Chief Justice Monica M. Márquez told an audience of lawyers and judges on Wednesday that “any action” that inappropriately fosters distrust in the judiciary is a threat to judges and to democracy itself.

“I want to be very clear that criticism of our work and our decisions — that comes with the territory. If you can’t handle that type of criticism, you have no business being a judge,” she said. “Because that’s just part of life on the bench.”

However, Márquez continued, judges should not have to fear for their or their family’s safety, nor they should they be subjected to “overtly racist or overtly misogynistic or homophobic messages” as a result of their work.

“And yet, that’s not just happening all over our country. It’s happening here in Colorado as well,” she said. “It’s unhelpful when the media gives oxygen to others’ vile conspiracies about a corrupt judiciary. It’s also unhelpful when legislators amplify or promote those claims.”

Márquez was addressing the annual gala of the Colorado Judicial Institute in downtown Denver. The nonprofit organization aims to promote trust in the state’s judiciary through education and advocacy.

Her remarks came weeks after Márquez spoke on a virtual panel with other state judges who experienced physical threats, harassment and retaliation for their official actions. During the discussion, Márquez specifically described the wave of harassment Colorado Supreme Court justices and their families encountered after a high-profile 2023 decision against then-candidate Donald Trump.

“If our judicial officers are making decisions not based on the law and the facts in a case before them, but instead are making decisions based on fear for their family’s safety, that means our judicial system is gonna start to unravel,” she said in late September.

At the Denver gathering, Márquez echoed that theme. Although she did not name specific examples of public figures amplifying accusations of “corrupt judges,” her remarks came days after Trump’s former advisor and billionaire Elon Musk called it “essential” to impeach corrupt judges in the United States. White House Deputy Chief of Staff Stephen Miller has also labeled as “legal insurrection” a judge’s order that found the government likely acted unlawfully in deploying the military to Portland, Ore.

“This kind of speech today in this environment, it’s literally dangerous,” Márquez said. “It puts our judges’ careers and their lives at risk. Keep in mind that these attacks play out on a deeply uneven playing field: Judges cannot speak out. They cannot respond. They cannot defend themselves on social media.”

She added that, “right now in this environment, any action that foments distrust of the judiciary or undermines our judicial independence does not just threaten individual judges. At this point, such actions threaten to unravel our very democracy.”

Three years ago, U.S. Supreme Court Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr. sounded a similar, but less dire, note at a judicial conference in Colorado Springs. In his first public remarks after the Supreme Court overturned its longstanding recognition of the constitutional right to abortion, Roberts called “intense criticism” of decisions “entirely appropriate.”

“But I don’t understand the connection between the opinions people disagree with and the legitimacy of the Supreme Court,” he said at the time.

Elsewhere in her speech, Márquez recalled her early years on the state Supreme Court. Specifically, she described assisting with the creation of a learning center at the then-new Ralph L. Carr Colorado Judicial Center. She created a video that discussed the rule of law, and she searched for video clips from “To Kill a Mockingbird,” “12 Angry Men” and “South Park.”

“Although, I have to confess, it was very difficult to find a South Park clip longer than three seconds that didn’t contain foul language,” Márquez said. “Who knew that one of the job descriptions of baby justice is to stay awake until 2 a.m. scouring YouTube clips for potential insertion into this intro to law?”

She said that effort was “lifetimes ago.” The video opened with the observation that the rule of law generally is not noticed until suddenly it is gone.

“I feel like we’re approaching that moment,” she said.

Later during the event, the Colorado Judicial Institute recognized three judicial officers with excellence awards. The recipients were:

• Chief Judge Susan Blanco of Larimer and Jackson counties
• Las Animas County Court Judge John Mochel
• Denver County Court Magistrate Melissa T. Annis

Chief Judge Ryan Stuart also received a leadership award for helping to launch the 23rd Judicial District, which separated Douglas, Elbert and Lincoln counties from Arapahoe County and became its own jurisdiction this January.