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

The state Supreme Court will resume hearing oral arguments tomorrow, plus some federal judges are raising the alarm about immigration judges’ handling of bond hearings.

Oral argument calendar

•  The Colorado Supreme Court will hold oral arguments in six cases this week, starting on Tuesday:

People v. Castro-Velasquez: Did the Court of Appeals correctly conclude that Boulder police violated a man’s rights by interrogating him when they were supposed to just collect his DNA sample and take pictures?

Kline et al. v. No on EE A Bad Deal for Colorado: Does it violate the First Amendment for Colorado to require certain information to be listed on advertisements from ballot measure committees, and was the constitutional question even raised in the first place in the lower courts?

Brown v. People: Should the court stand by its 2006 holding that prosecutors don’t have to prove a defendant’s mental state for the crime of leaving the scene of an accident that results in injury or death?

Boe et. al. v. Children’s Hospital Colorado: Are the plaintiffs entitled to an injunction requiring Children’s Hospital Colorado to continue providing certain care to transgender minors?

Litterer v. Vail Summit Resorts, Inc. et al.: Did a snowboarder waive his right to sue Vail Summit Resorts by buying another pass after his accident?

Teran Sanchez v. People: Is the recently revised definition of “reasonable doubt” in the criminal jury instructions constitutionally compliant?

•  The last two arguments will take place on Thursday at Holyoke Junior/Senior High School as part of the Supreme Court’s semiannual “Courts in the Community” programming.

Other Supreme Court news

•  The justices agreed that plaintiffs’ lawyers may “borrow” allegations from other legal proceedings involving the same defendant, so long as they perform some level of investigation into those assertions first.

•  The Supreme Court concluded that the Court of Appeals took an overly harsh view of the state’s public works law when it wiped out a subcontractor’s $5.7 million award because it was significantly less than the company’s claim for what it was owed.

•  An El Paso County prosecutor filed a baseless mid-case appeal, pushing the defendant’s trial beyond the speedy trial deadline and prompting the Supreme Court to overturn her convictions.

Heard on appeal

•  Counties lack standing to challenge the state law restricting their ability to enter into immigration detention contracts, the Court of Appeals ruled.

•  An Arapahoe County defendant will receive a new assault trial because jurors never received a definition of the vague term “harm.”

•  The Court of Appeals directed a Prowers County judge to perform an appropriate governmental immunity analysis in a case involving a motorist’s collision with a firetruck at an intersection.

•  Douglas County commissioners violated Colorado’s open meetings law in a series of closed meetings leading up to the county’s failed home rule special election, the Court of Appeals decided.

In federal news

•  The U.S. Court of Appeals for the 10th Circuit provided guidance to law enforcement agencies seeking warrants for cloud-based data, as those searches are “categorically different” than searches of individual devices.

• The 10th Circuit upheld the dismissal of Barry Morphew‘s civil lawsuit against the prosecutors and law enforcement officials who unsuccessfully pursued a (first) murder case against him.

• A federal judge allowed only some plaintiffs’ claims to proceed in a second lawsuit addressing human trafficking of Filipino laborers for the 2022 World Cup in Qatar.

•  A judge dismissed a lawsuit that sought to require Colorado’s secretary of state to verify business filings that are included in the state’s corporate registry.

• Two Huerfano County employees didn’t commit an unconstitutional search in their attempt to inspect a couple’s well construction near their camper.

•  Aurora police unconstitutionally searched a man for firearms, a judge concluded in blocking the resulting evidence from being used against the defendant.

•  U.S. District Court Senior Judge William J. Martínez has begun ordering the immediate release of people who are improperly held in immigration custody, stating his concern with immigration judges’ failure to conduct genuine bond hearings.

•  Exhibit A for that concern is the failure of two separate immigration judges to follow the order of U.S. District Court Judge Gordon P. Gallagher in evaluating a man’s suitability for bond. Gallagher has since granted the man’s release directly.

Vacancies and appointments

•  There are five finalists for two vacancies on the Fourth Judicial District Court (El Paso and Teller counties), one of which is a new seat created by law and the other is an open seat due to the retirement of District Court Judge David Prince: Magistrate Amy Patricia Cullen Cano, Tanya A. Karimi, Mary Kominek Linden, David Michael Lipka, and Magistrate Lara Yoder Nafziger.

•  There are also three finalists to succeed retiring El Paso County Court Judge Steven Katzman: Charles D. Allen, Magistrate Douglas Glen Bechtel, and Christina S. Perroni.

•  The deadline has been extended through May 6 to apply for a newly created seat on the 13th Judicial District Court (Kit Carson, Logan, Morgan, Phillips, Sedgwick, Washington, and Yuma counties).

•  The chief justice has appointed longtime District Court Judge Gregory M. Lammons to be the new chief judge of the Eighth Judicial District (Larimer and Jackson counties). He succeeds now-Justice Susan Blanco.

Miscellaneous proceedings

•  Lawmakers have proposed several bills this legislative session to make changes to the family court system.

•  Private judges who are assigned to oversee certain civil cases are now allowed to make political contributions after a recent rule change.

•  Multiple judicial districts are holding warrant clearance events in the coming weeks. Here are the details directly from the Judicial Department:

First Judicial District (Gilpin and Jefferson counties): Saturday, May 2, 2026, from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. at the Jefferson County Administration and Courts Facility, 100 Jefferson County Parkway in Golden. Eligible offenses for warrant clearance include low-level, nonviolent misdemeanors and traffic offenses, some class 5 and class 6 property offenses, and level 4 drug offenses. To check warrant-clearance eligibility for probation-revocation cases, email 01probation@judicial.state.co.us. To check eligibility for all other cases, email warrantforgiveness.golden@coloradodefenders.us. For more information, visit this website: https://www.jeffco.us/4346/Fresh-Start

Eighth Judicial District (Jackson and Larimer counties): Saturday, April 25, 2026, from 9:30 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. at the Loveland Police and Courts Building located at 810 E. 10th St., in Loveland. Eligible offenses include misdemeanors, traffic offenses, some drug petty offenses, level 4 drug felonies, Loveland Municipal Court charges, some class 5 and class 6 felonies, and failure to register as a sex offender. For questions about this event or to verify eligibility, contact the Office of the Colorado Public Defender at 970-493-1212 or at fortcollins@coloradodefenders.us

17th Judicial District (Adams and Broomfield counties): Saturday, May 2, 2026, from 9 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. This event will be held virtually only, and the link to join will be posted on this website on the morning of the event: https://adamsbroomfieldda.org. Eligible offenses include low-level, nonviolent misdemeanors and traffic offenses; some probation-violation warrants; class 5 and 6 nonviolent felonies; possession of level 4 drug felonies; and failure to register as a sex offender. Email the Office of the Colorado Public Defender to determine if you are eligible: warrantforgiveness.brighton@coloradodefenders.us

19th Judicial District (Weld County): Friday, April 17, 2026, from 1:00 p.m. to 4:00 p.m. at the Weld County Combined Court Centennial Center located at 915 10th Street in Greeley. Greeley Municipal and Weld County misdemeanors, traffic, level 4, 5, and 6 felony drug offenses, non-Victim Rights Act (VRA) cases, and probation revocations are among the offenses eligible for warrant clearance. For questions about the event or to verify eligibility, contact the Office of the Colorado Public Defender at 970-353-8224 or via email at: warrantforgiveness.greeley@coloradodefenders.us

20th Judicial District (Boulder County): Saturday, May 2, 2026, from 9:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. at the Boulder County Justice Center, 1777 Sixth Street in Boulder. Eligible offenses for warrant clearance include nonviolent misdemeanors and traffic offenses, some class 5 and class 6 property offense felonies, and level 4 drug felonies. Find out more: https://bouldercounty.gov/district-attorney/fresh-start/

On break

•  Court Crawl will be on break next week.

Editor’s note: This story has been updated to correct the spelling of Judge Steven Katzman’s name.