Opinion ID: 2520871
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Other Relief Was Clearly Available

Text: Under C.A.R. 21, the exercise of original jurisdiction is extraordinary in nature and is a matter wholly within the discretion of the Supreme Court. Such relief shall be granted only when no other adequate remedy, including relief available by appeal or under C.R.C.P. 106, is available. This relief is not a substitute for appeal from a lower court proceeding and is not to be granted when it will supersede the functions of such appeal. See Fitzgerald v. Dist. Court, 177 Colo. 29, 493 P.2d 27, 29 (1972); Weaver Constr. Co. v. Dist. Court, 190 Colo. 227, 545 P.2d 1042, 1044 (1976) (There exists a general policy which disfavors the use of an original writ where an appeal would be an appropriate remedy.); People v. Montez, 48 Colo. 436, 110 P. 639, 640 (1910) (This court exercises original jurisdiction only in case of emergency, or where the questions involved are clearly of public interest, and then only when satisfied that the rights of the parties will not be protected and enforced in lower courts.); Clark v. Denver & I.R. Co., 78 Colo. 48, 239 P. 20, 21 (1925) (This court declines original jurisdiction in cases where the issues can be fully determined and the rights of all parties preserved and enforced in the district court.). In People v. McClees, 20 Colo. 403, 38 P. 468 (1894), various plaintiffs sought an injunction against the secretary of state and others preventing certain claimants from taking judicial office. The plaintiffs asked this court to assume original jurisdiction for purposes of resolving the controversy, and this court declined, stating: We are urged to entertain the present proceeding for the purpose of reaching an early decision of the controversy between the rival claimants to judicial positions, and thus prevent confusion in the administration of justice. This proceeding is commended as a `short cut' to a determination of the controversy. But short cuts in legal controversies are seldom satisfactory.... Id. at 472. I suggest that the original proceeding here is a short cut, which reaches out to address the seminal issue without allowing the case to proceed in due course.