Rocky Mountain Voice

Tag: Judicial Accountability

Former Judicial Discipline Director Files Federal Lawsuit Challenging Colorado Supreme Court Oversight
Rocky Mountain Voice, State, Top Stories

Former Judicial Discipline Director Files Federal Lawsuit Challenging Colorado Supreme Court Oversight

By Shaina Cole | Contributing Writer, Rocky Mountain Voice A former top official inside Colorado’s judicial discipline system is accusing the state’s highest court of protecting itself — and says he was fired after trying to hold it accountable. Christopher S.P. Gregory’s federal lawsuit names an unusually broad group of defendants: the Colorado Judicial Discipline Rulemaking Committee, the Colorado Supreme Court, Governor Jared Polis, Attorney General Phil Weiser, current and former justices, senior judicial administrators, and other state officials. The breadth of the case is intentional. He is not just accusing individuals of wrongdoing. He is challenging the framework that he says allowed those individuals to influence — and ultimately suppress — the very pr...
New Colorado Nonprofit Targets Judges and DAs Accused of Being Soft on Crime
Complete Colorado, Approved, State

New Colorado Nonprofit Targets Judges and DAs Accused of Being Soft on Crime

By Sherrie Peif | Complete Colorado DENVER — Two elected officials representing a hefty swath of the Front Range are teaming up with a Colorado radio host because they say they have had enough of rogue judges releasing violent criminals onto the streets, only to repeat offend. Their desire to change that trajectory led them to form a new non-profit educational group aimed at shining a light on those they believe need to move on from the bench. Conservative talk show host Jeff Hunt, State Rep. Dan Woog (R-Frederick), and 4th Congressional District CU Regent Frank McNulty (R-Highlands Ranch), have joined forces to form Law and Order Action, which they say is “dedicated to holding pro-crime judges, district attorneys and lawmakers accountable.” Woog’s legislat...
Douglas County outrage grows after judge hands out probation in violent crime case
DENVER7, Approved, State

Douglas County outrage grows after judge hands out probation in violent crime case

By: Allie Jennerjahn | Denver7 District Attorney for the 23rd Judicial District and stalking victim "outraged" over judge's decision to only sentence stalker to probation CASTLE ROCK, Colo. — A Douglas County judge is under fire for two separate probation decisions she’s made in just one week. District Attorney for the 23rd Judicial District George Brauchler told Denver7 he’s “outraged” by the ruling, but he never specifically said who the judge was. “I don’t think judges exist in this jurisdiction to do what the DA says. That doesn’t make sense. I don’t think that [ruling] protects defendants appropriately either,” Brauchler said. “My respect for the bench doesn’t mean that I like all of their decisions, and in this particular case, I think this one is too risky for the p...
Appeals Court Finds Denver Judge Improperly Terminated Father’s Custody Rights
State, Approved, The Denver Gazette

Appeals Court Finds Denver Judge Improperly Terminated Father’s Custody Rights

By Michael Karlik | The Denver Gazette Colorado’s second-highest court on Thursday determined the evidence did not support a Denver judge’s ruling terminating the legal relationship between a father and his child. A three-judge Court of Appeals panel identified numerous instances where the facts contradicted the trial judge’s findings that the father lacked stable housing and was unable to be “a full-time parent.” “The uncontested evidence showed that father could provide appropriate care for the child during all of the parenting time allotted to him. The juvenile court, though, appeared to expect father to prove his ability to care for the child full-time, rather than requiring the (government) to prove that, notwithstanding his success at family time, father was unable or unwill...
GOP reps demand removal of judge who freed violent offender before train murder
Daily Wire, Approved, National

GOP reps demand removal of judge who freed violent offender before train murder

By Virginia Kruta | Daily Wire “Ms. Zarutska’s murder was not only a profound personal tragedy but also a direct result of a failure of judicial responsibility.” Ten North Carolina Republican Reps., led by Rep. Tim Moore (R-NC), called on Tuesday for the removal of Magistrate Judge Teresa Stokes, who released 14-time offender Decarlos Johnson Jr. before he murdered Ukrainian refugee Iryna Zarutska. Moore shared a letter, signed by nine of his colleagues, in which he called on Chief Judge Roy Wiggins to begin “formal removal proceedings” against Stokes, saying that her decision to release Johnson — based solely on his written promise to return for his next court date — had been, at best, “reckless.” “Despite his history of violent and unstable behavior, Magistrate Stokes release...
Mourning or Margin? What the Silence Over Iryna Zarutska’s Murder Reveals About Media, Policy and Political Deadlock
Rocky Mountain Voice, Approved, Commentary, National, Top Stories

Mourning or Margin? What the Silence Over Iryna Zarutska’s Murder Reveals About Media, Policy and Political Deadlock

By C.J. Garbo | Guest Commentary, Rocky Mountain Voice The brutal and senseless murder of 23‑year‑old Ukrainian refugee Iryna Zarutska on a Charlotte light rail train has been met not with widespread grief, but with unsettling silence. When a story like this fades from national coverage, especially after being shared widely on social platforms, it raises urgent ethical and political questions - questions the mainstream media seems unwilling to confront. A Refugee’s Promise Meets a System’s Failure Zarutska fled war-torn Ukraine seeking safety. Tragically, her fresh start ended in horror: she was stabbed to death by Decarlos Brown Jr., a 34‑year‑old man with at least 14 prior arrests, on August 22, 2025. Footage capturing the killing - which has shocked millions, revealed bystander...
Court lets defamation case against SPLC proceed over weaponized ‘hate’ label of Dustin Inman Society
The Daily Signal, Approved, National

Court lets defamation case against SPLC proceed over weaponized ‘hate’ label of Dustin Inman Society

By Tyler O'Neil | The Daily Signal How can a leftist group present itself as the authority on “hate groups” in public, touting the fact that police and even the FBI have relied on its materials, and then reverse course when challenged in court, claiming that its statements are unprovable “opinion” rather than expert statements of fact? Has the Southern Poverty Law Center no shame? To ask the question is to answer it. As I wrote in my book “Making Hate Pay,” the SPLC has long engaged in ritual character assassination, putting mainstream conservative and Christian nonprofits on a “hate map” with chapters of the Ku Klux Klan, claiming that the map exposes the “infrastructure upholding white supremacy.” It persisted in doing this after the “hate map” inspired a terrorist att...
Out on bond, out of control: Decades of Colorado’s soft-on-crime policies under fire
Approved, Rocky Mountain Voice, State, Top Stories

Out on bond, out of control: Decades of Colorado’s soft-on-crime policies under fire

By Shaina Cole | Contributing Writer, Rocky Mountain Voice A series of violent incidents in Denver during April 2025 has intensified scrutiny of Colorado’s criminal justice reforms, with critics contending that lenient policies on bail and sentencing have compromised public safety.  Five recent cases, documented through court records, booking reports and social media posts from the advocacy account @dobetterdnvr, reveal a troubling trend: offenders with extensive criminal histories, released on low or no-cost bonds or parole, allegedly committed murders, assaults and attempted murders – leaving multiple victims. https://twitter.com/dobetterdnvr/status/1919768043120628140 Yet, this issue is not new – historical cases stretching back decades suggest a persistent pattern of reci...

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