Opinion ID: 1401746
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 4

Heading: Judicial Performance Commission

Text: Petitioner also asserts that this Initiative creates a separate subject by nullifying the purpose of the Judicial Performance Commission and by limiting the kind of information available to voters about judges during recall and retention elections. Specifically, Initiative # 104 calls for publicizing reports on each judge; however, it specifically bars the mention or publication of any reports prepared by the Judicial Performance Commission. Petitioner argues that this bar on the publication of Commission reports constitutes an additional subject beyond the selection, retention, and removal of judges because it renders the purposes and duties of the Judicial Performance Commission moot, as set forth at section 13-5.5-101 to -109, 5 C.R.S. (1998). We disagree. The Judicial Performance Commission is the product of an effort by the Colorado Legislature to establish a uniform system of evaluating judicial performance in order to provide voters in judicial retention elections with fair, responsible, and constructive information about judicial performance and to provide judges with useful information concerning their own performance. Sections 13-5.5-103(1)(i) and 13-5.5-105(1)(b) require the Commission to draft, produce, and publicly distribute a narrative profile on each justice, court of appeals judge, district judge, county judge, and magistrate. See also § 13-5.5-106 (requiring disclosure of performance reports to judges and to the public). By ensuring that the aforementioned performance reports, even if prepared, are never released to the public, Petitioner argues that the Initiative effectively nullifies the legislatively enumerated purpose behind the creation of the Judicial Performance Commission; namely to inform the public about the qualifications of the judges who are standing for a retention election. The proponents of the Initiative, however, urge us to view the Initiative as one which continues to allow the Commission to review judicial performance, but not mention or publicize the results of said reviews. In addition, the Initiative mandates that voters be informed about judges standing for retention or removal elections by the dissemination of information on caseloads, case resolution time, continuances, hours of daily courthouse attendance, and criminal sentencing records, as well as all discipline commission complaints and appellate opinions. As discussed earlier, it is not this court's function to address the merits of a proposed initiative, interpret its language, or predict its application. See In re Petition on Campaign & Political Fin., 877 P.2d 311, 313 (Colo.1994); In re Proposed Initiative on Fair Treatment of Injured Workers, 873 P.2d 718, 719-20 (Colo.1994); In re Proposed Election Reform Amend., 852 P.2d at 28. Rather, this court's review must be limited to a determination of whether the contested language within the Initiative creates a distinct and separate subject which is not connected to or dependent upon the remaining aspects of the Initiative. Here, the language of the Initiative has as its subject the qualifications, appointment, and retention of judges. The dissemination of information about judges standing for removal or retention elections is connected with this subject. Accordingly, the contested language does not violate the constitutional prohibition against second subjects.