COLORADO JUDICIAL INSTITUTE

Volume 10, Issue 4 4th Quarter, 2014

In this Issue: “Know Your Judge” Also Means

CJI Inaugural Education Summit —Page 2 “Know the Process” By Cynthia Ophaug-Johansen, CJI Staff CJI Continues Scholarships to Family Law Institute It’s election season in Colorado. You “The key is that the commissioners are —Page 2 now know more about the candidates on citizen volunteers,” says Kent Wagner, your ballot than you do about most of Executive Director of the Office of Honorees for 2014 Judicial Excellence for Colorado Dinner your family members. And, as an Judicial Performance Evaluation. —Page 3 informed Coloradan, you’ve researched “Anyone can submit an application from the judges up for retention in your district IAALS Pilot Program Reduces our website.” Cost of Civil Cases either in your blue book or by reading —Page 4 their judicial performance evaluations Commissioners review information from:

In the News... online. You are as informed as you could  Courtroom observations —Page 4 possibly be. Or are you?  Self-evaluations written by the judges  Decisions/opinions CJI Judicial Education Fund Has Strong 2014 This year it’s not just the judges that are  Case management statistics for the —Page 5 under attack but the judicial performance judges evaluation process itself. Misinformation Legal Resource Day Sponsored  Interviews with a representative of the by CJI about how judges are evaluated and who District Attorney and a representative —Page 5 evaluates them hurts the credibility of of the Public Defender, if requested Colorado’s merit selection system. Reserve Your Seats Now!  Interviews with judges and other CJI Judicial Excellence for interested persons Colorado’s judicial performance Colorado Dinner  Public hearings —Page 6 evaluations are overseen by state and  Written information and district level commissions under the CJI Executive Committee: documentation submitted to the direction of the state’s Office of Judicial K.C. Groves—Chair Commission by interested persons Randell Bartlett—Vice Chair Performance Evaluation. The Chief  Survey report results compiled from Peter D. Willis—Vice Chair Justice, the Governor, the President of the David A. Hall—Treasurer attorneys (including prosecutors, Senate and the Speaker of the House Thomas R. O'Donnell—Secretary public defenders, and private appoint the state and local commission attorneys), non-attorneys (including CJI Staff: members to four-year terms. Each jurors, litigants, law enforcement Executive Director commission is a 10-member body Amy Ostheimer personnel, court employees, court comprised of four attorneys and six non- Director of Marketing and Administration interpreters, probation office attorneys. Cynthia Ophaug-Johansen employees, social service department

Executive Assistant employees, and crime victims), and Laura Rothenberg The state commission is responsible for other judges. the evaluation of court of appeals judges

and supreme court justices. Each of The surveys are conducted by Research Judicial Colorado’s 22 judicial districts has its & Polling, Inc., an independent research Institute own commission that conducts company. Using court data and data from evaluations of the district’s county and P.O Box 118 Attorney Registration, the Colorado Broomfield, CO 80038-0118 district judges. (303) 766-7501 District Attorneys’ Council, and State www.ColoradoJudicialInstitute.org Continued Under “Judicial Performance Evaluations” on Page 6 CJI Hosts Inaugural Educational Summit: The Judges’ Perspective; Colorado’s Fair and Impartial Judicial System By Amy Ostheimer, CJI Executive Director With the objective of discussing the role of politics in selecting judges, either by the election system or by the merit selection system, CJI invited knowledgeable and experienced speakers to present the facts. The speakers were: Colorado Supreme Court Chief Justice Nancy E. Rice; Bert Brandenburg, Executive Director, Justice at Stake; Chief Judge Janice Davidson (ret.), Senior Advisor, Institute for the Advancement of the American Legal System; Judge Russell Carparelli (ret.), Executive Director, American Judicature Society; Colorado Court of Appeals Judge Richard L. Gabriel and District Court Judge David Shakes, 4th Judicial District. Court of Appeals Judge Rich Gabriel listens The program was held the morning of September 12, as Colorado Supreme Court Chief Justice 2014, in the prestigious Ralph L. Carr Justice Center, Nancy Rice speaks during the inaugural CJI Education Summit. providing an opportunity for the attendees to tour the award winning Learning Center and the Supreme Court Library. Following breakfast, the participants gathered in organizations keep a watchful eye and stand guard to the Supreme Court Courtroom for the program. protect Colorado’s judicial system.

The audience quickly learned of the advantages of a merit A “Judges’ Panel,” facilitated by Judge Russell Carparelli, selection system, a system adopted by the people of ran the gamut of “why did you apply to become a judge” Colorado in 1966, and the potential biases and impartiality to “how do you decide cases?” There was a take away for that come with the election of judges. Bert Brandenburg all members of the diverse audience. Be it a better provided a national update and voiced some concern understanding of Colorado’s merit selection/retention regarding the vulnerability of the merit selection system. system and its vulnerabilities, the difference between trial Judge Davidson, on the other hand, was more optimistic in judges and appellate court judges, getting better her historical overview of Colorado’s judicial system. In acquainted with those who interpret the law or filling the spite of the various viewpoints regarding the fragility of need for additional CLE credits, the general consensus was Colorado’s merit selection system, CJI and its partner the same. It was a superb program.

CJI Offers Scholarships to CO Bar Annual Family Law Institute Mary Dilworth, Marketing Manager, Colorado Bar Association CLE There were more than 450 attendees at the 2014 Family (ret.), Hon. Emily Anderson, and Magistrate Judith Law Institute. It was presented by the Colorado Bar Goeke talked on “The Judicial Experience of ENA (Early Association Family Law Section, in cooperation with the Neutral Assessment).” Hon. Angela Arkin, Magistrate CBA Juvenile Law Section, Colorado Collaborative Elizabeth Brodsky, and Magistrate Clay Hurst served on Divorce Professionals; the Metropolitan Denver IDC; the the “Excelling in the Courtroom: Preparation, Colorado AFCC, and Colorado Bar Association CLE. A Presentation & Professionalism” panel, moderated by number of judges and magistrates spoke, including Hon. attorney Cyndy Ciancio. Victor Reyes on “The Interface Between Domestic Violence and Parental Responsibilities,” and the Hon. Gary Abrams, Executive Director of Colorado Bar Elizabeth Leith on “Unraveling Competence.” Association CLE, says, “The judges participating in the institute are absolutely vital to the success and quality of Two excellent judicial panels were offered as breakout the programming. Their contribution is invaluable.” sessions. Justice William Hood, Hon. Anne Mansfield 2 CJI Honors Three Outstanding Judges at Upcoming Judicial Excellence for Colorado Dinner By Amy Ostheimer, CJI Executive Director

On the evening of November 12, 2014, three jurists will be Judge Sabino E. Romano honored by the Colorado Judicial Institute (CJI) and will Adams County, 17th Judicial District receive CJI’s Judicial Excellence Award. CJI first recognized outstanding jurists in 2000 and has had the Judge Romano, a Colorado pleasure of honoring forty-four jurists for their exemplary native, engaged in private duty on the bench. This year the number will increase to practice from 1974 to 1983 forty-seven award recipients. when he was appointed County Court Magistrate The 12th Annual Judicial Excellence for Colorado Dinner in Arapahoe County. In takes place Wednesday, November 12, 2014, at Denver December of 1986, Judge Marriott City Center. Tickets are available on CJI’s Romano was appointed as website at www.ColoradoJudicialInstitute.org. This an Adams County Judge dinner benefits CJI’s Judicial Education Fund, Our Courts by Governor Richard and other CJI programs. Lamm and has served in that position for 28 years. He graduated from the University of Denver in 1971 with The 2014 CJI Judicial Excellence Award Recipients: degrees in Political Science and Geology, and was immediately accepted to the University of Denver Law Chief Judge Claude W. Appel School, graduating in 1973. 3rd Judicial District Judge Romano, known as one of the friendliest judges in Judge Appel was the 17th J.D., has handled the full scope of County Court appointed as a District cases, however, he exclusively handles civil cases. He is Judge in March 1986; he responsible for processing approximately 31,000 cases and served as a County Judge presides over 400 trials per year. from January 1985 to March 1986. Prior to his Magistrate Marianne M. Tims appointment as a judge, he 1st Judicial District was in private practice in Longmont, Colorado, then Prior to her swearing in in served as a Deputy Jefferson County in 2004, District Attorney in the Third Judicial District and had a Magistrate Tims was a private practice there. He received his B.A. degree from county attorney in both Northwestern University in Evanston, Illinois, in 1974 and Jefferson and Arapahoe his law degree from the University of Colorado in 1978. counties handling child protection cases. As Chief Judge Appel started the Huerfano County Teen Court Magistrate, she administers program in 1995, operating out of both District and six other magistrates and County Courts and in two local high schools for 16 years. staff. Magistrate Tims is in Currently, he presides over two alternative drug courts in charge of coordinating not only the magistrate divisions, both Huerfano and Las Animas counties. These programs but the interplay between the magistrate divisions and the are examples of how Judge Appel has positively affected district court divisions that also hear the juvenile and his district, both in and outside of his courtroom. domestic cases coming out of the magistrate divisions. Magistrate Tims will be the first to tell you that her life’s work is protecting children and trying to resolve family issues. 3 CO Pilot Project Reduces Cost, Length of Civil Cases By Zachary Willis, Communications Manager, Institute for the Advancement of the American Legal System

IAALS, the Institute for the Advancement of the American pretrial process proportionately to the dispute. Legal System at the University of Denver, has released its  The data suggest that CAPP reduces motions practice. final findings on the Colorado Civil Access Pilot Project  Attorneys with discovery in their CAPP cases (CAPP), the state’s experiment with new court procedures indicated that the discovery conducted was intended to secure a just, speedy, and inexpensive proportionate to the needs of the case and resulted in determination of every action. Momentum to improve the effective information exchange. process has been building on a national scale, and  The CAPP process is not tilted in favor of either Colorado is among the first states to take action. plaintiffs or defendants.

The IAALS report, Momentum for Change: The Impact of The research also highlights a number of persistent the Colorado Civil Access Pilot Project, is based on two challenges in creating new rules, including determining years of data collection and empirical evaluation. the appropriate basis for differentiating cases, the logistics of how each part of the process relates to the other aspects, In 2012, five Colorado district courts began testing the and issues of compliance and enforcement. new CAPP pretrial procedures for pleading, disclosure, discovery, and case management in business cases. IAALS “As a judge who was part of the CAPP effort, my undertook the evaluation at the request of the Colorado experience in applying the CAPP rules to real-life cases Supreme Court. As a whole, CAPP has succeeded in with real-life issues is reflected in this report,” said Judge achieving many of its intended effects: Robert L. McGahey of the 2nd Judicial District Court in  The CAPP rules reduce the time to resolution over Denver. “As I worked through those cases, I found that, both of Colorado’s existing procedures (standard and generally, CAPP works like it’s supposed to. While there simplified). The rules increase the probability of an are parts of CAPP that need tweaking, the core goals of earlier resolution by 69 percent over the standard the project—fairness, keeping costs under control, and procedure. quicker resolution of cases—appear to have been met.”  Four out of five attorneys in CAPP cases indicated that the time it took to reach resolution in a case was Other pilot projects and rules changes are being proportionate, and three out of four agreed that the implemented all over the country, in both state and federal costs to get there were also proportionate. courts. IAALS’ evaluation provides a rich source of  CAPP cases benefit from management by a single concrete information for these jurisdictions and all judge, who sees the case much earlier and twice as decision-makers as they strive to improve the legal often. process.  Surveyed judges consider the initial case management conference to be the most useful tool in shaping the Download the report on CAPP at .www.iaals.du.edu.

Congratulations Ellie Greenberg!

The Colorado Women’s Chamber of Commerce honored CJI Ex Officio Board Member Ellie Greenberg with its prestigious Lifetime Achievement Award. The award recognizes the efforts of a woman who has demonstrated significant leadership and has made an impact on women in her community.

4 CJI’s Judicial Education Fund Benefits 400 in 2014 By Amy Ostheimer, CJI Executive Director

With eight weeks remaining in the 2014 calendar year, CJI receives private funding. Ninety-nine percent of the over 400 Colorado court employees received the benefit of financial support for the Judicial Education Fund comes scholarships from CJI’s Judicial Education Fund, totaling from the net proceeds from the annual Judicial Excellence $42,200. Since the fund’s inception, CJI has contributed for Colorado Dinner. Judicial Education Committee Co- in excess of $330,000. This includes every level of court Chair Jim Kilroy states, “CJI could not provide this benefit employee from supreme court justices down. It’s to the Colorado courts without the support of our dinner important to remember that each individual who accesses sponsors and those who purchase individual tickets.” the court receives an indirect benefit from this funding. “It’s rewarding to know that with this fund, CJI can impact CJI receives scholarship applications throughout the year so many employees from 22 judicial districts, at each level which are then distributed to a committee for their review. of the judicial branch,” states Pete Willis, Judicial The committee works closely with SCAO’s Education Education Committee Co-Chair. The smallest award was Director, Jennifer Mendoza, to insure CJI supports the $250 presented to a court interpreter to drive to Wyoming Colorado Judicial Department’s educational strategic plan. to attend a conference, and the largest was $10,000 which To purchase tickets for CJI’s Judicial Excellence for provided education and training to over 350 Colorado Colorado Dinner and to support CJI’s Judicial Education court employees. Fund on November 12, please visit www.Coloradojudicialinstitute.org.

CJI Sponsors 2014 Legal Resource Day CJI was the sole sponsor of the Colorado Judicial Departments 2014 Legal Resource Day. The event offered the more than 80 self-represented litigants a chance to attend seminars and visit with resources and vendors at the Ralph L. Carr Judicial Center on September 20.

5 th The 12 Annual Judicial Excellence for Colorado Dinner

Presented by the Colorado Judicial Institute

Wednesday, November 12, 2014 Denver Marriott City Center 1701 California St.

6 p.m. Cocktail Reception 7 p.m. Dinner

2014 Judicial Excellence Awards District Court Chief Judge Claude W. Appel County Court Judge Sabino E. Romano Magistrate Marianne M. Tims 3rd Judicial District Adams County, 17th Judicial District 1st Judicial District 2014 Keynote Speaker CJI is honored to welcome Hugh Caperton, plaintiff in the Byron R. White Center, and Eli Wald, the Charles W. Caperton v. A. T. Massey Coal Co., Inc. He’ll discuss Delaney Jr. Professor of Law at the University of Denver the case, including the landmark 2009 Supreme Court Sturm College of Law, for a panel discussion on the ruling, and then join Melissa Hart, Professor of Law at case’s impact on judicial selection. the University of Colorado Law School and Director of

Reserve Your Seats Seats are $150 per person or $110 per person for judges, on the CJI website. Contact Cynthia at 303-766-7501 or judicial department employees and young professionals [email protected] with questions. (practicing less than 5 years). Reservations can be made

Continued from “Judicial Performance Evaluations” on Page 1 Public Defenders’ Office, attorneys and non-attorneys in of the American Legal System at the University of closed cases can evaluate judges whom they have appeared Denver. “As voters, it is in our best interest to cast our before in court. Every attorney identified in the data during votes based on judges’ qualifications, fairness, and integrity an evaluation cycle is asked to evaluate up to 10 judges –and to avoid politicizing our judiciary.” through an online survey. Non-attorneys are mailed According to the Institute for the Advancement of surveys through the U.S. Mail. A tally of how many the American Legal System, Colorado’s evaluation system surveys were distributed is included in each published is one of only a few in the country. Judicial performance survey. The tally includes how many attorneys, witnesses, evaluation programs have been established in 17 states and defendants and litigants responded to the survey. the District of Columbia, and only seven of these states In election years, commissioners prepare narratives provided performance evaluation results to voters for use in summarizing their performance evaluation of the judges, retention elections. The broad-based and objective which also includes a retention recommendation. That performance information collected by these programs is performance review is published in the state’s Blue Book particularly important given the growing number of anti- and is available online at retention efforts against state court judges on the basis of www.coloradojudicialperformance.gov. individual rulings with which special interests may “What Colorado’s judicial performance evaluation disagree. process evaluates so simply is whether judges are doing The bottom line, says Wagner, is that the final their jobs well—based on feedback from those who work decision on retaining judges should belong to the with or appear before them,” says Robert Thompson, CJI public. “The voters decide. We’re just giving them Board Member and Director of Communications and information to base their decisions on.” Marketing for IAALS, The Institute for the Advancement

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