbert and Lincoln counties).

?  Finally, the governor has elevated Arapahoe County Court Judge Chantel E. Contiguglia to the district court bench of the neighboring First Judicial District (Jefferson and Gilpin counties), where she will succeed retiring Judge Randall C. Arp.

?  Applications are due by Dec. 4 to succeed retiring District Court Judge Roberto Ramírez in the 17th Judicial District (Adams and Broomfield counties).

?  Applications are due by Dec. 5 to succeed Contiguglia on the Arapahoe County Court, following her appointment to the district court.

?  Applications are due by Thursday to succeed Denver Juvenile Court Judge Pax Moultrie, who will be taking a seat on the Court of Appeals in January.

?  There are two candidates to succeed former Gilpin County Court Judge David Taylor in the part-time position: Timothy J. Lane and Alex T. Zhang.

Miscellaneous proceedings

?  Ex-Adams County District Court Judge Robert W. Kiesnowski Jr. resigned this summer after he admitted to engaging in a harassment and retaliation campaign against a judicial employee, according to disciplinary documents.

?  Following reports that several state judges and nearly all of the semi-retired senior judges weren’t filing financial disclosure reports as required, the state’s Judicial Department held a training earlier this month on how to follow the law.