judge william martinez
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Federal judge says 8 years in solitary confinement not grounds to reduce man’s sentence
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A federal judge concluded earlier this month that a man’s eight years allegedly spent in solitary confinement did not justify granting his request for a sentence reduction. However, U.S. District Court Senior Judge William J. Martínez signaled his willingness to re-evaluate Randy Platt’s request if Platt details why his experience in prolonged isolation amounts to…
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Federal judge: Government violated order shielding man from deportation in ‘one-off mistake’
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A federal judge acknowledged on Thursday that the government violated his order by deporting a man in immigration detention during his pending court case, but it “serves nobody’s interests” to require the government to return him. On Feb. 18, Tesfami Chael filed a habeas corpus petition in Colorado’s U.S. District Court to challenge his immigration…
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Supreme Court to hold oral arguments, discipline commission releases report | 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 is holding oral arguments this week, plus Colorado’s judicial discipline commission released its annual report. Colorado Supreme Court news • The Supreme Court will hear arguments in three cases on Tuesday: J.B. v. MKBS, LLC et al.:…
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Colorado’s federal judges maintain approach to immigration detentions while escalating warnings
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Colorado’s federal judges are maintaining their view that the government’s assertion of broad immigration detention authority is unlawful, casting aside a recent appellate decision to the contrary as “unpersuasive” and out of step with the predominant interpretation by the judiciary. However, several judges are speaking out forcefully about the behavior from the government, including missed…
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Colorado’s federal judges slash motions backlog to lowest in years
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Colorado’s federal trial judges collectively had 37 motions in civil cases that had been sitting on their dockets for at least six months without a ruling, as of Sept. 30. That is the smallest backlog the state’s U.S. District Court has experienced since September 2017, before many of the current judges were even on the…
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Federal judge blocks Colorado law requiring social media platforms to provide warnings to children
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A federal judge on Thursday blocked Colorado from implementing a requirement that social media companies notify users younger than 18 of the effects to their mental and physical health from using the platforms. Lawmakers enacted House Bill 1136 by wide margins in 2024, with a goal of providing “research-based education and interventions” about minors’ use…
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Federal judge slams government’s ‘bad faith conduct’ in immigration case
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A federal judge criticized the government’s actions in an immigration-related case on Tuesday, after learning a hearing was scheduled for a man’s possible deportation just one day after he challenged his detention in court. “This type of bad faith conduct is inimical to our system of justice, and is conduct this Court will generally not…
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Federal judge dismisses claims that Boulder prosecutor ’emboldened’ false testimony
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A federal judge on Tuesday dismissed a man’s claims that a former Boulder County prosecutor “emboldened” an alleged sexual assault victim to alter her story after the original charge was dismissed for lack of probable cause. The district attorney’s office twice attempted to prosecute Pierce Spinelli for felony sexual assault, his lawsuit alleged. But both…
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Federal judge rejects conservative podcaster’s attempt to ‘blame his spam folder’ for missing deadline
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A federal judge on Tuesday rejected the claims from a conservative podcaster about why he missed his deadline to respond, instead ordering Joe Oltmann once again to pay for the costs of litigating his own contempt proceedings. Earlier this summer, U.S. District Court Senior Judge William J. Martínez directed Oltmann to pay $37,000 for fleeing the…
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Federal judge overturns order to keep bank robbery defendant detained pretrial
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A federal judge on Tuesday reversed an order to keep a man accused of bank robbery detained pending trial, while acknowledging it was a “close question” whether to release the defendant on home detention with GPS monitoring. In a Sept. 16 order, U.S. District Court Senior Judge William J. Martínez concluded the government failed to…
