The Supreme Court nominating commission late Wednesday submitted three names to Gov. Bill Owens to fill the vacancy left by the retirement of Justice Rebecca Kourlis.
Nominated by the commission are two Colorado Court of Appeals judges, John Dailey and Russell Carparelli. The third nominee is Allison Eid, Colorado’s solicitor general.
Owens has 15 days to announce his selection and will interview each of the three, said Dan Hopkins, Owens’ spokesman.
“Selecting a judge is one of the most important decisions for any governor,” Owens said. “It is a high responsibility I take very seriously, especially when the appointment is for our state’s highest court.”
Karen Steinhauser, a professor at the University of Denver School of Law, said the trio have exemplary records. She has worked with Dailey and Carparelli and knows Eid’s reputation.
“I think the governor is going to have a difficult choice because all three are well-qualified and all three would be excellent on the court,” Steinhauser said. “They are good people, professional and ethical. They make decisions on legal precedent and follow the law.”
Dan Recht, a Denver defense attorney, said he wishes there had been more diversity among the nominees.
“All three of them, while accomplished lawyers, are from a very conservative legal background,” Recht said. “It is not surprising. It is disappointing.”
After Kourlis announced her retirement, Owens said he planned to replace her with someone with similar views and who is conservative in temperament. The governor said he is looking for “a strict constructionist – someone who doesn’t try to read into the law and constitution more than is there.”
Dailey, of Arvada, once headed the appellate section of the Colorado attorney general’s office before he was appointed by Owens to the Court of Appeals in November 1999. He was a clerk to Appeals Court Judge Judge David Enoch in the late 1970s. An All-American football player at Bucknell University, Dailey has a law degree from Syracuse University.
Eid, of Golden, was appointed solicitor general by Attorney General John Suthers in February 2005. Eid clerked for U.S. Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas and U.S. Circuit Court Judge Jerry Smith. She was a one-time speechwriter and special assistant to then-U.S. Secretary of Education William Bennett. She is a tenured professor at the University of Colorado.
Carparelli, of Highlands Ranch, was appointed to the Court of Appeals in September 2002. Before that he practiced law in the Air Force, including 16 years as judge advocate. He also taught at the University of Virginia and practiced at the Denver firm of Messner and Reeves.
Staff writer Howard Pankratz can be reached at 303-820-1939 or hpankratz@denverpost.com.
