Colorado Supreme Court
The Colorado Supreme Court is the highest court in the U.S. state of Colorado. Located in Denver, the Court consists of a Chief Justice and six Associate Justices. Powers and duties. Appellate jurisdiction. Discretionary appeals. The Court principally handles certiorari petitions. Certiorari petitions ask the Supreme Court to grant an additional review of a case. The primary review [appeal of right] was either done by: Only a small fraction of certiorari petitions are granted by the Colorado Supreme Court. From petitions filed in 2015 and 2016, only 6% of all cases were granted an additional review. It  takes three of the seven justices to vote in favor of a certiorari petition for it to be granted. Appeals of right. In addition, the Colorado Supreme Court has jurisdiction over direct appeals in cases where a trial court finds a law unconstitutional, in death penalty cases, in water law cases, in certain election cases, in interlocutory appeals (i.e., appeals in the middle of a case) in certain matters of exceptional importance for which an ordinary appeal is not a sufficient remedy, and in certain other cases. Original jurisdiction and supervisory powers. The Colorado Supreme Court also has original jurisdiction  over attorney discipline proceedings, over advisory questions presented by the state legislature or the state attorney general, and questions referred to it by the federal courts. Furthermore, the Colorado Supreme Court has general supervisory and budget authority over the judicial branch, the court rule making process, and the regulation of attorneys. Finally, the Colorado Supreme Court makes appointments to a number of boards and commissions, which often has the effect of providing a tie breaking member in situations where the other appointees are equally divided on partisan lines. Membership. Current makeup. The current Colorado Supreme Court's membership, and the  date each Justice was appointed, is as follows: Appointment process. When a vacancy on the court occurs, a commission established by the state constitution reviews submitted applications. The commission submits three names to the Governor. The Governor of Colorado then has 15 days to select the next justice from that list. The justice selected serves a provisional two-year term before facing a retention election. The voters then chose whether to retain or not retain the justice. If the justice is retained, they go on to serve a full 10-year term before the next retention election. If a justice  is not retained, the appointment process starts again. However, no appellate judge has ever lost a retention election since the system was put in place in 1966. The Justices are not elected as partisan officials, although they are initially appointed by a partisan elected official. In 2006, an effort to change this system of retaining judges by initiative was rejected by voters, in part due to a campaign against the initiative which had strong support from both Democratic and Republican members of the Colorado Bar Association. The chief justice is selected by the justices from amongst themselves. Yearly pay. The  pay is set by the legislature in the yearly budget. The budget year in Colorado starts on July 1. Court building. While there is a chamber originally dedicated to the Colorado Supreme Court in the state capitol building, the Colorado Supreme Court and Colorado Court of Appeals were located in their own building across the street from the state capitol from 1977 to 2010. In August 2010 the building was imploded to make way for a larger court building. Construction of the new building began in September 2010. That new building, dubbed the Ralph L. Carr Colorado Judicial Center, opened  in early 2013. Named for a former governor of Colorado, the building is located at 2 East 14th Avenue in Denver. The State Supreme Court Building was a box-like structure raised off the ground by two square columns located on the east and west ends of the building. The only parts of the building actually on the ground level were the columns, which contained the entrances and elevators for the building. The underside of the building featured a 150-foot mural designed by Colorado artist Angelo di Benedetto. It depicted several notable figures, including Hammurabi, Moses and Martin Luther  King Jr. The figures represented persons who are believed to have made significant contributions to law and justice. Directly beneath the mural was a large window embedded into the ground that looked down into the underground law library. Persons in the library were able to look up onto the mural via the ground level glass window. The mural was removed before the building was demolished, but its ultimate fate is uncertain. The courtroom itself was located on the fifth floor of the building (the ground level columns being the first floor). The entrance to the courtroom consisted of two large  brass colored metallic doors with a textured design on them. The courtroom was dimly lit with two stained glass windows depicting previous Supreme Court Justices. The well of the courtroom was circular, with a podium for counsel in the center. The podium was a circular column that resembled a container of lipstick that, unlike the rest of the courtroom, was well lit. It faced a semicircular bench with seats for seven justices. Behind the bench was a large drape through which the Justices entered the courtroom. The former building was designed by John Rogers and RNL Design. See RNL Architecture . The Ralph L. Carr Justice Center was designed by Fentress Architects. The judicial wing is four stories tall and contains the Supreme Court courtroom and chambers and Court of Appeals courtrooms. The justice center also includes an adjacent wing that is a twelve-story office tower containing the office of the State Attorney General as well as offices for other State agencies. The new Justice Center is named for former Colorado Governor Ralph Lawrence Carr, who served from 1939 to 1943 and was noted for his opposition to Japanese American internment during World War II. Publication of opinions. All opinions  of the Colorado Supreme Court are published. Court opinions are initially released as slip opinions and posted on the court's website. They are ultimately published in Westlaw's "Pacific Reporter", a regional case reporter that is the designated official reporter for the State of Colorado. Westlaw also publishes the state-specific "Colorado Reporter", repeating all Colorado cases from the "Pacific Reporter" and reusing that reporter's pagination and citations. The Colorado Bar Association also publishes all Colorado Supreme Court opinions in its monthly journal, "The Colorado Lawyer". Between 1864 and 1980, the State published its own official reporter, "Colorado  Reports". Concurrent coverage in the "Pacific Reporter" began in 1883. Notable cases. Common-law same-sex marriage. In January 2021, the Colorado Supreme Court made a ruling to retroactively recognise common-law same-sex marriage.