restitution
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Colorado Supreme Court accepts cases on campaign transparency, crime victim restitution
The Colorado Supreme Court announced on Monday that it will review whether the state’s requirement that ballot issue advocacy groups disclose the name of their legal representative on their election communications violates the First Amendment. At least three of the court’s seven members must agree to hear an appeal. The justices also accepted a case implicating Colorado’s crime…
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Despite tough talk, Colorado justices punch holes in 2021 crime victim restitution ruling
In a package of five opinions released on Tuesday, the Colorado Supreme Court stood by its general interpretation of the state’s crime victim restitution law from four years ago, while it simultaneously agreed that some judges’ violations of the law are not subject to challenge. The marathon set of oral arguments last fall made clear…
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Divided appeals court upholds judge’s decade-old violation of restitution law
Colorado’s second-highest court turned aside a defendant’s challenge earlier this month to a judge’s decade-old order that he pay $28,518 in crime victim restitution, even though the judge failed to comply with state law in doing so. In Colorado, as part of sentencing, judges must consider whether defendants owe financial restitution to their victims. If so,…
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Federal judge agrees state’s ‘intercept’ of man’s $3.5 million jury award was proper
A federal judge agreed last month that Colorado acted properly by not paying a man directly for violating his rights, but instead crediting the jury’s multimillion-dollar award toward the crime victim restitution he still owed in his criminal case. Addressing an unusual question, U.S. District Court Judge S. Kato Crews determined it was permissible for…
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Appeals court overturns $9,150 restitution order after Jeffco judge did not follow law
Colorado’s second-highest court last week overturned an order for a criminal defendant to pay $9,150 to his victim, citing the trial judge’s failure to abide by the legal process for imposing financial restitution. In Colorado, as part of sentencing, judges must consider whether defendants owe restitution to their victims. If so, prosecutors generally need to provide…
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Appeals judge raises flag about whether insurance companies can collect restitution after traffic convictions
A member of Colorado’s second-highest court said on Thursday that she was skeptical insurance companies are entitled to collect crime victim restitution from defendants convicted of misdemeanor traffic offenses, but lawmakers had not provided clear direction one way or the other. A three-judge panel for the Court of Appeals agreed the evidence did not render…
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Appeals court overturns Douglas County judge’s unlawful $22k restitution order
A Douglas County judge ordered a defendant to pay crime victim restitution eight months beyond the legal deadline and nearly two years after the Colorado Supreme Court warned trial judges to follow the law, the state’s second-highest court ruled on Thursday. The Court of Appeals also noted former District Court Judge Patricia Herron “recharacterized history”…
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Colorado Supreme Court rebuffs AG’s plea to scrap restitution ruling while remaining open to tweaks
During a marathon session of oral arguments on Tuesday, members of the Colorado Supreme Court appeared open to tweaking their landmark 2021 decision warning trial judges and prosecutors to follow the law when awarding restitution to crime victims. But the justices quickly gave the Colorado Attorney General’s Office a reality check, indicating the Supreme Court…
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Colorado Supreme Court to decide whether to retreat on landmark restitution ruling
The Colorado Supreme Court will incorporate an unorthodox twist into its oral argument calendar this week, hearing five cases that all revolve around the same subject: Was the court serious when it said three years ago that judges who do not follow the law lose their authority to order criminal defendants to pay restitution? In…