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

Leaders of various judicial-related agencies appeared for oversight hearings in front of state lawmakers, plus a federal judge is cautioning the government about repeatedly raising arguments she has rejected in immigration detention cases.

Heard on appeal

•  The Colorado Supreme Court ruled that the Public Utilities Commission could not approve a rate-setting document that immunizes Xcel Energy from civil liability if its power lines electrocute someone who isn’t a customer.

•  By 4-2, the justices concluded a person who consumes a known intoxicating substance and commits a crime can’t later argue that they were “involuntarily intoxicated” from a secret ingredient laced into the substance.

• The Supreme Court will decide whether the Court of Appeals properly upheld a juvenile defendant’s conviction after finding his constitutional rights were violated through the remote testimony of the victim.

•  The Court of Appeals overturned a Douglas County defendant’s convictions because a biased juror wound up serving. The trial judge, Patricia Herron, has a lengthy history of errors in criminal cases that have led to reversals of sentences and convictions.

•  Although all judges on a three-member Court of Appeals panel agreed there should be a proportionality review of a defendant’s nearly 100-year sentence under Colorado’s “three-strikes” law, one judge emphasized that the defendant didn’t even qualify for a three-strikes sentence in the first place.

Judicial oversight

•  The chief justice, the attorney general, the public defender and the heads of other judicial-related agencies appeared before the state House and Senate judiciary committees for oversight hearings. Among the interesting news this year, misconduct complaints against judges grew by nearly 29% in 2025.

•  Anne Mangiardi, executive director of the Colorado Commission on Judicial Discipline, attributed the increase to the higher visibility of the commission, a redesigned website with an online complaint form, and greater reports from “high-quality” sources in the legal system.

•  “Attorneys, public defenders, district attorneys, other court staff like probation officers and interpreters. Those people who are in courtrooms every day,” Mangiardi said. “We are getting a level of trust with that group of legal professionals and that is really positive.”

In federal news

•  A federal judge blocked the U.S. Department of Agriculture from imposing a “pilot project” on Colorado that could’ve resulted in people losing food assistance benefits based on no specific evidence of fraud.

•  Colorado’s federal judges are growing wary of the unsuccessful arguments the government is using to assert its broad immigration detention authority, and one judge has expressly cautioned against using repeatedly rejected contentions.

•  A jury will decide whether a Fort Collins officer used excessive force on a burrito-wielding man who refused to accept a trespassing citation.

•  A judge declined to dismiss a wage theft lawsuit from 39 nursing employees against their employer, a company that hires health care workers to cross picket lines during strikes.

Vacancies and appointments

•  The U.S. Court of Appeals for the 10th Circuit will appoint a federal public defender to succeed Virginia L. Grady, who has headed Colorado’s office since 2013. Applications are due by Feb. 25.