Welcome to Court Crawl, Colorado Politics' roundup of news from the third branch of government. Colorado gained another federal judge last week after the U.S. Senate confirmed a Biden administration nominee, and multiple First Amendment cases implicating religion are in the spotlight.
Biden wins another confirmation in Colorado
• The Senate has confirmed another nominee of President Joe Biden to the federal bench in Colorado. Longtime public defender Veronica S. Rossman will now take her seat on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 10th Circuit, the only public defender to do so. The 10th Circuit hears appeals in federal cases arising from Colorado and five neighboring states, and has substantial authority to clarify the law for lower courts in the region.
• Rossman's confirmation also means the 10th Circuit will resume having a majority of judges who are appointees of Democratic presidents. The 10th Circuit has been called a moderate court, although Rossman's confirmation resulted in praise from the progressive advocacy group Demand Justice.
• It is not yet clear when Rossman will be sworn in, but she will be able to hear oral arguments scheduled before the 10th Circuit in November. She is the second Biden nominee to take the bench in the Centennial State, following U.S. District Court Judge Regina M. Rodriguez in July.
Veronica S. Rossman, President Joe Biden's nominee to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 10th Circuit, testifies before the Senate Judiciary Committee on June 9, 2021.
One judge comes, another judge goes (sort of)
• As Rossman prepares to start her career at the appellate court, another judge is making his exit, but only kind of. U.S. District Court Judge R. Brooke Jackson, 74, will take senior status this Thursday. That means he will still remain a federal trial judge, but will handle a part-time caseload and enable the Senate to confirm another active judge to the district court.
• Jackson is an Obama administration appointee and formerly a state judge in Jefferson County. He handled a number of high-profile cases at the state and federal levels. The Court Crawl believes one of his most memorable orders came amid the 2020 racial justice protests and the aggressive police response to them. In curbing the Denver Police Department's use of less-than-lethal tactics, Jackson labeled as "disgusting" the behavior of some officers against peaceful demonstrators: "Citizens should never have to fear peaceful protest on the basis of police retaliation, especially not when protesting that very same police violence."
• Unfortunately, when Jackson goes senior, there will not be an immediate replacement for him. But it's not for lack of notice: Jackson announced his semi-retirement in March, and Colorado's two senators promptly forwarded candidates to the White House in May. But it took until August for the Biden administration to choose its nominee, workers' rights attorney Charlotte N. Sweeney. She is still awaiting a hearing before the Senate Committee on the Judiciary.
U.S. District Judge R. Brooke Jackson, right, swears in Colorado Court of Appeals Judge Terry Fox in January 2011. Photo courtesy of Marybell Trujillo of BelleImages.
Religion in the news
• In July, the 10th Circuit upheld the Colorado Anti-Discrimination Act, which was facing a challenge from a Christian website designer who wishes to avoid making wedding sites for same-sex couples. A 2-1 panel decision found that Lorie Smith could be forced to create content for both same-sex and opposite-sex couples, as the state of Colorado has a compelling interest in eradicating discrimination in the marketplace. Now, Smith is appealing to the U.S. Supreme Court, where the 6-3 conservative majority may have a different opinion.
• A Broomfield man who seeks to stand near the entrances of Red Rocks on event days and preach the gospel to people entering the amphitheater is asking a federal judge to halt enforcement of Denver's "public forum policy," which only allows First Amendment activity at remote locations that have little to no pedestrian traffic.
Vacancies and appointments
• The U.S. District Court for Colorado has an upcoming magistrate judge vacancy based in Colorado Springs, after Kathleen M. Tafoya announced her retirement effective in January. Tafoya, a former federal prosecutor, has been a magistrate judge since 2008.
• Applications are due on Oct. 18. Unlike other types of federal judges, who the president nominates and the Senate confirms to lifetime appointments, magistrate judges are hired by the district courts to eight-year terms and must go through a merit selection process. Magistrate judges do, however, handle many of the same duties as district court judges, with a heavier focus on pretrial matters.
Bad news for former GOP chair(s)
• The former chair of the Colorado Republican Party, Ryan Call, will lose his law license after admitting to mishandling funds from a pro-Donald Trump political action committee.
• Readers may remember the state's Court of Appeals recently upheld the criminal conviction of yet another former GOP chair for committing voter fraud in the 2016 election.
In this file photo, former Colorado Republican Party chair Ryan Call visits with members of an Arapahoe County GOP vacancy committee on Dec. 12, 2015, at Valley Country Club in Centennial.
Miscellaneous decisions
• A Lafayette woman will receive $700 after an out-of-state debt collector violated federal law and failed to show up to defend itself.
• A federal judge did not believe a Colorado Springs-based charter school knew about the sexual assault against one of its students by an instructor, a conclusion that the victim categorically disputed.
• The Court of Appeals has said that lower court judges have the ability to break ties in major parenting decisions when the two divorced parents cannot agree.
• The town of Superior challenged the federal government's modifications to trails at the controversial Rocky Flats National Wildlife Refuge, but a judge said the government did nothing wrong.
• A magistrate judge stood by his conclusion that an ex-state employee fabricated evidence, and is now considering the government's request to be reimbursed $300,000.
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