Colorado Supreme Court

Holtzman Halts

I'm Not Don Cheadle or Judy Collins, But Still...

A Lack of Supporting Evidence

Colorado gets tough on deadbeat parents--but what if they happen to be lawyers?

Murderers' Row

Until two years ago, Colorado juries weighed whether men deserved to die. Now judges decide their fate.

Off Limits

Gas pains

Follow That Story

Back at the Ranch

Best Decision by the Colorado Supreme Court

Jurors Can Ask Questions

The Eye of the Beholder

Defining the limits of obscenity.

Pop Quiz

Heard Words
December 4, 2003

Wake-Up Call: Ward without end, and other long-running controversies

News is busting out all over today -- and not just in Denver District Judge Larry Naves's courtroom, where Ward Churchill may take the stand in his case against the University of Colorado, now starting week two. Or on the Auraria campus, where veteran newshounds of the Rocky Mountain News will un ... More >>

The Waiting Game

Justice will be served in the 18th Judicial District -- eventually.

Judge and Jury

With several controversial cases coming up, Colorado's death-penalty decision moves to a three-judge panel.

Kink in the System

Commerce City is taking the Enclave BDSM club all the way to the Supreme Court.

Who's Sorry Now?

A look at the revolving door of term limits.

Brownie to the Rescue

You look marvelous!

Beyond Contempt

The child-protection system wants to shut down family-rights activist Suzanne Shell. And vice versa.

Shrine On

You must remember this.

Divorced From Reality

A Colorado Supreme Court commission says this state's justice system could do more to help families -- starting with the parents.

An Ugly Picture

The Colorado Supreme Court gets involved in a child-pornography case.

Good Grieve!

Overloaded with complaints about attorneys, the Colorado Supreme Court decides to change the rules.

Adding Insult to Injury

Pulling the plug on attorney advertising could get somebody sued -- including the State of Colorado

Off Limits

Pulling the plug on attorney advertising could get somebody sued -- including the State of Colorado

Guardian Anger

The state Supreme Court orders children's guardians to actually represent their clients.

GIVE ME A BREAK

The state Supreme Court orders children's guardians to actually represent their clients.

OFF LIMITS

The state Supreme Court orders children's guardians to actually represent their clients.

THE CLIENT

The state Supreme Court orders children's guardians to actually represent their clients.

A MOUNTAIN OF TROUBLE

FOR YEARS THE LEGAL BATTLE OVER THE TAYLOR RANCH PITTED THE LOCALS AGAINST A WEALTHY OUTSIDER. NOW THEY'RE FIGHTING THE STATE--AND EACH OTHER.THIS LAND IS MY LAND FOR SALE: 77,000 ACRES. COLORFUL HISTORY. EASY ACCESS TO LOCAL RANGE WAR. INQUIRE WITHIN.

DA Carol Chambers: Avoiding the inevitable

Carol Chambers. As Westword's Alan Prendergast has reported in a series of blogs, Arapahoe County District Judge Carlos Samour Jr. has ordered district attorney Carol Chambers to appoint a special prosecutor in the case of Julie Stene, who says she was sexually assaulted after a 2000 high school gr ... More >>

Think you've got a right to court records? Think again...

​Over the past few years, the ability of journalists (or any private citizen, for that matter) to access various forms of public records in Colorado has been greatly diminished, from police reports to divorce filings. The loss of access to court records has been particularly aggravating, a bi ... More >>

A creche course in why the Nativity gets to stay on the steps of Denver's City Hall

​Over the past few years, the ability of journalists (or any private citizen, for that matter) to access various forms of public records in Colorado has been greatly diminished, from police reports to divorce filings. The loss of access to court records has been particularly aggravating, a bi ... More >>

On-stage actors can't smoke 'em if they got 'em, says Colorado Supreme Court

A Flickr photoMaybe it'd be best if you thespians didn't inhale.​Update, 4:09 p.m.: Attorney Bruce Jones, who represented Curious Theatre in this case, has just shared his comments on the opinion. Look below to read his views. Since 2006, the Colorado Clear Indoor Air Act has extended to acto ... More >>

Westword pot humor makes it into Supreme Court filing in Stacy Clendenin medical marijuana case

Hope they've got a sense of humor.​At last -- a defense against readers who aren't wowed by Westword's marijuana jokes: An article filled with them is cited in a petition for Writ of Certiorari with the Colorado Supreme Court filed yesterday in the case of medical marijuana caregiver Stacy Cle ... More >>

Smoking ban on stage: The Supreme Court declines to hear Curious Theatre's case

A Flickr photoYou won't be seeing these on the Curious Theatre stage.​In December, we told you about the Colorado Supreme Court's ruling against the Curious Theatre, which had argued that extending the state's smoking ban to the stage improperly infringed on creative expression. Curious appea ... More >>

Bare nipples at Boulder city council meeting: David Lane takes on Seth Brigham's cause

Seth Brigham being arrested.​To protest an ordinance that might have criminalized women who publicly bare their nipples, Boulder's Seth Brigham stripped to his boxers at a February city council meeting -- and was promptly arrested. Four months later, David Lane, fresh from winning a $5.9 mill ... More >>

Scott McInnis agrees to repay foundation, but he still plagiarized

Scott McInnis​It's been a good week to make fun of Dan Maes. But this whole bikes equal communism, let's take away jobs circus might not have mattered had it not been for his opponent's colossal stumble in the polls. Scott McInnis, as you will recall, plagiarized a report on water issues for w ... More >>

Clear the Bench Colorado poll numbers show voter discontent with Colorado justices

​Clear the Bench's Matt Arnold says an overwhelming majority of Colorado voters will not be reelecting four Colorado Supreme Court Justices this fall, and he has the poll numbers to prove it. A phone survey of roughly 900 Colorado voters -- relatively evenly balanced between age, sex and poli ... More >>

Monica Marquez Supreme Court selection disappoints Clear the Bench's Matt Arnold

Monica Marquez.​Clear the Bench Colorado's Matt Arnold -- the man behind an effort to vote out three current Supreme Court justices for allegedly unconstitutional rulings -- was far less than thrilled by Governor Bill Ritter's appointment of Monica Marquez to the court. Indeed, he says that i ... More >>

Denver voter guide helps to clear the bench mystery: Kenny Be's Worst-Case Scenario

Jeering the judges to help cheer the bench.​ After the election-day stress of choosing the least objectionable candidate and making sense of the Amendments, voters are asked to decide upon the retention of a mysterious list of unknown State, District and County judges. In an effort to help edu ... More >>

Colorado Ethics Watch case about political ads' "magic words" heads to state supreme court

Luis Toro.​Colorado Ethics Watch is on a roll. Back in September, the organization successfully argued that Clear the Bench Colorado, which wanted to throw the bums off the Colorado Supreme Court, should have registered as a political committee subject to donation limits rather than an issues ... More >>

Medical marijuana: Petition asks CO Supreme Court to rule state's MMJ laws unconstitutional

​Governor Bill Ritter signed Colorado's medical marijuana bills into law this past June -- and ever since then, advocacy organizations such as the Cannabis Therapy Institute have challenged many of the legislation's provisions and the regulations being written for them. Now, such arguments hav ... More >>

Medical marijuana: Colorado Supreme Court rejects petition challenging MMJ laws

​That was fast. Last week, MMJ advocates represented by attorney Andrew Reid petitioned the Colorado Supreme Court to rule on the constitutionality of the state's medical marijuana laws. But the Supremes have already rejected this bid, forcing Reid and his clients to take a much slower path t ... More >>

ACLU objects to Ken Buck's comments after $295K Operations Numbers Game settlement

Ken Buck.​In 2008, the Weld County Sheriff's Office raided Amalia's Translation and Tax Service in Greeley as part of Operations Numbers Game, an effort to bust identity thieves who were also undocumented immigrants. The ACLU filed suit over the action -- and this week, Weld District Attorney/ ... More >>

Marijuana advocate seeks $ for HB 1284 suit, chides lawyers who pledged to sue but didn't

Kathleen Chippi.​Kathleen Chippi is among the area's most active medical marijuana activists; see a video of her below going after both current Denver mayoral candidate Chris Romer and Colorado Attorney General John Suthers. Her latest mission: to raise funds for a lawsuit to stop official imp ... More >>

Ward Churchill case heading to Colorado Supreme Court: Not about 9/11, attorney says

Ward Churchill.​Last November, when the Colorado Court of Appeals rejected ex-CU prof Ward Churchill's bid to get his old job back, attorney David Lane admitted that "the odds of either the Colorado Supreme Court or the U.S. Supreme Court looking at the case are slim." But he and Churchill hav ... More >>

Reader: Ward Churchill's firing deserved even if he didn't compare 9/11 victims to a Nazi

Churchill.​Yesterday, attorney David Lane celebrated the Colorado Supreme Court's decision to consider three arguments in his bid to get ex-professor Ward Churchill reinstated at CU-Boulder. One less-than-sympathetic reader added a fourth.

Despite challenge, Regulate Marijuana Like Alcohol Act of 2012 keeps its name (for now)

Doug Bruce​As we mentioned earlier this week, Colorado Springs conservative Douglas Bruce had petitioned the Colorado Title Board to change the title of the Regulate Marijuana Like Alcohol Act of 2012 to include TABOR-related tax language. The hearing on that challenge was yesterday morning, b ... More >>

Medical marijuana: CO Supreme Court asked to review Jason Beinor case about MMJ rights

​At first, medical marijuana patient Jason Beinor thought losing a court fight over unemployment benefits withheld from him because he failed a drug test was no big deal. But it now looks as if his case could hold the key to cementing MMJ rights in Colorado -- or not. Which is why Beinor's law ... More >>

Colorado Supreme Court: Neglected and abused kids shouldn't trust their lawyers

Flickr​One of the most basic principles of the American legal system is the guarantee that what you tell the attorney representing you is confidential and can't be disclosed without your permission. That's an absolute. Unless, the Colorado Supreme Court ruled this week, you happen to be a vuln ... More >>

Ernest House Jr. back at the Colorado Commission of Indian Affairs

Ernest House Jr.​It turned out to be tempest in a teepee. Two months after Lieutenant Governor Joe Garcia removed Carol Harvey as executive secretary of the Colorado Commission or Indian Affairs, which his office oversees, Ernest House Jr. has been ratified as the new executive secretary. An ... More >>

Police misconduct records and more to be off-limits under two new bills

Mark Barker.​Despite the obligatory squawks from lawmakers about the need for transparency in government, few of their actions are quite as transparent as their efforts to shield internal bureaucratic processes from outside scrutiny. For a demonstration of this principle in action, look no fur ... More >>