Colorado Supreme Court

Colorado Supreme Court
Jurisdiction	United States
Composition method	Missouri plan with retention elections
Authorized by	Colorado State Constitution
Judge term length	10 years
Number of positions	7
Website	Official site
Chief Justice
Currently	Michael L. Bender

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 Justices.

Powers and duties

Appellate jurisdiction

The Court principally handles certiorari 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.[1]

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 Colorado 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.^[1] 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.^{[citation needed]}

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	Bender, Michael L.Michael L. Bender	01997-01-02 January 2, 1997	Roy Romer (D)
Associate Justice	Hobbs, Jr., Gregory J.Gregory J. Hobbs, Jr.	01996-04-18 April 18, 1996	Roy Romer (D)
Associate Justice	Martinez, Alex J.Alex J. Martinez	01996-09-12 September 12, 1996	Roy Romer (D)
Associate Justice	Rice, Nancy E.Nancy E. Rice	01998-08-05 August 5, 1998	Roy Romer (D)
Associate Justice	Coats, Nathan B.Nathan B. Coats	02000-04-24 April 24, 2000	Bill Owens (R)
Associate Justice	Eid, Allison H.Allison H. Eid	02006-02-15 February 15, 2006	Bill Owens (R)
Associate Justice	Márquez, MonicaMonica Márquez	02010-12-10 December 10, 2010	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.[2] Justice Rice is the next most likely to cast a dissenting vote.[3] 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. [4] 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

Colorado State Judicial Building

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.[5] Construction of the new Ralph L. Carr Justice Center began in September 2010 [6] and is scheduled to open in 2013. [7]

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. [8]. The mural was removed before the building was demolished, but its ultimate fate is uncertain. [9]

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. [10].

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 [11]

See also

• Courts of Colorado

References

1. ^ http://www.courts.state.co.us/supct/committees/supctnomincomm.htm

External links

• Colorado State Judicial Branch Homepage
• Justices of the Colorado Supreme Court

Coordinates: 39°44′17″N 104°59′12″W / 39.738136°N 104.986741°W / 39.738136; -104.986741