Supporters of a ballot initiative that would term-limit appellate judges submitted 108,000 signatures to the Secretary of State’s Office on Wednesday.
The measure would term-limit Colorado Supreme Court justices and Colorado Court of Appeals judges to 10 years. Many of the current judges and justices have been on the bench from nine to 20 years.
Former Senate President John Andrews, who is chairman of Limit the Judges, was elated that in seven weeks the group collected 40,000 more signatures than necessary to place the measure on the November ballot.
“The very strong response of people signing our petition and volunteering to help with the petition confirms to me that there is a widespread concern among Coloradans that our courts are out of control and something needs to be done,” Andrews said.
Andrews expects a bruising battle with a coalition, Citizens to Protect Colorado Courts, that opposes term limits.
“We are prepared to make our case in a very strong campaign – TV and radio ads, mailings – a full campaign effort,” Andrews said.
Citizens to Protect Colorado Courts immediately announced it would fight the measure with a broad coalition that includes Attorney General John Suthers, Denver District Attorney Mitch Morrissey, the League of Women Voters, the Colorado Judicial Institute and Common Cause.
“This is a misguided measure that will be devastating to Colorado courts,” Suthers said.
Should the measure pass, five of the seven Supreme Court justices would lose their jobs Jan. 13, 2009, and seven of the 16 Court of Appeals judges would lose their jobs.
John Moye, coalition chairman, said the amendment is a bad idea because it would decimate the judicial system by wiping out 185 years of experience.
“Term limits politicize the process,” Moye said. “Currently we have an extremely good system of selecting justices and Court of Appeals judges. We believe the term-limit initiative is politically motivated.”
Andrews’ website claims Colorado’s courts “are out of control” and that “judges too often presume to create law, instead of upholding it.”
But many lawyers said Wednesday that Andrews, a politician, doesn’t understand that an independent judiciary, free of politics, is critical to the checks and balances that are part of American democracy.
“It (term limits) is not wise, and it reflects Sen. Andrews’ misunderstanding of the role of the judiciary,” said Denver lawyer Phil Cherner. “He views the judiciary as an entity that should carry out the will of the people as if it was a popularity contest.
“The judiciary is there to prevent the oppression of the underprivileged and the minority and those with less political power. It does that by enforcing the laws, some of which shield those individuals and groups. They don’t do it to be popular.”
Staff writer Howard Pankratz can be reached at 303-820-1939 or hpankratz@denverpost.com.
