judge william martinez
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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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State Supreme Court to hold oral arguments, federal judges find fault with bond hearings | 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 will resume hearing oral arguments tomorrow, plus some federal judges are raising the alarm about immigration judges’ handling of bond hearings. Oral argument calendar • The Colorado Supreme Court will hold oral arguments in six cases this…
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Federal judge warns of increasingly inadequate immigration bond hearings
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A federal judge ordered the immediate release of a man in immigration custody last week and, seemingly for the first time in Colorado, warned that the government is increasingly conducting inadequate bond hearings for detainees. Colorado’s federal trial court is facing a flood of “habeas corpus” petitions from those in immigration detention. The most common allegation…
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Federal judge blocks evidence from Aurora police’s unconstitutional search
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A federal judge ruled last month that prosecutors cannot use firearm evidence against a defendant because Aurora police searched him without having any reasonable basis to believe he was armed and dangerous. In evaluating the constitutionality of the search, U.S. District Court Senior Judge William J. Martínez noted that police officers were called to a…
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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…