Colorado voters are staring down a jam-packed ballot this election of candidates, amendments, and propositions that the local media has covered ad nauseum.
Yet getting scant attention is the critical question of whether to retain three of Colorado’s Supreme Court Justices for another term.
Those justices are not elected to the bench, rather they are appointed by the governor at the time a seat becomes vacant.
Voters only get a voice when their term is up and their name goes on the ballot for a “yes” or “no” vote for a 10-year term.
This election, Justices Maria Berkenkotter, Brian Boatright, and Monica Márquez are on the ballot.
Cutting to the chase, The Gazette has endorsed a no vote on all of them with several good reasons for kicking them to the curb and trying again.
Does it really matter that Gov. Polis would replace them? Well, Polis installed Berkenkotter, Boatright was appointed by John Hickenlooper, and Márquez dates back to Bill Ritter, so …
As the Gazette noted, and originally reported, all three of the justices served during the “pay for silence” scandal thereby tainting their tenure.
The scandal involved then-Chief Justice Ben Coats, who in 2019 allegedly offered a $2.5 million contract to a court administrator to head off a sex discrimination lawsuit that threatened to unleash skeletons of judicial misconduct from the high chamber’s esteemed closets.
From The Gazette:
Berkenkotter, Boatright and Márquez were aware of what had transpired, or should have been, but failed to intervene and might have even hindered the investigation. In any event, it happened on their watch. They now should be held accountable by voters.
A special tribunal censured Coats last year for the entire mess.
The Gazette also endorsed Amendment H to bring some obviously required judicial reform on the bench.