magistrate judge n. reid neureiter
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Judges speak about public trust and criticism, ICE’s warrantless arrests under scrutiny | COURT CRAWL
Welcome to Court Crawl, Colorado Politics’ roundup of news from the third branch of government. A handful of federal and state judges spoke last week about trust and communications challenges with the public, plus a federal judge seemed to believe immigration authorities are making warrantless arrests in violation of the law. ‘Put our heads down’…
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Report: Colorado’s federal trial court sees time to trial tick up, magistrate judge consent remain low
Colorado’s federal trial court saw a slight uptick in the number of civil cases filed in 2024 and also a slight increase in the average time for a case to reach trial, according to a statistical report compiled by U.S. Magistrate Judge N. Reid Neureiter. Neureiter also noted the percentage of cases handled exclusively by…
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Federal judge advances claim against prison guard for allegedly outing man as ‘snitch’
A federal judge last week agreed an incarcerated man could sue a prison guard for allegedly putting him in danger and retaliating against him by revealing to other inmates that the plaintiff filed a sexual harassment complaint. The plaintiff, who is incarcerated at the Arkansas Valley Correctional Facility, raised allegations against three prison employees that…
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Federal judge permits excessive force claim to proceed against prison employees
A federal judge on Wednesday agreed two state prison employees could be sued for allegedly using excessive force against an incarcerated man. Jared Lee Chavez, representing himself, alleged “Sgt. Smith” and “Sgt. Grilli” violently pulled Chavez from his cell at Sterling Correctional Facility in February 2022. Chavez allegedly complied with orders, but the defendants slammed…
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Colorado’s federal judges recused 200+ times in 4 years for variety of reasons
Colorado’s federal judges issued orders recusing themselves from cases at least 203 times in four years, with reasons ranging from unspecified appearances of partiality to potential conflicts created by their prior employment and family connections. One judge also noted in recusing himself that if he ruled against an attorney who was his personal friend, “it…
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Federal judge dismisses prisoner’s lawsuit alleging doctor stuck needle in unnumbed eyeball
A federal judge last month dismissed a lawsuit from an incarcerated man who claimed a doctor violated his rights by sticking a needle into his unnumbed eyeball, causing extensive damage. Ronald Lee Smith, who is incarcerated at Buena Vista Correctional Facility, alleged he was taken to Denver Health in July 2021. While there, ophthalmologist Maryam…
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Federal judge rejects Jeffrey Epstein-linked businessman’s request to shield case from public
A federal judge on Monday refused a litigant’s request to completely shield his civil case from public view, noting in a strongly worded order that the man had chosen to bring his otherwise private arbitration dispute into the federal court system. “Federal judges and their court staff are not legal pawns to be deployed in…
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Colorado federal judges unveil new ‘civility code,’ share stories about bad behavior
Four members of Colorado’s U.S. District Court introduced lawyers on Tuesday to a new, nonbinding “civility code” and expressed frustration about overly belligerent behavior they are seeing more frequently from attorneys. “It feeds on itself. One lawyer in a case starts with snarky comments in the briefs or the motions, the other side may try…
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All about the ‘quandary’: Judges talk about when Colorado Supreme Court wades into federal cases
For the most part, cases that are filed in state court proceed linearly through the state trial courts, appellate court and Supreme Court. Likewise, federal cases are heard by a federal trial judge, a federal appeals court and, on rare occasions, the nation’s highest court. But sometimes, when a federal case involves a question of…