Today, we’re very thankful for the judge who filed a complaint with the top lawyer in the Colorado Judicial Department instead of the Colorado Commission on Judicial Discipline.
 
We’re also thankful to The Denver Post reporter who wrote this story.
 
Together, they’ve put a spotlight on problems in Colorado’s judicial branch. And it ain’t pretty.
 
Sexual harassment, false imprisonment and retaliation are just a part of the unseemly conduct surfacing out of Adams County. Judges in the county are actually afraid of other judges.
 
Imagine that. Some judges are actually realizing that judicial power in the hands of the wrong individual(s) is frightening. And they’re realizing Colorado’s system protects bad judges.
 
But unfortunately, the story has a troubling twist.
 
This story is being reported because the complaint was filed with a lawyer in the judicial department and not with the Colorado Commission on Judicial Discipline. The judicial department doesn’t want that to happen again. As the story relates:
 
“A department memo circulated among judges statewide in late October now requires all complaints by any judge regarding another judge be filed with the Colorado Commission on Judicial Discipline within the state Supreme Court.”
 
The reason for the memo is because all proceedings before the discipline commission are confidential and not public. If the judge had filed her complaint with the discipline commission, we wouldn’t have this story because it would all be covered up.
 
Colorado’s system protects bad judges. This case involves sexual harassment. Bill Cosby and Harvey Weinstein would never have been prosecuted if they were Colorado state court judges.
 
So this story shows why Colorado must make judicial discipline proceedings public, like they are in 34 states. The American Bar Association recommends public judicial discipline proceedings, and this story shows us why such proceedings must be public.
 
It undermines the public trust in the judiciary when the judicial branch covers up judicial misconduct.
 
And today we’re thankful that we have the right of free speech and can be a voice for change. But as the story clearly relates, judges retaliate.
 
Members of the legal community must come together and speak up for change.
 
If you haven’t done so already, please sign our petition to support public judicial discipline proceedings in Colorado.
 
Happy Thanksgiving!

Give us dirty laundry!
 
A Colorado attorney faces a complaint from attorney regulation due to a sexual relationship with a client. The lawyer has not been disciplined, but his name and the proceedings are public. It's in the Denver Post.
 
Compare that with judges. We know a judge was actually disciplined for a sexual relationship with a staff member. It was in the most recent judicial discipline report. But that judge’s name and the proceedings were kept private. So a reporter can’t write a story about the judge.
 
How does this make sense? Judges are public servants. Lawyers aren’t public servants. Yet it is the judges who are protected by an opaque system. Lawyers and judges in similar situations are treated very differently.
 
Why the difference? Shouldn’t judicial discipline proceedings be at least as transparent as lawyer discipline proceedings? Wouldn’t the public’s trust of the judiciary be increased if the allegations against judges were public?
 
Unfortunately, many lawyers don’t even understand the difference in attorney and judicial discipline proceedings. And if they do understand it, they’re afraid to speak up, fearing retaliation from judges.
 
This story in the Denver Post is a prime example of the unfairness in Colorado’s legal system. A judge in the same position as the attorney in the story is protected from public view. A judge is protected from this sort of story being written about the judge.
 
Even when the judge is disciplined, it is kept from public view. Again, it’s all documented (without any names or specific information) in the most recent report from the discipline commission.
 
Colorado needs to stop covering up judicial misconduct.
 
If you haven’t already, please sign our petition. We have more than 800 signatures, but we need more. Legislators are reluctant to make judicial discipline proceedings public. Why?
 
Because under the dome, legislators like to give the judicial lobbyists what they want, even when it’s at the expense of their constituents. Your signature can make a difference. It really can.

​The nominees for the vacant seat on the Colorado Supreme Court have been named. One of the 3 nominees will replace Justice Coates who retires in January. A county court judge job in Arapahoe County is also being filled.
 
We don’t know how many applicants applied, or who those applicants were, because the judicial nomination process is not transparent.
 
If you know any of the nominees, or have an opinion, you’re encouraged to email the governor at [email protected] using the subject line “Colorado Supreme Court vacancy” or “Arapahoe County Court vacancy.”
 
The nominees for the Colorado Supreme Court are:
 
Maria Berkenkotter – currently a professional mediator, or arbiter, with Judicial Arbiter Group in Denver. She’s also a “judicial coach” for the Colorado Judicial Department, whatever that means. Previously, she was a district court judge for the 20th Judicial District (Boulder County). She was also an assistant attorney general in Colorado and worked as a lawyer at a law firm, Holmes and Starr, P.C. She received her college degree from Western Michigan University in 1984 and her law degree from DU in 1987.
 
Timothy Macdonald – currently a lawyer at Arnold & Porter, an international law firm. He specializes in civil litigation. Previously, he was a law clerk for Judge Emilio Garza on the 5th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals. He received his college degree from Miami University in 1992 and his law degree from the University of Michigan in 1996.
 
Andrea Wang – currently an assistant U.S. attorney in Colorado where she focuses on civil litigation where the government is the plaintiff. Previously, she worked as a lawyer for Davis, Graham & Stubbs, a large Denver law firm with international connections. She also clerked for former Chief Justice Mary Mullarkey on the Colorado Supreme Court. She received her college degree from McGill University (Canada) in 1994 and her law degree from CU in 2001.

The nominees for the Arapahoe County Court position are:
 
Melina Hernandez – currently a part-time magistrate in Denver Juvenile Court and a bilingual family court facilitator in Denver District Court. Previously, she was a domestic law clerk for Judge William Hood in Denver before he was appointed to the Colorado Supreme Court. She also was a research fellow for Judge Christopher Cross in the 18th Judicial District (Arapahoe, Elbert, Lincoln and Douglas counties). She was also a fellow for the DU group Institute for the Advancement of the American Legal System. She received her college degree from CU in 2007 and her law degree from DU in 2011.
 
Phelicia Kossie-Butler – currently a county court magistrate in the 17th Judicial District (Adams and Broomfield counties). Previously, she worked as a lawyer for Bayer & Carey, an insurance defense firm in Denver, and her own firm. She worked as a public defender from 2003 to 2011. She received her college degree from Southern Methodist University (Texas) in 2000 and her law degree form St. Mary’s University (Texas) in 2003.
 
Joseph Whitfield – currently a deputy district attorney in the 18th Judicial District (Arapahoe, Elbert, Lincoln and Douglas counties). He received his college degree from Occidental College (California) in 1998 and his law degree from Washington University (St. Louis, Missouri) in 2010.