July 25, 2013 01:38 PM UTC

Who Will Hick Pick? Colorado Supreme Court Vacancy Looms Large

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• by: Colorado Pols

You might have missed the news last week that Colorado Supreme Court Chief Justice Michael L. Bender will retire from the bench, effective Jan. 7, 2014 (full press release after the jump). Bender's retirement, mandated by the Colorado Constitution because Jan. 7 is Bender's 72nd birthday, puts Gov. John Hickenlooper in an important position this fall.

The last time there was a vacancy on the Colorado Supreme Court, Hickenlooper selected Jefferson County Republican Brian Boatright from a list of three names provided by the Colorado Supreme Court Nominating Commission (the list included a Republican, Democrat, and Unaffiliated candidate). That decision rankled Democrats, who were upset that a Democratic Governor would replace an outgoing liberal judge with a solid conservative. Those concerns intensified after the Lobato school finance ruling in May; many observers believe that the decision might have gone the other way had Hickenlooper not appointed Boatright.

Assuming the Commission provides Hickenlooper with a Democrat as one of the three names (the Commission meets on Oct. 8 & 9), it's hard to see how Hick could really select anyone else. The "political" makeup of the court right now is 3 liberals (Bender, Nancy Rice, Gregory Hobbs), 3 conservatives (Allison Eid, Nathan Coates,and Boatright), and 1 "Unaffiliated" (Monica Marquez).

If Hickenlooper chooses another conservative candidate, the Colorado Supreme Court will make its rulings from the right for years to come. Both Rice and Hobbs are nearing retirement, while Eid, Coates and Boatright should be on the bench for several decades. As we've written before in this space, Hickenlooper can't afford to alienate Democratic voters any more than he already has if he hopes to avoid a nail-biter of a re-election campaign.

Colorado Supreme Court Chief Justice Michael L. Bender to retire

Commission sets date to select nominees

 

                DENVER – The Colorado Supreme Court Nominating Commission will meet Oct. 8 and 9, 2013, at the Ralph L. Carr Colorado Judicial Center (2 E. 14^th Ave., Denver, CO 80203) to interview candidates and select nominees for appointment by the governor to the Colorado Supreme Court.

                The vacancy will be created by the retirement of Chief Justice Michael L. Bender pursuant to the Colorado Constitution, Article VI, Section 23, which mandates that judicial officers retire at age 72. The vacancy will be effective Jan. 7, 2014, Chief Justice Bender’s 72^nd birthday.

                To be eligible for appointment to fill the vacancy, the applicant must be a qualified elector of the State of Colorado and must have been admitted to the practice of law in Colorado for five years.  The current annual salary for this position is $144,688.  The initial term of office of a Supreme Court justice is a provisional term of two years; thereafter, the incumbent justice, if retained by the voters, has a term of 10 years.

                Application forms are available from the office of the ex officio chair of the nominating commission, Chief Justice Michael L. Bender, or from the Supreme Court Clerk, Christopher T. Ryan, 2 E. 14^th Ave. Denver, CO 80203.  Applications also are available on the court’s home page at: http://www.courts.state.co.us/Careers/Judge.cfm.

                The original signed application and an identical copy of the application in electronic form as a single, text-searchable PDF file must be filed with the ex officio chair no later than 4 p.m. Sept. 3, 2013.  Late applications will not be considered.  Any person wishing to suggest a candidate to fill the vacancy may do so by letter to be submitted to any member of the nominating commission, with a copy to the ex officio chair, no later than 4 p.m. Aug. 19, 2013.

Applications will be kept confidential, except that the nominating commission shall disclose the names, work addresses, and work telephone numbers of those nominees submitted to the Governor. 

The members of the nominating commission for the Supreme Court Nominating Commission are:  Richard Holme and Sr. Alicia Cuarón, 1^st Congressional District; Lamar Sims and Ann Hendrickson; 2^nd Congressional District; Kim Childs and Mary Stengel, 3^rd Congressional District; Scott Johnson and Ira Paulin, 4^th Congressional District; Richard Celeste and Eric Hall, 5^th Congressional District; April Jones and Bruce Alexander, 6^th Congressional District; Charles Tingle and Olivia Mendoza, 7^th Congressional District and Dorothy Decker, at large.

Editor’s Note:  Contact information for the nominating commission members

• Richard “Dick” Holme, 1550 17^th St., Suite 500, Denver, CO 80202
• Sr. Alicia Cuarón, 2830 Lawrence St., Denver, CO 80212
• Ann Hendrickson, P.O. Box 2025, Broomfield, CO 80038-2025
• Lamar Sims, 201 W. Colfax Ave., Dept. 801, Denver, CO 80202
• Kim Childs, 248 Cottonwood St., Delta, CO 81416
• Mary Stengel, 16 Carol Drive, Durango, CO 81301
• Scott Johnson, 420 Sixth Ave., Box O, Greeley, CO 80632
• Ira Paulin, P.O. Box 524, Holly, CO 81047
• Eric Hall, 90 South Cascade Ave., Suite 1100, Colorado Springs, CO 80903
• Richard Celeste, 720 Crestfield Grove, Colorado Springs, CO 80906
• Bruce Alexander, 2000 S. Colorado Blvd., Tower 2-12^th Floor, Denver, CO 80222
• April Jones, 5690 DTC Blvd., Suite 230E, Greenwood Village, CO 80111
• Charles Tingle, 500 Jefferson County Parkway, Golden, CO 80401
• Olivia Mendoza, 309 W. 1^st Ave., Denver, CO 80223
• Dorothy Decker, 6748 Hwy 62, Ridgway, CO 81432