Author: By David Migoya The Denver Gazette
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Colorado state senator used text message to avoid open records scrutiny
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In the week prior to Colorado Sen. Kevin Priola announcing that he was flipping political parties, the soon-to-be-Democrat said in a text message to his soon-to-be party leader that he would share certain information with him but wanted to avoid the state’s email system so as not to leave a paper trail subject to public…
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Proposed sweeping changes to Colorado’s judicial discipline process would need public approval
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Colorado judges who face formal charges of misconduct would face a public trial rather than a secret one, which has been the norm for decades, according to a number of sweeping preliminary recommendations made Wednesday by an interim legislative committee reviewing changes to judicial discipline. Other changes recommended by the committee of eight legislators include…
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Law groups are united that judicial discipline process needs greater transparency
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A half dozen professional groups tied to the legal profession each recommended to a state legislative committee Wednesday that Colorado’s current judicial discipline system should be more robust, transparent and accountable to the public. Among the groups are the Colorado Women’s Bar Association, the Institute for Advancement of the American Legal System at the University…
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Disciplinary information rarely considered in decisions on judge retention
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Colorado’s system of judicial discipline is so secret that the state’s nearly two dozen performance review commissions that evaluate judges have rarely known for sure whether a jurist they recommended voters keep on the bench had a record of misconduct or not. That shortfall is a critical flaw in the state’s judicial retention process that…
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Judicial Discipline Commission says Supreme Court lied, misled, misinformed public during probe
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On July 29, 2011, the chief justice of Colorado’s Supreme Court quietly met in a Denver parking garage with the executive director of the state’s Commission on Judicial Discipline to discuss the latter’s press for information in its inquiry into misconduct allegations tied to an alleged contract-for-silence scheme at the Judicial Department. During the rendezvous,…
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Discipline commission says Judicial Department continues to stall investigation
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Colorado’s Judicial Department for months has continued to drag its feet over an investigation by the state commission that disciplines judges despite public assurances otherwise, according to a document filed with state lawmakers this week. The Commission on Judicial Discipline said in a filing it made Wednesday to a legislative committee considering changes to the…
