us district court
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How a Harris or Trump presidency might shape Colorado’s federal courts
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In the past four years, President Joe Biden has made seven appointments to the federal trial and appeals courts headquartered in Colorado, with his appointees now constituting a majority of active judges on the state’s U.S. District Court. The next president will similarly have a chance to make his or her mark on the district…
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Federal judges clarify behind-the-scenes interactions, warn about incentives of motions backlog data
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Two members of Colorado’s federal bench spoke on Thursday about the ways in which district judges and magistrate judges interact without compromising each other’s independence, plus they delivered a warning about how the public disclosure of docket data can create problematic incentives to deciding cases. Most civil cases in Colorado’s federal trial court are assigned…
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‘Pick your battles’: Federal judge walks lawyers through do’s and don’ts of jury instructions
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Jury instructions should be relevant, accurate, brief and understandable. Those were the key points emphasized by U.S. District Court Senior Judge Christine M. Arguello on Friday during a presentation to lawyers at the federal courthouse in downtown Denver. She said the “straw that broke the camel’s back” and prompted her to speak publicly about the…
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Colorado court’s pilot program to aid self-represented prisoners launches after delay, tweaks
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Colorado’s federal trial court this spring began accepting participants in a pilot program intended to link incarcerated plaintiffs with attorneys for onetime legal advice calls, although the initiative has undergone changes since its initial announcement. Colorado’s U.S. District Court authorized a limited legal assistance program last year, allowing prisoners at Fremont Correctional Facility who have…
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Federal judge denies compassionate release to prisoner worried about COVID, but who refused vaccine
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A federal judge last week declined to order the early release of an incarcerated man who was concerned about being infected with COVID-19, yet refused to get vaccinated. In an Aug. 14 order, U.S. District Court Chief Judge Philip A. Brimmer rejected the compassionate release request of Armando Rogelio Durete, who is serving a 10-year…
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Report: Colorado’s federal trial court saw drop in criminal trials, explosion in insurance verdicts
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The number of criminal jury trials dropped significantly in Colorado’s federal trial court, insurance cases made up half of all civil jury trials and self-represented litigants only filed one-quarter of all lawsuits last year. Those were the trends highlighted in an annual report of the U.S. District Court’s workload presented last week by Chief U.S.…
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Colorado’s federal judges slash motions backlog, with a little outside help
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Data released last month by the federal judiciary showed that several of Colorado’s federal trial judges successfully reduced or even eliminated the volume of motions pending for six months or longer on their dockets. The Civil Justice Reform Act of 1990 requires public reporting of motions awaiting action for more than six months in civil matters assigned to…
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Senate approves bill to give Colorado 2 more federal judges
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The U.S. Senate unanimously approved a bill on Thursday that would add judgeships to Colorado’s federal trial court for the first time in 40 years. The bipartisan JUDGES Act would expand the size of district courts across the country in two-year increments over the next decade. Colorado’s U.S. District Court currently has seven presidentially appointed…
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‘There’s a different weight that I feel’: Kato Crews speaks about first 6 months as federal district judge
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When President Joe Biden appointed S. Kato Crews as a federal trial judge in January, Crews was no stranger to Colorado’s U.S. District Court. He had served as a magistrate judge on the same court for more than five years. On Wednesday, Crews told an audience of attorneys at the Alfred A. Arraj U.S. Courthouse…