Author: Michael Karlik
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State Supreme Court hears oral arguments, gun scare mars Courts in Community event | COURT CRAWL
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Welcome to Court Crawl, Colorado Politics’ roundup of news from the third branch of government. The state Supreme Court returns this week for an unusually short oral arguments schedule, plus a visit by the state’s Court of Appeals to a Weld County high school experienced a gun-related interruption. A docket of 2 ? Tomorrow, the Supreme…
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Colorado Supreme Court signals intervention in Denver, Jeffco criminal cases
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The Colorado Supreme Court indicated in recent weeks that it may intervene in two criminal cases to decide whether a defendant convicted of a misdemeanor in county court is entitled to halt his sentence while he appeals, and whether prosecutors established probable cause of another defendant’s child abuse charge. At least three of the court’s…
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Another federal judge calls on Congress to roll back SCOTUS limitation on suing federal officials
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Two federal judges in Colorado have now taken the rare step of calling for Congress to roll back the U.S. Supreme Court’s broad limitations on suing federal officials for money when they violate plaintiffs’ constitutional rights. U.S. District Court Senior Judge Christine M. Arguello, in dismissing the claims of an incarcerated man who alleged federal prison…
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El Paso County child sex conviction vacated due to constitutional violation
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Colorado’s second-highest court on Thursday overturned one of a man’s convictions for an attempted child sex offense in El Paso County after concluding two of his crimes involved the same conduct, punished differently. Colorado courts have interpreted the constitutional guarantee of equal protection to forbid the state from creating two laws that criminalize identical conduct,…
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Adams County conviction overturned after judge blocked questions about victim’s motive to testify
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An Adams County judge blocked jurors from hearing about a victim’s own criminal charge and potential motive to testify the way prosecutors wanted, prompting Colorado’s second-highest court to find a constitutional violation and order a new trial for the defendant. A jury acquitted Semaj Reynolds-Wynn of attempted murder after a 2021 trial, but convicted him…
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10th Circuit dismisses Brighton church’s challenge to future public health orders
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More than three years after a Weld County church filed suit challenging the constitutionality of Colorado’s public health response to COVID-19, the federal appeals court based in Denver has ruled the organization lacks standing to seek exemption to other hypothetical restrictions that may come in the future. Grace Bible Fellowship in Brighton was successful in…
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Title Board advances proposed constitutional amendment to raise threshold for judicial retention
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The Title Board on Wednesday advanced a proposed constitutional amendment that would require at least 55% of voters to support a judge’s retention, rather than the simple majority that is needed currently. However, the change, if enacted, may have limited impact. Of the judges and justices who were retained in 2020 and 2022, none received less…
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Federal judge declines to intervene after state ‘intercepted’ Colorado man’s $3.5 million jury award
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A federal judge on Thursday concluded he did not have the authority to intervene as Colorado performed an “administrative intercept” of the $3.5 million a jury awarded a plaintiff more than a year ago for violations of his rights under the Americans with Disabilities Act. U.S. District Court Judge S. Kato Crews acknowledged there might…
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Gun scare disrupts Court of Appeals visit to Fort Lupton High School
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A planned visit by Colorado’s second-highest court to Fort Lupton High School went awry on Tuesday after the sighting of two students with a firearm triggered a lockout that, in the judicial branch’s telling, could have been avoided if school administrators had temporarily suspended a game being played with toy guns. The state Supreme Court…
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Following SCOTUS decision, judge enters injunction against Colorado in 303 Creative case
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Nine months after the U.S. Supreme Court handed down its decision and nearly eight years after she first filed suit in Colorado’s federal trial court, web designer Lorie Smith received an injunction prohibiting the state from compelling her to create wedding websites for same-sex couples. In a March 26 order, U.S. District Court Chief Judge…
