roadblocks to judicial reform in colorado

​2021: We already have a problem.
 
And State Senator Bob Gardner is it. Law Week Colorado interviewed Gardner regarding the state auditor’s troubling report about the State Court Administrator’s Office. Gardner said he “wouldn’t look for any legislation” in response to the office’s malfeasance because “we are pretty limited in what we can do.” 
 
The state court administrator, however, is a legislative creation. C.R.S. § 13-3-101.
 
It was the legislature that decided to create an unelected state court administrator who’s responsible for millions and millions of dollars. And as the latest legislative audit found, the administrator did not manage the money well.
 
More troubling, the audit found the administrator was doling out contracts based on favoritism as opposed to opening the contracts to a bidding process. It reeks of injustice. And it’s all happening at the heart of Colorado’s judicial branch.
 
The legislature also allowed the state court administrator to pick what judges determine cases. So the same person who’s awarding contracts to favored individuals is the person deciding what judges determine important issues. How do you think that works out?
 
And when problems are found and reported by an agency of the state, a state senator claims there’s not much he can do. It’s absurd.
 
The state court administrator repeatedly sows the seeds of doubt in many judicial opinions. It’s usually noted in the opinion with an asterisk that explains that a judge or two were specifically assigned to hear the case. It’s hard to think of a more untrustworthy process to dispense justice.
 
The legislature created the framework that enables everything the state court administrator does. Sen. Gardner is not being truthful when he claims the legislature can’t do much.
 
The legislature is responsible for the entire mess. And Gardner knows it. But the system is working for him. So he incredulously claims there’s little the legislature can do.
 
At a January 25, 2019, joint Judiciary hearing, Gardner explained how knowing the state court administrator benefitted him. He related how he was able to call the administrator to get a different judge assigned to one of his friend’s cases. Gardner used his power inappropriately.
 
Irresponsible and self-serving legislators like Gardner are the reason why judicial reforms are so elusive in Colorado.
 
More accountability, transparency and public oversight could be brought to the state court administrator’s office by making the administrator an elected position. The legislature has the power to make that change.
 
The legislature could require the administrator to go through a bidding process before awarding contracts.
 
The legislature could remove the state court administrator’s ability to assign certain judges to certain cases and insist that the cases be assigned randomly.
 
There’s SO much the legislature could do to address the findings of the recent, damning audit done by the state auditor. After all, why was the audit even done if the legislature can’t do anything to solve the problems?
 
Gardner doesn’t want anything to be done because the system works for him. He’s betraying his constituents and he’s betraying you.
 
And unfortunately, legislators behave like they’re Wal-Mart clerks. You know how you have to get the Electronics clerk, and only the Electronics clerk, to unlock what you want? Well, that’s the way legislators treat the judiciary at the capitol.
 
Gardner is the ranking Republican on the Senate Judiciary Committee.
 
Gardner is an Electronics clerk who refuses to unlock the device so judicial reform can be had. Other legislators foolishly believe Gardner, and only Gardner, can unlock the judicial reform device. And he’s a bully.
 
As the Law Week article quoted, Gardner said, “I wouldn’t look for any legislation, and I would expect any legislation that would somehow call for oversight of the judicial department to be resisted mightily.”
 
Gardner didn’t clarify who would mightily resist the legislation, but most certainly it would be Gardner himself who leads the resistance.
 
Bob Gardner is a menace to the American form of democracy. He believes the judiciary is so independent that it’s not subject to any checks and balances.
 
He chooses to enable the state court administrator’s office to undermine the trust the public should have in the judicial branch. He chooses to support rogue judges who don’t comply with the Code of Judicial Conduct. And he makes those choices because they benefit him.
 
Unfortunately, he’s not term-limited until 2024. And he’s going to do everything he can to ensure there is no judicial reform before he leaves.
 
To think this is a party-line issue, however, is incorrect. Democrats are just as resistant to judicial reform as the Republicans under Gardner. Sen. Pete Lee (D), also from Colorado Springs, is in lock step with Sen. Gardner (R) in his resistance to a fair and accountable judicial branch. Lee is the chair of the Senate Judiciary Committee.

Both Lee and Gardner are lawyers. As lawyers, they took an oath to use their knowledge to improve the legal system. As public servants, they are to use their power to help their constituents and not themselves. Yet they choose to use their power to maintain the status quo.
 
It was encouraging that the state auditor called out the State Court Administrator’s Office for some of its failings. That is a big step in the right direction. Kudos to the state auditor.
 
But with legislators like Gardner and Lee in power, nothing will come of it. They don’t give a damn about justice or you.

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