Judicial Retention Ballot Recommendations From HD59 Republican Central Committee

Archuleta Republicans,

Kelly Hegarty, Chair of the HD59 Republican Central Committee recently provided us with the following ballot recommendations regarding judicial retention. They are solid and we concur with most of what she’s put forth. Please see the following.

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We recommend all Judges be retained **EXCEPT** for the following;

 

Monica M. Marquez

(Judge Marquez voted to keep President Trump off of the Colorado Ballot – Vote “NO” on Monica Marquez)

This is a summary of the “Why” behind the judicial retention votes.  I got a resource out of Larimer County’s GOP for the Equal Justice Foundation (http://www.ejfi.org/)

 

These percentages to retain (or not) come from the Equal Justice Foundation – a non-profit group in Colorado that uses a rating percentage based on attorney rating and surveys to retain (or not): 

A ranking of “RETAIN” means 85% or more of the attorneys polled voted to retain

A ranking of “MARGINAL” means 71-84% of the attorneys polled voted to retain

A ranking of “DO NOT  RETAIN” means less than 70% of the attorneys polled voted to retain

 

 

2024 Judicial Performance Commission Evaluation						2024 EJF Evaluation based on Atty votes
JUDGE	Commission Finding	Atty Votes
		Retain	Do Not Retain
Colorado Supreme Court
						2024
Maria E. Berkenkotter	Meets Standards	91%	9%			Retain
Brian D. Boatright	Meets Standards	79%	8%			Marginal
Monica M. Márquez	Meets Standards – BUT…	95%	5%			DO NOT RETAIN
JUSTICE MARQUEZ IS ONE OF THE FOUR CO SUPREME COURT JUDGES WHO VOTED TO KEEP DONALD TRUMP OFF THE BALLOT  SHE IS A “NO” VOTE – DO NOT RETAIN Colorado Court of Appeals
						2024
Stephanie Dunn	Meets Standards	94%	6%			Retain
Jerry N. Jones	Meets Standards	75%	25%			Very Marginal
W. Eric Kuhn	Meets Standards	88%	6%			Retain
Gilbert M. Román	Meets Standards	77%	15%			Very Marginal
Timothy J. Schutz	Meets Standards	78%	11%			Marginal
Sixth Judicial District Judges (Archuleta, La Plata, San Juan)   District Judges 2024 Kim Soon Shropshire  Meets Standards  91%  9%    Retain

 

 

 

VOTE NO on Retaining Chief Justice Monica M. Márquez

Justice Márquez is one of the four Colorado Supreme Court judges who voted on December 19, 2023 to keep Donald Trump off the Colorado ballot in 2024 (The four are Justices Richard L. Gabriel, Melissa Hart, Monica Márquez and William W. Hood III.)  This decision was over-turned on March 4, 2024 by the U.S. Supreme Court in a 9-0 unanimous decision.  Márquez is the only one of the four who is up for a retention vote.  There are critics that claim politics SHOULD NOT be considered when evaluating judges for retention.  However, it seems that politics were involved when Judge Márquez voted to remove Trump from the Colorado ballot.  In spite of the State Commission on Judicial Performance finding that Chief Justice Monica M. Márquez MEETS PERFORMANCE STANDARDS, I believe it is more than warranted to VOTE NO on Retaining Chief Justice Monica M. Márquez.

We are providing the above information with the intent to keep you informed. Please consider this as you complete your ballot.

Thank you all!

Dave Cuyler, Vice Chair
Archuleta County Republican Central Committee
Pagosa Springs, CO
vch.acrcc@proton.me
505-288-8520

“One of the penalties of not participating in politics is that you will be governed by your inferiors.” – Plato 429-347 BC