Author: Michael Karlik
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Development fees not limited to brand new construction, Colorado court rules
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Colorado’s second-highest court ruled last month that local governments’ ability to impose fees on “new development” is not limited solely to construction projects that occur on empty land. Under state law, local governments that issue development permits are empowered to impose an impact fee that reflects governmental spending on “capital facilities needed to serve new…
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Colorado justices consider whether fraud claims belong in corporate dispute
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The Colorado Supreme Court considered on Tuesday whether it is possible for a corporate plaintiff to pursue fraud claims over conduct that could be covered by a contract or by a set of interrelated business agreements leading up to the contract. Previously, the Court of Appeals found that Veolia Water Technologies, Inc. had a duty,…
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Couple’s notarized agreement did not create common law marriage, appeals court says
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A Garfield County couple’s signed, notarized document attesting to their common law marriage does not mean they were actually married, Colorado’s second-highest court ruled last week. In contrast to a formal, licensed marriage, Colorado recognizes common law marriages between two people who mutually agree to enter into a marriage and then engage in conduct reflecting…
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Colorado justices acknowledge judge’s misunderstanding of law in eminent domain case
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Members of the Colorado Supreme Court appeared to agree on Tuesday that a Douglas County judge incorrectly believed he lacked the authority to allow a property owner to pursue evidence challenging a government entity’s legal right to take the property through eminent domain. But during oral arguments, multiple justices bristled when an attorney for the…
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Municipal camping bans do not violate Colorado Constitution, says appeals court
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Municipal ordinances that ban people from living on public property do not violate the Colorado Constitution’s prohibition on cruel and unusual punishment, the state’s second-highest court ruled on Thursday. A three-judge Court of Appeals panel agreed that it was appropriate to rely on the U.S. Supreme Court’s interpretation of the Eighth Amendment, which Colorado courts…
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10th Circuit again dismisses ex-prison employee’s challenge to workplace DEI training
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The Denver-based federal appeals court dismissed a second lawsuit on Monday brought by a former Colorado Department of Corrections employee who was offended by an equity training module and had alleged it created a hostile work environment. In 2023, U.S. District Court Judge Nina Y. Wang dismissed Joshua F. Young’s first lawsuit on the grounds that he…
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As Colorado’s federal judges churn through immigration petitions, Domenico’s cases sit undecided
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Colorado’s U.S. District Court judges have spent months pushing out decisions in hundreds of immigration detention cases and largely siding with detainees, but one judge has barely touched his caseload. Chief Judge Daniel D. Domenico has only issued orders in roughly 20% of the cases assigned to him where a petitioner is seeking relief from…
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10th Circuit analyzes sentencing process for probation violators in rare all-judges’ hearing
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All 12 full-time judges on the Denver-based federal appeals court gathered for a rare oral argument on Monday to consider whether one of the court’s precedent-setting opinions created a process for sentencing probation violators that is out of step with what Congress intended. Although the judges of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 10th…
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Colorado justices skeptical of defendant’s challenge to flawed jury instruction
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Members of the Colorado Supreme Court appeared willing to uphold a defendant’s vehicular eluding conviction on Tuesday, suggesting that an incorrectly worded jury instruction was not an obvious and harmful error in light of the defense’s choice not to dispute the evidence. A Denver jury convicted Jeffery Sloan of killing Yasir Hasan and Mark Karla by running…
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ICE ‘materially violated’ order on warrantless arrests, Colorado judge says
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A federal judge ordered U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement on Tuesday to immediately train its Colorado employees about how to lawfully perform warrantless arrests, after the evidence showed officers had little understanding of the requirements. U.S. District Court Senior Judge R. Brooke Jackson wrote that ICE had “materially violated” his prior order that directed immigration…