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Tag: Judicial misconduct

False report, bad judging, real results: Montezuma schools find their footing
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Rocky Mountain Voice, Local, Top Stories

False report, bad judging, real results: Montezuma schools find their footing

By Jen Schumann | Rocky Mountain Voice For two difficult years, Superintendent Tom Burris and the Montezuma-Cortez board were cast as the problem in a community at odds. Detractors said they buried misconduct. The situation became a tangle of problems—courtroom misconduct, staff discipline, politicized claims and social-media outrage—all amplified by one-sided reporting that drained time, money and focus. The photo that never should have existed A courtroom image of Superintendent Burris ran the next morning on the front page of The Journal. No photographs are permitted inside a Colorado courtroom—a violation later cited in the judge’s ethics case. “No photographs are permitted inside a Colorado courtroom,” attorney David Illingworth recalled. “The next day it was front-page...
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Denver Judge Under Investigation After Paying Defendant’s $1 Bond Himself
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DENVER7, Approved, Local

Denver Judge Under Investigation After Paying Defendant’s $1 Bond Himself

By: Tony Kovaleski, Joe Vaccarelli | Denver7 Judge Barry Schwartz is currently reassigned after he allegedly paid the defendant's bond at an Aug. 15 court hearing, Denver7 Investigates has learned. EDITOR'S NOTE: An attorney representing Judge Barry Schwartz contacted Denver7 Investigates on Friday morning and provided a statement on his behalf. We are updating the story to include the following: "Judge Schwartz’s impulsive simple act of kindness and compassion for a fellow human happened before he considered the optics or consequences of doing the same. He knows to exercise his good judgment more carefully. He apologizes to the public for the inconvenience and to his colleagues who have covered his courtroom while he continues to perform an administrative role behind the scenes...
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Montezuma County judge faces potential removal after allegations of abuse of power
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Complete Colorado, Approved, Local

Montezuma County judge faces potential removal after allegations of abuse of power

By Savana Ksarck | Complete Colorado CORTEZ–The Colorado Commission on Judicial Discipline (CCJD) has announced formal proceedings to potentially remove Montezuma County Court Judge Ian McLaren for multiple instances of judicial misconduct, including lying while under investigation by the commission. Montezuma County borders Utah, New Mexico and Arizona in the southwest corner of Colorado. The 22nd Judicial District judge came under fire during a case involving then Montezuma-Cortez School District Superintendent Tom Burris in August 2024. Burris had been accused of failing to report sexual abuse of a student by a teacher. After an investigation found no evidence of the alleged abuse, McLaren then scheduled a hearing where he berated Burris over the unsubsta...
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Colorado Senate rejects judicial discipline appointee over misconduct cover-up ties, approves another
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Approved, denvergazette.com, State

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

By David Migoya | Denver Gazette 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 fr...
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