Colorado’s judiciary has become too powerful and must be held accountable for its decisions, a leading proponent of judicial term limits told an audience of law students Wednesday.
“Term limits will remind the judges who they work for,” former Colorado Senate President John Andrews told University of Denver School of Law students.
“The reality check is that you are entering a profession that is under a cloud of doubt, discontent, suspicion and, in many cases, anger,” Andrews said. “Amendment 40 is a modest move toward putting the judicial branch, no longer a co- equal branch but the most powerful of the three branches, on a more equal footing with the legislative and executive branches,” which have term limits in the state.
If voters approve it in November, Amendment 40 would limit Colorado Supreme Court justices and Court of Appeals judges to a maximum of 10 years on the bench.
Andrews said that too often, judges develop a “god complex” – they believe that they are “omniscient and omnipotent” when they put on their robes.
Jean Dubofsky, a former chief justice of the Supreme Court, told the students that Andrews’ implication that there are corrupt judges in Colorado isn’t true.
“I have never known of a corrupt judge in Colorado,” Dubofsky said. “Our state system is the envy of many states in the country.”
She said the amendment, which would take effect in 2009, would strip the Supreme Court of five of its seven members and the Court of Appeals of seven of its 19 members.
She said the amendment would undermine judicial independence and the separation of powers. And, she noted, the role of judges is far different from that of politicians. Judges, unlike politicians, don’t decide what issues come before them, she said.
“They aren’t out there getting new issues in the same way that conventional politicians are,” Dubofsky said. “Judges are there to resolve problems. Some of those problems do not have solutions that are as easy or as clear as one might hope.”
She said Colorado judges try “very hard” to reach decisions based on statutory and constitutional language and common sense. Political considerations are never included, she said.
Staff writer Howard Pankratz can be reached at 303-954-1939 or hpankratz@denverpost.com.
