chaffee county
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Colorado Supreme Court reverses 2 Chaffee County judges for imposing fee on habeas petitioner
The Colorado Supreme Court rejected two separate appeals earlier this month from an incarcerated defendant seeking immediate release from prison, but concluded that two Chaffee County judges incorrectly required him to prepay filing fees for his cases. David J. Gottorff is serving a prison sentence following his 2023 convictions in Ouray County. Although his challenge…
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Appeals court finds opening in Colorado Supreme Court’s framework for child neglect cases
Colorado’s second-highest court squeezed through an opening last week in a controversial state Supreme Court decision from 2025, concluding that the justices had not prohibited a child’s legal representative from being the one to request termination of parental rights in child welfare cases. Whether the government alone is empowered to pursue child neglect cases became…
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10th Circuit upholds dismissal of Barry Morphew’s civil lawsuit against prosecutors, investigators
The Denver-based federal appeals court agreed on Monday that Barry Morphew, who now stands accused for a second time of murdering his wife, failed to state viable claims against the government officials involved in his first, unsuccessful prosecution. Morphew was arrested in May 2021, almost a year after his wife, Suzanne Morphew, disappeared. State prosecutors…
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Colorado justices find portion of anti-SLAPP law unconstitutional
The Colorado Supreme Court ruled on Monday that a 2019 law designed to protect the exercise of First Amendment rights conflicts with the state constitution in certain scenarios involving appeals from county courts. Known as the “anti-SLAPP” law, which stands for “strategic lawsuits against public participation,” the legislature provided a mechanism for quickly disposing of litigation…
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Colorado justices address conflict between anti-SLAPP law, state constitution
Colorado lawmakers in 2019 created a mechanism to quickly dispose of lawsuits over conduct that implicates a person’s First Amendment rights, specifically the rights to free speech and to petition the government. Known as the “anti-SLAPP” law, which stands for “strategic lawsuits against public participation,” the legislature provided that when a judge rules on a motion…
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Colorado Supreme Court to examine whether portion of anti-SLAPP law is unconstitutional
The Colorado Supreme Court announced on Monday that it will address whether lawmakers inadvertently violated the state constitution by creating a unique pathway for appeals under a law designed to shield First Amendment conduct from lawsuits. At least three of the court’s seven members must agree to hear a case on appeal. The justices also accepted…
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Decision on former Morphew prosecutor’s fate delayed
The arm of the Colorado Supreme Court that oversees the state’s attorneys has pushed back Friday’s deadline to decide the fate of the embattled former prosecutor in the Morphew case. Linda Stanley, the sitting 11th Judicial District Attorney, could be disbarred, publicly or privately censured, or acquitted. She is accused of professional misconduct associated with…
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Appeals court splits with itself on statewide noise limits, sets up Supreme Court intervention
Colorado’s second-highest court on Thursday set the stage for Supreme Court intervention by finding local governments cannot authorize concerts on private, for-profit land to exceed noise limits under state law — three months after another set of appellate judges reached the opposite conclusion. A three-judge panel for the Court of Appeals concluded the state’s Noise Abatement Act…
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Divided appeals court says local governments may authorize noise limits exceeding state law
Colorado’s second-highest court ruled for the first time earlier this month that local governments may authorize noise permits for activities on private property that exceed the levels set in state law. By 2-1, a three-judge panel of the Court of Appeals concluded the state’s Noise Abatement Act allowed the city of Salida to issue outdoor…
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Divided appeals court says local governments may authorize noise limits exceeding state law
Colorado’s second-highest court ruled for the first time earlier this month that local governments may authorize noise permits for activities on private property that exceed the levels set in state law. By 2-1, a three-judge panel of the Court of Appeals concluded the state’s Noise Abatement Act allowed the city of Salida to issue outdoor…