BACKGROUND
This referred measure is the result of recommendations by the Interim Committee on Judicial Discipline. The interim committee was formed as a result of allegations that surfaced in 2021 about judicial misconduct that was handled leniently or went unpunished.
In the current system, the Supreme Court acts as the discipline adjudicator, is not bound to any transparency rules, and can keep proceedings from the public. Legislators chose to split the Colorado Commission on Judicial Discipline from the Colorado Supreme Court into an independent neutral body. Additional changes are necessary to comply with how the
Colorado Constitution already established the judicial discipline process, including a voter referendum to change it.
The biggest change is removing the state Supreme Court from the discipline decision-making process. The new system will have a 12-member adjudicative body made up of 4 citizens, 4 district court judges, and 4 attorneys. One from each category is randomly selected to sit as the three-person committee to hear discipline cases and make a decision on any potential punishment, or to dismiss a case outright.
Under the proposal, the Supreme Court acts only as an appellate body, deciding only issues brought up on appeal. It will not be able to dismiss a case or hide any decision from public view, as it can now. The resolution also sets up rules for Supreme Court recusal, so the justices cannot participate in any proceedings that involve a current or retired justice, an employee, or family member.