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

The state Supreme Court is holding its final round of oral arguments this week before its summer break, and a former Colorado judge explained his concerns about the government’s arrest of a Wisconsin judge this spring.

On the docket

•  Beginning on Tuesday, the Colorado Supreme Court will hear arguments in six appeals before adjourning until September. The cases are:

MetroPCS California, LLC v. City of Lakewood: Did Lakewood violate the Taxpayer’s Bill of Rights when, almost three decades ago and again one decade ago, it modified its existing tax on telephone providers to encompass cell phone companies without a popular vote?

People v. Hudson: For someone to be convicted of criminal possession of a financial device, does it matter if the stolen debit card at issue isn’t capable of being used?

Banner Health v. Gresser et al.: If a jury awards a plaintiff a large amount of money in a medical malpractice lawsuit and a trial judge finds it appropriate to override the $1 million cap on damages, how are they supposed to determine what portion of the jury award should stand?

By the Rockies, LLC et al. v. Perez: If someone is suing their employer for a minimum wage violation, when do they need to bring that lawsuit?

People in the Interest of S.G.H.: Is it sexual exploitation of a child if the pornographic material in question is AI-generated?

People v. Clark-Collins: In the case of a juvenile who is being charged as an adult, did a trial judge act within his authority by restricting the length of a hearing about whether to transfer the case to juvenile court, and also by requiring disclosure of defense evidence ahead of time?

In other Supreme Court news

•  The Colorado Supreme Court made it slightly easier for defendants who prevail in civil lawsuits to turn around and sue the plaintiffs for entangling them in baseless litigation.

•  The court took a shellacking from its own rules committee, after multiple members of the criminal rules advisory panel were critical of how the justices significantly revised a 2.5-year-old proposal to curb racial discrimination in jury selection.

Q&A over judicial arrest

•  In April, the federal government arrested Milwaukee County Circuit Court Judge Hannah C. Dugan for allegedly obstructing immigration authorities who were at her courthouse seeking to arrest a defendant on a non-judicial warrant. The almost-unprecedented criminal charges against a sitting judge drew opposition from 138 retired judges, including former District Court Judge John P. Leopold of the previously configured 18th Judicial District. He spoke with Colorado Politics about why he signed a legal brief advocating for dismissal of the charges. Here is an excerpt:

John Leopold: When I see this type of thing — and I want to be very clear, I am not getting into the political arena — when I saw that, my reaction was very agitated, angst. We (my wife and I) happened to be in London at the time this went down. One piece that really upset me: Do you have to arrest a judicial officer, and do what I guess would be called a “perp walk,” as opposed to allowing the person to appear voluntarily on the equivalent of a summons? That got to me.

I have various networks that we all have through professional organizations. And it came to my attention that there was going to be the filing of a brief. There was an outreach just to see if people were interested. And when I learned of that I said, “Yes, I am.” I did not go out of my way; once it was made apparent to me, I became interested in joining.

Colorado Politics: So, the basis for the criminal charges is obviously that immigration agents showed up to the courthouse, wanted to arrest a defendant and Judge Dugan allegedly interfered with that. When you were chief judge, was there a policy informing the court of what to do in that situation if ICE came to the courthouse or into the courthouse to apprehend anyone?

Leopold: Nothing ever came to my attention. I can’t say with certainty that it never happened, but I was unaware of it.

Heard on appeal

•  Moffat County School District can withhold portions of an “organizational health” report that the school board commissioned to investigate areas of concern, the state’s Court of Appeals decided.

•  An Adams County magistrate was under the impression that the maternal grandmother could be substituted into an ongoing custody case after the child’s mother died, but the Court of Appeals said that’s not possible.

•  There were insufficient facts to prove a juvenile defendant violated a condition of his probation, the Court of Appeals decided.

•  The Court of Appeals took no issue with the process in Colorado law for barring someone from purchasing firearms in the middle of a mental health commitment, and requiring them to petition to restore their gun rights.

•  A defense lawyer was sarcastic at trial, but that was not grounds for challenging the defendant’s convictions.

•  The Court of Appeals ordered a new trial for a defendant convicted of failing to register as a sex offender, as the jury wasn’t actually asked to determine if he was required to register as a sex offender.

In federal news

•  The U.S. Court of Appeals for the 10th Circuit upheld a $1,000-per-day fine against a conservative podcaster who walked out of his courthouse deposition last year. The court also noted a frivolous argument on appeal violated the 10th Circuit’s rules.

•  A jury found MyPillow CEO Mike Lindell liable for $2.3 million for defaming a former voting technology executive with unproven accusations of election rigging.

•  A federal judge determined there was probable cause to proceed with a hate crime charge against a man accused of throwing incendiary devices at demonstrators in Boulder.

Vacancies and appointments

•  The governor has appointed arbitrator Stacy K. Guillon to a newly created seat on the 23rd Judicial District Court (Douglas, Elbert and Lincoln counties).

•  The governor also selected Magistrate James X. Quinn for another new seat on the Arapahoe County District Court.

•  There are three finalists to succeed retiring Boulder County District Court Judge David Archuleta: Magistrate Elizabeth H. Kelley, Eang M. Man and Whitney Lynn Stark.

•  Applications are due by June 30 to succeed now-District Court Judge Kimbra L. Killin in her previous role as a part-time Phillips County Court judge. The position does not require a law degree.

•  Applications are also due by July 24 to succeed retiring District Court Judge David Shakes in the Fourth Judicial District (El Paso and Teller counties).

Miscellaneous proceedings

•  An El Paso County judge removed the district attorney’s office from a criminal case due to the incendiary comments made by a prosecutor.

•  Two First Amendment lawsuits are pending against a recent Colorado law granting protections for transgender people.

•  In an unusual move, a Court of Appeals panel called out a pair of attorneys for unprofessional conduct in their appellate briefs. Judge Terry Fox, joined by Judges Elizabeth L. Harris and Timothy J. Schutz, had this to say in the June 18 opinion of Hospital Cemesa Roatán, SA et al. v. Vidstone, LLC.

Going on break

•  Court Crawl will be on vacation and will return after the Fourth of July holiday.