Judicial discipline - Rocky Mountain Voice

Colorado Senate rejects judicial discipline appointee over misconduct cover-up ties, approves another

denvergazette.com, Approved, State / May 8, 2025 / 75th Colorado Legislature, Colorado Senate, Judicial discipline, Judicial misconduct

The Colorado state Senate on Wednesday rejected the reappointment of the chairwoman to the state panel that handles judicial discipline but narrowly kept its vice-chair.

Needing 18 votes to confirm their reappointments to the Colorado Commission on Judicial Discipline, chairwoman Mindy Sooter came up two votes shy (19-16 against), while Jim Carpenter was approved by the same margin.

The Senate has a firm 21-14 Democratic majority.

The decision to drop Sooter from the 10-member commission comes days after a Senate committee made the rare choice to refuse confirming either gubernatorial appointee. Unlike proposed legislation that can die in a committee in either house of the General Assembly, appointments by the governor, which require approval from the full Senate, are voted on separately regardless of a committee’s recommendation, though the latter carries weight.

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Colorado Senate committee rejects judicial watchdog picks over misconduct concerns

denvergazette.com, Approved, State / May 6, 2025 / Colorado Senate, Courts, Judicial discipline, Judicial oversight

In a bipartisan rebuke of how a years-long scandal has been handled, a Colorado Senate committee on Monday made the rare move of not approving the gubernatorial reappointment of the top two members of the state’s Commission on Judicial Discipline.

Just months after voters statewide overwhelmingly chose to change how Colorado disciplines judges, the state Senate Judiciary Committee voted — 4-3, with two Democrats joining the panel’s two lone Republicans — to offer an unfavorable recommendation to the full Senate on the reappointment of Mindy Sooter and Jim Carpenter, the chair and vice-chair, respectively, of the 10-member commission.

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Northeast Colorado judge resigns after allegations of undisclosed ties to former client

Local, Approved, Colorado Politics / May 5, 2025 / 13th Judicial District, Amendment H, Courts, dUE pROCESS, Judicial code of conduct, Judicial discipline

A judge from northeastern Colorado resigned at the end of Wednesday, and, in doing so, admitted to allegations that he used his position to aid a friend in her court case and did not disclose his personal connection in other cases involving that friend.

District Court Judge Justin B. Haenlein presided in the 13th Judicial District of Morgan, Logan, Sedgwick, Phillips, Washington, Yuma and Kit Carson counties. He had been off the bench since the Colorado Supreme Court suspended him in November, pending a disciplinary investigation.

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Support Amendment H: Judicial discipline procedures and confidentiality

Approved, Commentary, Rocky Mountain Voice, State / October 2, 2024 / Amendment H, Commentary, Elections, Judicial discipline

Under existing law, proceedings of the state commission on judicial discipline are confidential. The measure would create a more transparent, new board to hear ethical misconduct complaints against state court judges.

Support Amendment H: Judicial discipline procedures and confidentiality Read More »