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

A federal judge’s law students created artificial intelligence-powered apps to address access-to-justice issues, plus half a dozen current and former solicitors general of Colorado spoke about the unique role.

State Supreme Court news

•  The Colorado Supreme Court decided that lifetime sex offender registration can’t be cruel and unusual punishment because it isn’t “punishment.” However, two justices asked the legislature to reconsider the accuracy of the tool used to assess someone’s risk of recidivism.

•  That assessment “is not evidence-based and is not normed on people with disabilities or women. We hope that the legislature will look at other evidence-based approaches that make people in Colorado safer.” —Jessica Meza, board member of the Colorado Criminal Defense Bar

•  The Supreme Court concluded car rental companies that offer insurance policies aren’t insurers under state law, nor was Hertz acting as an insurer in the circumstances of two injured plaintiffs.

•  “Insurance rates have skyrocketed in Colorado, largely because of liability-expanding laws and court decisions. The Supreme Court’s ruling takes a welcome step back from that trend.” —Evan Stephenson, attorney for the American Car Rental Association

•  Finally, the Supreme Court ruled that insurance companies don’t have to give policyholders notice and an opportunity to address any non-cooperation in a claims investigation if the policy specifically requires the customer to do something.

•  “The practical effect of this decision is that insureds may now be forced to give up fundamental legal rights simply to preserve coverage. That is not what Colorado consumers reasonably expect when they purchase insurance, and it is an outcome that benefits insurance companies, not policyholders.” —Scott Anderson, attorney for plaintiff Anthony Wenzell

Heard on appeal

•  The Court of Appeals clarified that the rule automatically extending deadlines in civil cases when the final day falls on a weekend or a holiday also applies to the 28-day window for seeking judicial review of governmental decisions.

In federal news

•  The U.S. Court of Appeals for the 10th Circuit dismissed a malicious prosecution lawsuit from two men who were arrested as the perpetrators of a shooting when, in fact, they appeared to be the targets of the shooting.

•  Aurora is not liable for a suspended officer’s attack on a woman at an apartment complex, the 10th Circuit ruled.

•  A federal judge declined to allow the Colorado Republican Party to exclude unaffiliated voters from the approaching primary election.

• A judge confirmed that Colorado will not immediately enforce a 2024 law regulating artificial intelligence amid a challenge from Elon Musk and the Trump administration.

•  High-level corrections officials may be sued for an employee’s alleged sexual assaults of a detainee, a federal judge decided.

•  A jury will consider whether the Denver Sheriff’s Department passed over a male sergeant for promotion due to his sex, a judge concluded.

AI in the law

•  U.S. Magistrate Judge Maritza Dominguez Braswell has become a national leader on the subject of artificial intelligence in the legal profession, and this spring her students at the University of Denver’s law school created two AI-powered tools in a “design sprint.”

•  The projects were aimed at addressing access-to-justice problems. One team created a clearinghouse of immigration law updates, and the other created an intake tool to help lawyers decide whether to assist litigants in civil cases.

•  “Most people can’t access our system in the way that it was designed to be accessed with a lawyer. So, (the class involved) thinking about how AI could potentially provide a solution to that, and then giving them the tools along the way to actually make that work,” said Braswell.

Solicitors general panel

• Six current and former solicitors general of Colorado, dating to the early 1990s, gathered on a virtual panel to discuss the job and how it has changed over time.

• When he was the SG, “the role was to represent the cabinet officers, basically, in legal matters. There was no legal policy. There was no association with other states. There was no legal policy advancement. It was very much a dry and desiccated position,” said Judge Timothy M. Tymkovich of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 10th Circuit. “And (Attorney General) Gale Norton’s vision of it, and one that I subscribed to, was to open it up as an innovative actor within the state of Colorado and a player in the national scene in a capacity that hadn’t been thought of before this era.”

Vacancies and appointments

•  The governor appointed Arapahoe County Magistrate Beth A. Elliott-Dumler to succeed retiring District Court Judge Ben L. Leutwyler in the 23rd Judicial District (Douglas, Elbert, and Lincoln counties).

•  The governor also selected Arapahoe County Magistrate W. Casey Brown for a newly created seat on the 23rd Judicial District Court.

•  There are three finalists for a newly created seat on the Larimer County Court: Luke Douglas Birky, Magistrate Donald P. Delaney, and Heather K. Siegel.

•  There are also three candidates for a new seat on the Arapahoe County District Court: Magistrate James Christopher Boeckx, Niceta Elizabeth Bradburn, and County Court Judge Amy Danielle Touart.

•  Finally, there are three contenders for a new seat on the Weld County District Court: Catharine “Katie” Ann Allsup-Armstrong, Sean James Lacefield, and Keren Courtney Weitzel.

•  Applications are due by May 15 to succeed District Court Judge Sarah E. Stout in the 17th Judicial District (Adams and Broomfield counties), who is retiring less than three years into her appointment.

•  Applications are also due by June 10 to succeed retiring El Paso County Court Judge D. Denise Peacock.

•  Marizela Cano, the court clerk for Boulder County, starts today as the new clerk of the Colorado Supreme Court, following the quiet retirement last month of clerk Cheryl Stevens.

Miscellaneous proceedings

•  Following voters’ approval of a 2024 constitutional amendment revising the judicial discipline process, the first adjudicative trial of a judge has been scheduled to take place in August.

•  Defense lawyers for a Boulder County murder defendant have moved to dismiss a renewed set of charges due to allegedly destroyed evidence and misconduct from the government.