State of the Judiciary February 18, 2021 Chief Justice Brian D
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State of the Judiciary February 18, 2021 Chief Justice Brian D. Boatright Speaker Garnett, Senate President Garcia, distinguished members of the House of Representatives and Senate: This past week, I reached out to a longtime employee of the judicial branch. I asked her how she was doing. She is normally very upbeat and positive. That day, she was very direct. She responded that—for the first time in her twenty-year career—she was not proud to tell people that she works for the judicial branch. That broke my heart. But it also steeled my desire for answers. I am here to tell her, the legislature, the governor, every member of the branch, and most importantly, the citizens of Colorado, that we are going to get this right: Where there was wrongdoing, we will address it. Where there was an abuse of power, we will stop it. Where our policies are deficient, we will change them. We want to know the truth. We recognize that the branch faces a crisis of confidence in its leadership. We know that investigating and addressing the allegations within the branch will be a difficult process, but we are committed to seeing it 1 through to the end: This will result in a culture change, and we are going to make sure that happens. When I say “we,” I mean every member of the supreme court. While we frequently disagree on the difficult legal issues that come before us, we are united and speak with one voice when we declare our commitment to this cause. When I say “we,” I also mean our State Court Administrator, Steven Vasconcellos, who started in that role shortly after the first round of allegations came to light eighteen months ago. When I say “we,” I include the leadership team at the State Court Administrator’s Office. When I say “we,” I also mean the chief judges, court executives, and chief probation officers of courts across the state—all leadership in the branch is committed to ensuring a safe and healthy work environment. With the flood of news in the past couple weeks, it is easy to lose sight of the fact that we have so many dedicated public servants in the branch who care deeply about the citizens we serve. I know that every member of the branch wants answers. I know that every member of the branch wants answers and wants to get this right—everyone at the State Court Administrator’s Office, every judicial officer, every clerk, and every probation officer. Even though they may not be proud of me at this time, I want to say here that I am proud of 2 each and every one of them. In the end, I want them all to be proud to say that they work for the judicial branch. We have all heard the claims about the training contract. The document which has been referred to as a memo has been released, and that has been the subject of much conjecture. I am not here to comment on any of the claims and conjecture—except to say that the branch takes allegations of misconduct by judges and staff extremely seriously. The conduct described in the allegations, if accurate, is unacceptable and cannot and will not be tolerated. We need to know if human resources investigated any of these allegations, and if they did, what action was taken. And if they didn’t investigate the allegations, we need to know why. What we need, first and foremost, is the truth. Therefore, I have requested a full investigation of the circumstances surrounding the contract and an investigation into each and every incident listed in the document. I have asked the Governor, the Attorney General, as well as leaders of both parties in the House and Senate to provide representatives for an independent panel that will draft a request for proposal to first define the scope of the investigation. Per our procurement regulations (we are going to do this “by the book”), that request stays open for thirty days. Then, the 3 panel will meet again and select the independent counsel or counsels from those who submitted proposals. That person or firm will then conduct the investigation. We hope to announce the members of the panel this week. With this procedure, the judicial branch will not have any say in the selection process. We will cooperate with the investigation and will publicly release the results. We also hope that the investigation will provide specific recommendations for changes that we can make to ensure a safe and healthy work environment for all members of the branch going forward. All we ask is that the independent counsel conduct a thorough, efficient, and fair investigation. Until the investigation is completed and any recommendations are implemented, I am to be made aware of any new allegations of misconduct and kept apprised of the progress of any investigation on a weekly basis. I said that each and every justice is committed to reform. I would like to tell you briefly who we are—not who we are academically or professionally, but who we are as people. Since we do everything in order of seniority, I will start with the most senior. First, Justice Monica Márquez. Justice Márquez’s roots lie in the San Luis Valley, where the Márquez family has farmed and ranched for several 4 generations. She grew up on the western slope and graduated from Grand Junction High School. After college, she served in the Jesuit Volunteer Corps, working with inner city youth. Her teaching and community organizing experiences in underserved communities inspired her to go to law school. Throughout her career, she has worked tirelessly to promote diversity in the legal profession, and she engages regularly with diverse youth, law students, attorneys, and judges to build an inclusive legal community in Colorado. Second, Justice Will Hood. Justice Hood and his wife, Diana, moved to Denver more than thirty years ago with a desire to put their new law degrees to use for the public good. Will has spent twenty-four years as a government lawyer or judge. When he was last in private practice, he was the firm’s pro bono coordinator. Diana has spent twenty-nine years working at Legal Aid or running a non-profit that helps abused children. They are most proud of their two adult daughters, one of whom is a legislative aide combatting climate change and one of whom is training to become a wildlife rehabilitation specialist. Third, Justice Richard Gabriel. Justice Gabriel grew up in a working- class family in Brooklyn, New York. He is the first generation in his family 5 to go to college. Because he was able to attend college and then law school only with the help of significant financial aid, he has devoted his over thirty-year career to “paying it forward,” mentoring countless students and young lawyers, educating the public about the judiciary through the Our Courts civic education program, and promoting professionalism and civility among the bench and bar. Additionally, you can’t introduce Rich without noting that he has played the trumpet professionally for almost fifty years. Fourth, Justice Melissa Hart. Justice Hart grew up in the Park Hill neighborhood in Denver, where she and her family still live today. She was appointed to the court in 2017. For eighteen years before joining the court she taught at the University of Colorado Law School, where her scholarship, teaching, and public service work were focused on anti- discrimination and access to justice. She has carried those commitments with her to the bench. In 2018, Justice Hart helped launch Legal Entrepreneurs for Justice, an affordable law practice incubator committed to training lawyers who will serve low- and moderate-income Coloradans. She had continued to teach at CU and now also teaches at DU, where her class this semester focuses on access to justice issues. 6 Fifth, Justice Carlos Samour. Justice Samour was born and raised in El Salvador. When he was thirteen, political unrest forced him, his parents, and his eleven siblings to flee the country. After receiving a death threat, the family packed what they could in their van and left El Salvador forever. With visas in hand, they made the five-day journey to Colorado. When they arrived, they could not speak English, were in culture shock, and only had what they packed in their van. Today, Carlos volunteers at Centro San Juan Diego as part of the Our Court program, teaching citizenship classes to Spanish-speaking immigrants, just like the classes he and his family took when they became citizens. Before joining the court, Carlos was a district court judge in Arapahoe County, where he presided over the Aurora Theater shooting trial. Finally, Justice Maria Berkenkotter. Justice Berkenkotter is our newest member of the court. As my first official act as Chief Justice, I had the pleasure of swearing in Maria on January 4. She is a former trial court judge and chief judge in the 20th Judicial District, who has spent years working with stakeholders to develop innovative programs that address public safety, mental health, and substance abuse issues, as well as to improve court operations. Maria has two daughters who are also 7 interested in the law—one was sworn in to the bar in the fall of 2019, and one will start law school this fall. At the risk of appearing selfish, I would also like to tell you who I am, since I have given you my personal commitment to lead this culture change.