The panel ordered that Mr. Nacchio receive a new trial in front of a different judge.

“The reality is that for years, not just in Colorado but in many states, citizen taxpayers have paid the price for C.E.O.’s and companies who break the rules in order to get ahead,” Mr. Knox said.

Ultimately, the proposal would extend criminal and civil liability to executives who knew about corporate fraud and did nothing to stop it, but who were not necessarily involved in it, said Mark Grueskin, a lawyer for Protect Colorado’s Future.

Not surprisingly, the proposal, and subsequent versions with alternative language that have been suggested by Protect Colorado’s Future, has generated sharp opposition from Colorado’s business community.

If the measure is approved, some fear that the courts will become overwhelmed with frivolous lawsuits. Those lawsuits, in turn, could bankrupt small and midsize companies and make it more difficult for legitimate lawsuits to succeed, said Joe Blake, president and chief executive of the Denver Metro Chamber of Commerce.

“We’re very concerned that any number of people could crowd the docket and frustrate the court system with suits that are perhaps well-intentioned but highly frivolous,” he said. “We’re going to have chaos out here.”

Mr. Grueskin countered that the measure would parallel current state law and require plaintiffs to pay for their lawsuits if a court ruled that they were frivolous.

“There is an inherent disincentive to use this as a means for a gadfly to act as a corporate obstructionist,” he said. “I would be surprised if there would be many responsible companies that would have a problems with this.”