It All Boils Down to This
Something is amiss with Colorado’s judicial system. Formal means to report irregularities are suspect. Judgeship appointments by our governor bypass public input. The Colorado Supreme Court and governor appoint members of the malfunctioning Colorado Commission on Judicial Discipline – which ostensibly exists to protect the public from improper judicial conduct and ensure integrity of the judicial system. There seems to be systemic lack of transparency, effective checks and balances, and reliable quality control – all surrounding haphazard appointment of judges; who rarely face discipline. As someone said, it is an incestuous process long overdue for overhaul. But that’s something privileged stakeholders fiercely resist; it’s a tight club. As a result, we the people suffer.
These revelations result from fruitless quest for accountability, truth and justice after being subjected to a county court civil matter as one wrongly-accused. Prevailing in court came at a cost; despite lack of convincing evidence to support accusations against me, the judge decided to weigh-in with telling untoward personal opinion about my character unrelated to the legal matter before him. Researching official Colorado rules on judicial conduct and ethics, I concluded that his undignified commentary violated several judicial canons; indicated partiality and prejudice, was harassing, hostile, demeaning, and suggest he had been inattentive during the hearing for the way he directed me to not again engage in behaviors that put me in court to begin with despite no proof to support his admonishment. In addition, it cost nearly $5,000 to defend from frivolous, groundless and vexatious charges. My motion for compensation of attorney and court fees was casually denied; I was later advised that such awards are rare. Government at first enabled my accusers then dismissed their actions yet refused to make me whole for the cost to defend from what amounted to government-sanctioned groundless, abusive harassment.
Why We Should All Be Worried
I submitted concern about the judge’s demeanor and behavior to the Colorado Commission on Judicial Discipline and received a puzzling, cursory white-wash so re-submitted my complaint along with supporting legal citations plus a telling portion of the hearing transcript. The result, after months delay was another brief embarrassing fiction in which the acting director repeatedly misspelled the judge’s name, purposely miss-stated his comments on the record to their benefit, and then capriciously narrowed the scope of my complaint to fit their narrative; a sophomoric snow-job. I tried yet again with a new director at the helm and got more of the same so took my concerns to Senator Julie Gonzales – chair of the Senate Judiciary Committee. Over multiple months, I got zero response to phone messages, e-mails and letters. So I took concerns higher; to the office of Governor Polis. There too silence was deafening; not even acknowledgement of phone messages, e-mails or letter.
A notable back-story is continuing intrigue surrounding the Colorado Commission on Judicial Discipline and revolving door of directors. Some suggest it began when one actually tried to enforce rules but ended-up in crosshairs after exposing judicial wrong-doing involving the Colorado Supreme Court that even got attention of the FBI. Consider that the Colorado Supreme Court and governor’s office select members of the Commission review body of ten that is stacked with 60% judges and attorneys; foxes appointing foxes to guard the henhouse.
When originally compelled to protect my reputation, I had no inkling what would follow. The reality is disappointment; an unfettered, amateur judge throwing darts and guessing. There are countless victims of haphazard, cookie-cutter law. Saying with a shrug that ‘It’s the best system we have’ to excuse reality is a lame cop-out. My government has failed me and is neglecting us all. Evidence suggests the characters in this disturbing situation act with impunity; part of a complicit system that prefers to take care of its own before serving public good. Lack of follow-up evidences lack of accountability. But at what point does governmental inaction or duplicity become negligence?
In my lifetime I have seen a gradual and disturbing decline of reliable service in government and business. The fix will come not from within troubled and broken systems and institutions but from without – from people like you and me demanding better.