Liberal Colorado justices come under scrutiny after booting Trump from ballot

DENVER — The Colorado Supreme Court may not be the most liberal high court in the nation, but it’s certainly in the conversation.

All seven of the Colorado justices were appointed by Democratic governors — not a surprise, given that the blue state has not had a Republican governor since Bill Owens left office after two terms in 2007.

The court came under scrutiny after four of the justices — Monica M. Marquez, William W. Hood III, Richard L. Gabriel and Melissa Hart — took the unprecedented step Tuesday of removing former President Donald Trump from the state’s 2024 ballot in a 4-3 decision.

The court’s leftward tilt quickly drew the notice of the right, prompting blasts on social media against the “liberal Colorado judges,” “liberal, biased, political operatives,” and “unelected judges.”

“Four appointed Colorado liberals do not get to decide the President of the United States of America!” Colorado House Minority Leader Mike Lynch declared on X.

Technically, he’s right, the justices are appointed. At least initially. But they do have to face the voters.

In Colorado, justices must be retained by voters in a yes-or-no retention election two years after their appointments, and thereafter every 10 years. The justices do not run against other candidates and are typically retained by large margins.

Three of the four justices in the 4-3 majority graduated from Ivy League law schools. Interestingly, the three who dissented — Chief Justice Brian Boatright, Justice Carlos Samour Jr., and Justice Maria Berkenkotter — are graduates of the University of Denver Sturm College of Law.

Three of those in the majority — Justices Marquez, Hood and Hart — help lead the Bench Dream Team of the Center for Judicial Inclusiveness, a group of judges “dedicated to diversity and inclusion in Colorado’s judicial system.”

The person most responsible for the court’s current makeup is former Democratic Gov. John Hickenlooper, now in the Senate, who named five of the seven justices. Three of the Hickenlooper picks voted to disqualify Mr. Trump.

Irony alert: The outcome would almost certainly have been different if Allison Eid were still on the court. The conservative jurist left the Colorado Supreme Court in 2017 to take a seat on the Tenth Circuit Court of Appeals. She was replaced by Justice Hart, who voted to disqualify the former president.

Who appointed Judge Eid to the federal bench? None other than Mr. Trump.

Here are the four justices who voted to remove Mr. Trump:

— Justice Monica M. Marquez: Joined the Colorado Supreme Court in 2010. Appointed by former Democratic Gov. Bill Ritter. Retained by voters in 2014. Stanford University; Yale Law School. Age 54.

Notable: Grew up in Grand Junction. First Hispanic and openly gay person to serve on the court. Previously the Colorado deputy attorney general and assistant solicitor general. Past president of the Colorado LGBT Bar Association. Past chair of the Denver Mayor’s GLBT Commission.

— Justice William W. Hood III: Joined Colorado Supreme Court in 2014. Appointed by former Gov. John Hickenlooper. Retained by voters in 2016. Syracuse University; University of Virginia School of Law. Age 60.

Notable: Litigation partner at the Isaacson Rosenbaum law firm in Denver. Spent 10 years as a prosecutor in Colorado’s 18th Judicial District. Served as Denver District Court Judge.

— Justice Richard L. Gabriel: Joined the Colorado Supreme Court in 2015. Appointed by former Gov. John Hickenlooper. Retained by voters in 2018. Yale University; University of Pennsylvania Carey Law School. Age 61.

Notable: Moved to Colorado from New York City in 1990 and was appointed to the Colorado Court of Appeals in 2008. Wife Jill Wichlens works as a federal public defender.

— Justice Melissa Hart: Joined the Colorado Supreme Court in 2017. Appointed by former Gov. John Hickenlooper. Retained by voters in 2020. Harvard-Radcliffe College; Harvard Law School. Age 54.

Notable: Grew up in Denver. Practiced law and worked as a trial attorney for the Justice Department in Washington, before returning to Colorado and joining the faculty of the University of Colorado Law School.