Members of the Colorado Supreme Court for months privately raised objections and lobbied lawmakers to delay a bill that would revamp the state’s process for disciplining judges — all while publicly proclaiming their support for reform, The Denver Post found.
The behind-the-scenes effort to influence the bill and the state Supreme Court’s months-long back-and-forth with the Colorado Commission on Judicial Discipline was detailed to The Post by lawmakers and in 713 pages of documents and emails obtained this week under the state’s public record laws. “I took the meeting because I am interested to hear their perspective, but I will state I came away from that meeting surprised over their raising concerns on a draft of a policy I had not yet had the opportunity to review,” she said, adding she’d normally delay meetings with stakeholders until a bill is introduced or until she’d had a chance to talk with the bill’s sponsors, but made an exception in this case in light of who requested the meeting.
Personal lobbying by members of the state’s highest court is highly unusual, but does not violate the justices’ ethical boundaries, said David Kaplan, past chair of the Commission of Judicial Performance. “Chief Justice Boatright, the decisions made by your predecessors are fixtures of history at this point,” commission vice-chair and District Court Judge David Prince wrote in a July 23 letter. “However, you now chart the course of interactions with the Commission for the Department and your staff… the Commission implores you to reconsider the overall approach to the Commission pursued to date this year.
In an email Boatright sent to judges Wednesday, obtained by The Post through an open records request, Boatright reiterated his belief that some of the reform efforts should be put on hold until, which is expected to happen within a few months.
Source: Law Daily Report (lawdailyreport.net)
Nah, ethics rules sound better
The Colorado Court system is a living example of hypocrisy. They haven't seen a law that they respect unless media attention is on them or the rich & powerful are involved.
Sounds like these judges are doing a wonderful job of illustrating exactly why the laws they're objecting to are needed.
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