Evaluations of Judicial Performance – 2016

Colorado does not elect judges to office in contested elections (they are appointed by the governor from a list of 3 nominees selected by a judicial nominating commission), but they are required to receive voter approval to retain office (on a 4, 6, 8, or 10 year schedule based on the level of the court). The Colorado judges seeking retention in 2016 (appearing on the November 2014 general election ballot with a “Yes” or “No” vote option) are:

1 Supreme Court Justice (Hood)

10 Court of Appeals judges (Ashby, Berger, Bernard, Dunn, Furman, Hawthorne, Jones, Navarro, Roman, Terry)

58 District & 36 County judges (94 total trial court judges)

Unlike the “official” government-sponsored commission “reviews” Clear The Bench Colorado does not insult your intelligence by telling you how to vote – but the following scorecards provide a substantive evaluations of the “work product” of the judges seeking your vote, presented in a scorecard format, to better inform your decision.

Colorado Supreme Court:

The following judicial performance review scorecard summarizes some of the Colorado Supreme Court cases over the current term of office for the justice seeking retention which have had the greatest impact on the largest number of Colorado Citizens (primarily those with broad public policy implications), and how the incumbent justice appearing on the November 2016 ballot voted in each case. Clear The Bench Colorado’s evaluation methodology – presented at a National Conference on Evaluating Appellate Judges – has been acclaimed as the best in the nation for evaluating appellate court judges. Given that it is impossible to present an analysis of every case on which a justice voted, CTBC presents a representative sample of cases addressing important constitutional questions. Our methodology closely tracks that supposedly used by the state Commission on Judicial Performance (reviewing cases as the benchmark for assessing judicial performance). The difference is that we actually publicize the decisions and votes in each case… For information on each case, click the link (case name) to link to the ruling’s full text; see also links to related commentary for additional information. (Information on judges from other levels of court are below the Supreme Court matrix)

(Some viewers may wonder why we include the recommendations and rubber-stamp “reviews” of the State Commission on Judicial Performance, since their conclusions often vary from what our analysis indicates. Quite simply, we welcome the comparison – look at their “evaluations”, then compare them with our analysis. We think that discerning readers will agree: the “Blue Book” narratives lack substance and provide little or no useful information on which to base an informed decision).

Colorado Court of Appeals:

The following matrix lists the Colorado Court of Appeals judges appearing on the November ballot, with a representative sample of consequential cases decided by each judge. Click the link (case name) for the ruling’s full text; links to related commentary for additional information are included where relevant. (Click the judge’s name for a link to their “official” government judicial performance evaluation)

CTBC’s summary rating for each Colorado Court of Appeals judge appears below their picture.

Ratings Code: X=strike against rule of law; O=upheld rule of law; M=Mixed

APPEALS COURT JUDGES ON THE 2016 BALLOT KEY COLORADO COURT OF APPEALS CASES

For those interested in reviewing the full listing of Colorado Court of Appeals rulings, the FindLaw website (with searchable database of court rulings) is a valuable resource.

District/County Judges:

Since District/County judges rule on a much larger number of cases, many (if not most) of which do not result in published opinions – and as there are a great deal more of them appearing on the ballot – the methodology employed by Clear The Bench Colorado in reviewing judicial performance at this level relies primarily upon inputs from concerned citizens and knowledgeable parties (including attorneys, court-watchers, and sources in law enforcement) and lists specific cases only by exception. Our Know Your Judge: Citizen Input on District/County Judges 2016 page lists comments on each judge organized by judicial district. Anyone wishing to comment on any of the judges on this year’s ballot are welcome to submit comments and responsible, documented articles of reasonable length (please, no rants, slams, or diatribes) to our Know Your Judge: Citizen Input page 2016, or our Sound Off! page. Comments on any of the judicial performance evaluations are welcome, below.