Colorado Supreme Court
Encyclopedia
The Colorado Supreme Court is the highest court
in the U.S. state
of Colorado
. Located in Denver, the Court consists of a Chief Justice
and six Associate Justice
s.
petitions in cases decided on appeal
by the Colorado Court of Appeals
in appeals from courts of general jurisdiction, and from appellate decisions of courts of general jurisdiction in appeals from courts of inferior jurisdiction. In addition, the Colorado Supreme Court has jurisdiction over direct appeals in cases where a trial court finds a law unconstitutional, in death penalty cases, in water law
cases, in certain election
cases, in interlocutory appeals (i.e., appeals in the middle of a case) in certain matters of exceptional importance for which an ordinary appeal is not a sufficient remedy, and in certain other cases.http://www.courts.state.co.us/supct/supctindex.htm
to serve a term of ten years after an initial two year term from a list of three finalist candidates nominated by a Blue Ribbon Commission established by the state constitution. At the end of each term, Justices face a retention election
at which voters can choose to retain or not retain a Justice. If a Justice were not retained, the vacancy would be filled by the Governor at the expiration of their current term. No appellate judge has ever lost a retention election since the system was put in place in 1966. The Justices are not elected as partisan officials, although they are initially appointed by a partisan elected official.
An effort to change this system of retaining judges by initiative was rejected by voters in 2006, in part due to a campaign against the initiative which had strong support from both Democratic and Republican members of the Colorado Bar Association.
The Chief Justice is selected by the Justices from amongst themselves. As of July 1, 2006, the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court is paid $125,656 per year, and Associate Supreme Court Justices are paid $122,972 per year.
The current Colorado Supreme Court's membership, and the date each Justice was appointed, is as follows:
Justice Eid recuses herself from consideration of cases before the Court much more frequently than the other Justices, as of July 2007, because she represented the State in many of these cases in her position as Solicitor General of Colorado, prior to her appointment to the bench by former Governor Bill Owens. Her recusals are expected to grow less frequent once the cases she participated in work their way through the judicial process. Colorado Supreme Court cases often take two years or more to go from a filing of a petition for certiorari, to issuance of an opinion, and the solicitor general is involved in the process before a petition for certiorari is filed.
While there is a chamber originally dedicated to the Colorado Supreme Court in the state capitol building, the Colorado Supreme Court and Colorado Court of Appeals were located in their own building across the street from the state capitol from 1977 to 2010. In August 2010 the building was imploded to make way for a larger court building.http://www.denverpost.com/news/ci_15789930 Construction of the new Ralph L. Carr Justice Center began in September 2010 http://www.denverpost.com/search/ci_16162810 and is scheduled to open in 2013. http://www.statebillnews.com/2010/09/will-justice-center-unveiled-today-last-100-years/
The State Supreme Court Building was a box-like structure raised off the ground by two square columns located on the east and west ends of the building. The only parts of the building actually on the ground level were the columns, which contained the entrances and elevators for the building.
The underside of the building featured a 150-foot mural designed by Colorado artist Angelo di Benedetto. It depicted several notable figures, including Hammurabi
, Moses
and Martin Luther King. The figures represented persons who are believed to have made significant contributions to law and justice. Directly beneath the mural was a large window embedded into the ground that looked down into the underground law library
. Persons in the library were able to look up onto the mural via the ground level glass window. http://www.denverpost.com/search/ci_15011048. The mural was removed before the building was demolished, but its ultimate fate is uncertain. http://www.denverpost.com/search/ci_15370881
The courtroom itself was located on the fifth floor of the building (the ground level columns being the first floor). The entrance to the courtroom consisted of two large brass colored metallic doors with a textured design on them. The courtroom was dimly lit with two stain glass windows depicting previous Supreme Court Justices. The well of the courtroom was circular, with a podium for counsel in the center. The podium was a circular column that resembled a container of lipstick that, unlike the rest of the courtroom, was well lit. It faced a semicircular bench with seats for seven justices. Behind the bench was a large drape through which the Justices entered the courtroom.
The building was designed by John Rogers and RNL Design. See RNL Architecture
.
The Ralph L. Carr Justice Center was designed by Fentress Architects
. When completed, it will consist of a four-story building containing the Supreme Court chambers and Court of Appeals courtrooms, as well as a twelve-story office tower containing the office of the State Attorney General as well as offices for other State agencies. http://www.statebillnews.com/2010/09/will-justice-center-unveiled-today-last-100-years/.
The new Justice Center is named for former Colorado Governor Ralph Lawrence Carr
, who served from 1939 to 1943 and was noted for his opposition to Japanese American internment
during World War II
http://www.colorado.gov/dpa/doit/archives/govs/carr.html
Supreme court
A supreme court is the highest court within the hierarchy of many legal jurisdictions. Other descriptions for such courts include court of last resort, instance court, judgment court, high court, or apex court...
in the U.S. state
U.S. state
A U.S. state is any one of the 50 federated states of the United States of America that share sovereignty with the federal government. Because of this shared sovereignty, an American is a citizen both of the federal entity and of his or her state of domicile. Four states use the official title of...
of Colorado
Colorado
Colorado is a U.S. state that encompasses much of the Rocky Mountains as well as the northeastern portion of the Colorado Plateau and the western edge of the Great Plains...
. Located in Denver, the Court consists of a Chief Justice
Chief Justice
The Chief Justice in many countries is the name for the presiding member of a Supreme Court in Commonwealth or other countries with an Anglo-Saxon justice system based on English common law, such as the Supreme Court of Canada, the Constitutional Court of South Africa, the Court of Final Appeal of...
and six Associate Justice
Associate Justice
Associate Justice or Associate Judge is the title for a member of a judicial panel who is not the Chief Justice in some jurisdictions. The title "Associate Justice" is used for members of the United States Supreme Court and some state supreme courts, and for some other courts in Commonwealth...
s.
Appellate jurisdiction
The Court principally handles certiorariCertiorari
Certiorari is a type of writ seeking judicial review, recognized in U.S., Roman, English, Philippine, and other law. Certiorari is the present passive infinitive of the Latin certiorare...
petitions in cases decided on appeal
Appeal
An appeal is a petition for review of a case that has been decided by a court of law. The petition is made to a higher court for the purpose of overturning the lower court's decision....
by the Colorado Court of Appeals
Colorado Court of Appeals
The Colorado Court of Appeals is the intermediate-level appellate court for the state of Colorado. It was established by statute by the Colorado General Assembly under Article VI, Section 1 of the Constitution of Colorado.-Jurisdiction:...
in appeals from courts of general jurisdiction, and from appellate decisions of courts of general jurisdiction in appeals from courts of inferior jurisdiction. In addition, the Colorado Supreme Court has jurisdiction over direct appeals in cases where a trial court finds a law unconstitutional, in death penalty cases, in water law
Water law
Water law is the field of law dealing with the ownership, control, and use of water as a resource. It is most closely related to property law, but has also become influenced by environmental law...
cases, in certain election
Election
An election is a formal decision-making process by which a population chooses an individual to hold public office. Elections have been the usual mechanism by which modern representative democracy operates since the 17th century. Elections may fill offices in the legislature, sometimes in the...
cases, in interlocutory appeals (i.e., appeals in the middle of a case) in certain matters of exceptional importance for which an ordinary appeal is not a sufficient remedy, and in certain other cases.http://www.courts.state.co.us/supct/supctindex.htm
Original jurisdiction and supervisory powers
The Colorado Supreme Court also has original jurisdiction over attorney discipline proceedings, over advisory questions presented by the state legislature or the state attorney general, and questions referred to it by the federal courts. Furthermore, the Colorado Supreme Court has general supervisory and budget authority over the judicial branch, the court rule making process, and the regulation of attorneys. Finally, the Colorado Supreme Court makes appointments to a number of boards and commissions, which often has the effect of providing a tie breaking member in situations where the other appointees are equally divided on partisan lines.Current members and appointment process
The Justices are appointed by the Governor of ColoradoGovernor of Colorado
The Governor of Colorado is the head of the executive branch of Colorado's government and the commander-in-chief of the state's military forces. The governor has a duty to enforce state laws, and the power to either approve or veto bills passed by the Colorado General Assembly, to convene the...
to serve a term of ten years after an initial two year term from a list of three finalist candidates nominated by a Blue Ribbon Commission established by the state constitution. At the end of each term, Justices face a retention election
Retention election
A judicial retention election is a periodic process whereby a judge is subject to a referendum held at the same time as a general election...
at which voters can choose to retain or not retain a Justice. If a Justice were not retained, the vacancy would be filled by the Governor at the expiration of their current term. No appellate judge has ever lost a retention election since the system was put in place in 1966. The Justices are not elected as partisan officials, although they are initially appointed by a partisan elected official.
An effort to change this system of retaining judges by initiative was rejected by voters in 2006, in part due to a campaign against the initiative which had strong support from both Democratic and Republican members of the Colorado Bar Association.
The Chief Justice is selected by the Justices from amongst themselves. As of July 1, 2006, the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court is paid $125,656 per year, and Associate Supreme Court Justices are paid $122,972 per year.
The current Colorado Supreme Court's membership, and the date each Justice was appointed, is as follows:
| Title | Name | Took office | Appointed by |
|---|---|---|---|
| Chief Justice | Roy Romer (D Democratic Party (United States) The Democratic Party is one of two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Republican Party. The party's socially liberal and progressive platform is largely considered center-left in the U.S. political spectrum. The party has the lengthiest record of continuous... ) |
||
| Associate Justice | Roy Romer (D) | ||
| Associate Justice | Roy Romer (D) | ||
| Associate Justice | Roy Romer (D) | ||
| Associate Justice | Bill Owens (R Republican Party (United States) The Republican Party is one of the two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Democratic Party. Founded by anti-slavery expansion activists in 1854, it is often called the GOP . The party's platform generally reflects American conservatism in the U.S... ) |
||
| Associate Justice | Bill Owens (R) | ||
| Associate Justice | Bill Ritter (D) |
Voting patterns
Decision making in cases before the Colorado Supreme Court is based upon individual legal issues and facts presented in the case and many cases are decided unanimously. But, Justices Eid and Coats tend to dissent more frequently than any of the other justices from decisions of the Court, often on "conservative" grounds, and together in a single opinion.http://washparkprophet.blogspot.com/2006/06/colorado-supreme-court-justice.html Justice Rice is the next most likely to cast a dissenting vote.http://www.coloradoconfidential.org/showDiary.do?diaryId=2448 Since Justice Eid has joined the Court, Justice Hobbs has held the proverbial "swing vote" on the Court. He has dissented only once in 2007, as of July 19, 2007, less than any other Justice on the Colorado Supreme Court. http://www.coloradoconfidential.org/showDiary.do?diaryId=2448 Justice Hobbs, along with Justice Bender, consistently vote in favor of the defendant in criminal cases and in favor of the plaintiff in civil cases.Justice Eid recuses herself from consideration of cases before the Court much more frequently than the other Justices, as of July 2007, because she represented the State in many of these cases in her position as Solicitor General of Colorado, prior to her appointment to the bench by former Governor Bill Owens. Her recusals are expected to grow less frequent once the cases she participated in work their way through the judicial process. Colorado Supreme Court cases often take two years or more to go from a filing of a petition for certiorari, to issuance of an opinion, and the solicitor general is involved in the process before a petition for certiorari is filed.
Court building
The State Supreme Court Building was a box-like structure raised off the ground by two square columns located on the east and west ends of the building. The only parts of the building actually on the ground level were the columns, which contained the entrances and elevators for the building.
The underside of the building featured a 150-foot mural designed by Colorado artist Angelo di Benedetto. It depicted several notable figures, including Hammurabi
Hammurabi
Hammurabi Hammurabi Hammurabi (Akkadian from Amorite ʻAmmurāpi, "the kinsman is a healer", from ʻAmmu, "paternal kinsman", and Rāpi, "healer"; (died c...
, Moses
Moses
Moses was, according to the Hebrew Bible and Qur'an, a religious leader, lawgiver and prophet, to whom the authorship of the Torah is traditionally attributed...
and Martin Luther King. The figures represented persons who are believed to have made significant contributions to law and justice. Directly beneath the mural was a large window embedded into the ground that looked down into the underground law library
Law library
A law library is a library designed to assist law students, attorneys, judges, and their law clerks and anyone else who finds it necessary to correctly determine the state of the law....
. Persons in the library were able to look up onto the mural via the ground level glass window. http://www.denverpost.com/search/ci_15011048. The mural was removed before the building was demolished, but its ultimate fate is uncertain. http://www.denverpost.com/search/ci_15370881
The courtroom itself was located on the fifth floor of the building (the ground level columns being the first floor). The entrance to the courtroom consisted of two large brass colored metallic doors with a textured design on them. The courtroom was dimly lit with two stain glass windows depicting previous Supreme Court Justices. The well of the courtroom was circular, with a podium for counsel in the center. The podium was a circular column that resembled a container of lipstick that, unlike the rest of the courtroom, was well lit. It faced a semicircular bench with seats for seven justices. Behind the bench was a large drape through which the Justices entered the courtroom.
The building was designed by John Rogers and RNL Design. See RNL Architecture
RNL Architecture
RNL Design is a multidisciplinary design firm offering services in architecture, interior design, planning and urban design, landscape architecture, lighting design and facilities master planning.- Firm History :...
.
The Ralph L. Carr Justice Center was designed by Fentress Architects
Fentress Architects
Fentress Architects is an international design studio known for sustainable and iconic public architecture. Founded in 1980 by Curtis W. Fentress, FAIA, RIBA, the firm is internationally recognized for innovative designs of international airports, national museums, convention centers, high-rise...
. When completed, it will consist of a four-story building containing the Supreme Court chambers and Court of Appeals courtrooms, as well as a twelve-story office tower containing the office of the State Attorney General as well as offices for other State agencies. http://www.statebillnews.com/2010/09/will-justice-center-unveiled-today-last-100-years/.
The new Justice Center is named for former Colorado Governor Ralph Lawrence Carr
Ralph Lawrence Carr
Ralph Lawrence Carr was the 29th Governor of Colorado from 1939 to 1943. Born in Rosita in Custer County, he grew up in Cripple Creek in Teller County and graduated from Cripple Creek High School in 1905. A Republican, Carr was committed to fiscal restraint in state government and opposed the...
, who served from 1939 to 1943 and was noted for his opposition to Japanese American internment
Japanese American internment
Japanese-American internment was the relocation and internment by the United States government in 1942 of approximately 110,000 Japanese Americans and Japanese who lived along the Pacific coast of the United States to camps called "War Relocation Camps," in the wake of Imperial Japan's attack on...
during World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
http://www.colorado.gov/dpa/doit/archives/govs/carr.html