About four months ago the Colorado Supreme Court decided that judges have a role in deciding how the state’s public schools are funded. In a Colorado Daily column I explained why this decision in the Lobato case was bad policy and a dangerous precedent.

You also can listen to Professor Joshua Dunn bring his expertise to bear for an 8-minute iVoices podcast we recorded last October — click the play button or follow this link:

One of the big takeaways from Dunn’s conversation is that most states realize the bad policy and bad consequences of adequacy lawsuits and are moving away from them. Colorado is out of sync for its courts to be sanctioning such action.

So why am I bringing up the Lobato case today? It seems that the Colorado Association of School Boards (CASB) and Colorado Association of School Executives (CASE) are actively urging local school boards to agree to help pay for the lawsuit against the state. That way, you the taxpayer can help fund both the plaintiffs and the defense … Seriously? (more…)

I don’t agree with attorney general John Suthers on everything, but kudos to him for taking some bold stands recently. Of course, there is his active role in participating and speaking out against the Obama Care Nebraska bribe in the U.S. Senate. Then this week came Suthers’ three-fourths endorsement of the Clear the Bench Colorado cause, another bold move.

Lesser known, but also important today for those procrastinators out there, is the Attorney General’s Twitter endorsement of the Survey of Colorado’s Political Temperature. While the endorsement came with the original survey in July, the January edition is closing up at 5 PM today, so… Time to Take the Survey!

And thank you, Attorney General John Suthers!

One of the most tireless conservative grassroots organizers I know today received a small but certainly plum reward for his hard work. I’m talking about Matt Arnold from Clear the Bench Colorado, and the plug he received in a Valerie Richardson Washington Times article about another controversial Colorado Supreme Court decision: (more…)

Introducing the top-line results from the 3rd edition of the survey of Colorado’s political temperature. Participation dropped to 281, but results still demonstrated some remarkable consistency. As always, thanks to those of you who took the time to help out!

Coming later in the month will be an analysis of some key crosstabs and correlations. But for now here’s a quick rundown of the survey’s top-line results:

• In the U.S. Senate race, with Ryan Frazier dropping out of the race, momentum has grown behind Ken Buck as the candidate with the most support and behind Jane Norton as the strongest candidate — an interesting dynamic given the credible rumors circulating at Rocky Mountain Right
• Josh Penry was on track for his best showings in both support and perceived strength, before he withdrew from the governor’s race–reducing his lead in one column and erasing it in another
• Ryan Frazier (7th Congressional), Cory Gardner (4th Congressional) and J.J. Ament (State Treasurer) have built strong leads in their respective races
• Demographically speaking, the group of participants in this poll was slightly more Republican, older, male, married, and white than the September sample
• Distaste for the “public option”, Bill Ritter’s management of state fiscal policy and Colorado Supreme Court partisanship grew even stronger
• Confidence remains high that incumbents Ritter, appointed U.S. Senator Michael Bennet, and Congresswoman Betsy Markey all will be defeated in 2010, while incumbent status within the Republican Party and national party interference are viewed with even less respect

For more details, read the release below (click “fullscreen” for easy viewing): (more…)

Despite all the hoopla (much of it well-deserved) about the election results, let’s not lose focus on an easily overlooked issue that should factor into some of our important decisions for 2010 — namely, the Colorado Supreme Court delving into political questions of how our schools are funded in Lobato v State.

You now can listen to my recent 8-minute interview on this very topic with Brad Jones on Face The State Weekend edition.

Whether or not you get to listen, let me explain — no, let me sum up: The case for Clear The Bench Colorado is now overwhelming.

Update, 1:50 PM: I also will be talking about the Lobato case and school funding adequacy on Face The State weekend radio with Brad Jones. In the Denver area, that’s AM 710 KNUS on Saturday at 5:00 AM and Sunday at noon. Check local listings for additional stations and times.

A sense that the Colorado Supreme Court is growing out of control continues to pick up momentum after the October 19 Lobato v State ruling (PDF), in which the 4-3 liberal majority arrogated to itself the power to determine school funding policy.

On Wednesday my friend and former state senate leader Mark Hillman ably dissected the dangers in this decision. Yesterday, Colorado’s leading conservative talk show host Mike Rosen leaped into the fray with a strong condemnation in his Denver Post column.

But writing for the Colorado Daily, yours truly offered the first big broadside against the dangerous Lobato ruling — noting among other things that other state courts have backed away from judicial activism in school finance adequacy cases even as Colorado seems to be embracing the idea.

I’m glad this issue is getting the attention it deserves. And as Rosen concludes his column, I also strongly urge you to educate yourself about the out-of-control liberal majority on the state supreme court and get behind the excellent grassroots movement Clear the Bench Colorado.

From today’s Denver Post:

President Barack Obama has nominated Stephanie Villafuerte to be Colorado’s next U.S. Attorney.

Villafuerte, currently deputy chief of staff to Gov. Bill Ritter, previously served as Denver’s chief deputy district attorney.

She worked on Ritter’s campaign and has focused on community outreach as his deputy chief of staff. [emphasis added]

Remember Stephanie Villafuerte? Still scratching your head? While with Ritter’s 2006 gubernatorial campaign, she worked with the Denver DA’s office as they accessed the National Crime Information Center (NCIC) database to go after Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agent Cory Voorhis.

The Colorado Bureau of Investigation went after Cory Voorhis for accessing the NCIC database for legitimate reasons (he later was found not guilty of any wrongdoing), but CBI did not investigate those in the DA’s office who apparently did the same thing for politically-motivated reasons.

Precisely what role did Stephanie Villafuerte play in the whole Cory Voorhis affair? And what were her motivations? If she is going to be the next U.S. Attorney for Colorado, citizens of our state deserve to know.

Meanwhile, her ties to Bill Ritter then and now further raise the level of political intrigue involved. There’s already some considerable disarray in a Bill Ritter gubernatorial administration that faces a steep climb to re-election and a very credible challenger in Josh Penry.

Last night I kindly berated national talk show host Hugh Hewitt for his ignorance pertaining to Colorado Republican politics. Apparently, he’s in our state today and has an opportunity to listen, learn, and change his ways.

One guest who is scheduled to appear on his show this afternoon (sometime between 4 and 6 PM on 710 KNUS) is Matt Arnold to promote his important project Clear the Bench Colorado. Go here to find out more about Matt’s radio appearance and the cause you should consider supporting.

Rather than take the time to write a substantial, coherent post on any one topic on this Friday, July 31 — the birthday of the late, great Milton Friedman — I offer you four quick hits to amuse, inspire, frustrate, and activate. Without further ado: (more…)

More important than the fact that Obama Supreme Court nominee Sonia Sotomayor’s appellate ruling simply was overturned yesterday was that her ruling was that she treated the meritorious (and ultimately victorious) claims of the New Haven fire fighters so dismissively.

It seems that in Sotomayor’s world race-neutral, merit-based promotion systems are scarcely even worthy of consideration as legal and legitimate. For her, a subjective standard of judicial “empathy” trumps not only basic fairness but also the need to give basic fairness any serious consideration.

Below the fold is a video response from the Colorado Judicial Network: (more…)

The other day I highlighted Supreme Court nominee Sonia Sotomayor’s indefensible statement and the need for repudiation. But more serious than a statement at Berkeley is Sotomayor’s actual judicial record.

It certainly is interesting to see serious criticism directed at Barack Obama’s nominee from outside the center-right political spectrum — and not because she is insufficiently liberal. Take the Denver Post’s Chuck Plunkett, for example:

You’re supposed to say out-there stuff at Berkeley. Otherwise everyone thinks you’re dull and boorish.

But while wearing the robes of justice you’re supposed to be fair. And the Ricci v. New Haven decision Sotomayor was involved in looks just terrible – even to some prominent Democrats. [link added]

(more…)

It sounds like a garbled threat, or possibly a song from the High Mass. Sine die means neither, but it is cause for high celebration: The Colorado state legislature is adjourned for 2009, at least for the regular session. (I’m hearing insiders say that the Governor very well may call a special session in the summer.)

In one sense, it’s a shame to see the legislature walk away from its responsibility: Democrats have kicked the state’s fiscal problems a little ways down the road. But then again, the majority Democrats aren’t likely to grow a sense of responsibility any time soon.

So staunch the bleeding while there’s still time. Because, in fact, Democrats are now openly touting a recent state supreme court decision to say they can raise capital gains (and who knows what other kinds of) taxes — spitting on the state constitution’s plain language that requires a vote of the people to approve tax hikes.

While the legislature is out of session for now, the high court continues to wreak havoc. That’s why Clear the Bench Colorado is deserving of our support. We’d also do well to clear most of the benches in the state house and senate, too.

Sine die has come, just not quite soon enough.

Tune in tonight at 8:30 PM local Mountain time for the 23rd edition of Rocky Mountain Alliance Blog Talk Radio. Our confirmed guest for this week is Matt Arnold from Clear the Bench Colorado to discuss his grassroots campaign to recall four state supreme court justices. We also hope to have on Senator Mark Scheffel, R-Parker, to talk about the contentious state budget debate.

If you miss the live show, you can go back and download the podcast, or just use the handy widget on my sidebar to listen directly from Mount Virtus.

My thoughts are here.

Update, 3/17: Law student Constructively Reasonable says the decision is a cause for “outrage”. A watcher says Colorado may not as well even have a constitution.

The Colorado Supreme Court has done it again, showing its disdain for taxpayer protections in the state constitution. From the majority opinion:

When it issued its declaratory judgment order, the district court did not have the benefit of our recent decision in Barber v. Ritter, 196 P.3d 238 (Colo. 2008), in which we held that a statute challenged under article X, section 20 must be proven to be unconstitutional beyond a reasonable doubt. The trial court erroneously held that the relevant test of SB 07-199s constitutionality came from the interpretive guideline included in the text of article X, section 20 to reasonably restrain most the growth of government. Applying this erroneous standard, the trial court concluded that: (1) SB 07-199 constitutes a net tax revenue gain to the State of Colorado; (2) SB 07-199 was not a change in state tax policy requiring a statewide vote; (3) voter approval was required under subsection 7(c) of article X, section 20; and (4) the waiver elections held in the local school districts did not satisfy subsection (7)(c).

Let me boil it down for you. The Colorado Supreme Court says:

1. We’ve made our own arbitrary rule that the Taxpayer’s Bill of Rights has a higher threshold for being violated by government than the rest of the constitution does.
2. This “tax policy change” that Democrat State Treasurer (and SB07-199 architect) Cary Kennedy admitted is a “tax policy change” somehow is not a “tax policy change”
3. The state can change tax policy (without it necessarily being a “tax policy change”) that raises local tax revenues, without having to ask voters’ permission
4. Voters in local school district elections had the clairvoyance to know their votes would result in the “tax policy change” of SB07-199 that really wasn’t a “tax policy change”

Or let me make it even simpler: (more…)

Update (3/10): Mike Reitz weighs in with an observation some of my readers may have a hard time believing: “Public policy wonks are real people, too.”

Here’s a U.S. Supreme Court decision that may have flown past your radar – Ysursa v Pocatello Education Association. The ruling ensures states (like Idaho and Utah already have done) can regulate the use of government payroll systems to prevent the collection of political contributions.

As Mike Reitz from the Evergreen Freedom Foundation explained to me in a new iVoices podcast, it’s a victory for clean government, taxpayers and orderly state labor relations:

A lot of the money funneled through government payroll systems goes to support the removal of the secret ballot and job growth stifling that come with the poorly-named Employee Free Choice Act.

Which Congress incidentally starts debating tomorrow.

Amendment 49 lost last year, but might the Ethical Standards idea be worth resurrecting?

(One final note: Star Wars fans will have to tell me what they think of the analogy I invoke near the middle of the 7-minute podcast.)

Interested in a lively and informative presentation and discussion of some of the worst U.S. Supreme Court decisions in our history, and ideas for the federal judiciary to get back on a more Constitutional path? Are you still looking for something to do this Tuesday evening (February 3) and live in the Denver area?

Well, here’s an event for you.

Institute for Justice president William “Chip” Mellor, one of the co-authors of the new book The Dirty Dozen: How Twelve Supreme Court Cases Radically Expanded Government and Eroded Freedom will be speaking at the Independence Institute (directions here).

Tomorrow evening’s event starts with a 5:30 reception, followed by the program at 6:00. Go here to RSVP. I hope to see you there.