Colorado Appeals Court: Addressing Racial Bias Allegations against Judges in Appeals, Exercises of Civil procedure

Download Colorado Appeals Court: Addressing Racial Bias Allegations against Judges in Appeals and more Exercises Civil procedure in PDF only on Docsity! SUMMARY May 6, 2021 2021COA64 No. 20CA1524, People in Interest of S.M. & E.M. — Juvenile Court — Dependency and Neglect — Termination of the Parent- Child Legal Relationship; Civil Procedure — Relief from Judgment or Order A division of the court of appeals concludes, for the first time, that the proper procedure for addressing an allegation of racial bias against a judicial officer that becomes known while the case is on appeal is a limited remand and further proceedings under C.R.C.P. 60(b). The summaries of the Colorado Court of Appeals published opinions constitute no part of the opinion of the division but have been prepared by the division for the convenience of the reader. The summaries may not be cited or relied upon as they are not the official language of the division. Any discrepancy between the language in the summary and in the opinion should be resolved in favor of the language in the opinion. COLORADO COURT OF APPEALS 2021COA64 Court of Appeals No. 20CA1524 Arapahoe County District Court No. 19JV563 Honorable Natalie T. Chase, Judge The People of the State of Colorado, Appellee, In the Interest of S.M. and E.M., Children, and Concerning E.R. and M.M., Appellant. ORDER FOR LIMITED REMAND Division III Opinion by JUDGE FREYRE Furman and Johnson, JJ., concur Announced May 6, 2021 Ronald A. Carl, City Attorney, Jordan C. Lewis, Assistant City Attorney, Aurora, Colorado, for Appellee Alison A. Bettenberg, Sheena R. Knight, Guardians Ad Litem Katayoun A. Donnelly, Office of Respondent Parents’ Counsel, Denver, Colorado, for Respondent-Appellant E.R. Chelsea A. Carr, Office of Respondent Parents’ Counsel, Patrick R. Henson, Office of Respondent Parents’ Counsel, Denver, Colorado, for Respondent- Appellant M.M. 3 ¶ 4 In Chase, ¶ 2, the judge and the Colorado Commission on Judicial Discipline filed a stipulated resolution. In the stipulated resolution, the judge agreed with the Commission’s facts and conclusions that various statements the judge made on and off the bench had, among other things, “a significant negative effect on the public’s confidence in[,] integrity of[,] and respect for the judiciary,” and that the judge had “violated Canon Rule 2.3, which prohibits a judge from manifesting bias or prejudice based on race or ethnicity by word or action.” Id. at ¶ 3. The supreme court concluded that the stipulated resolution was supported by the record of the proceedings, publicly censured the judge, and accepted her resignation effective in forty-five days. Id. at ¶ 7. ¶ 5 Father and mother contend that Judge Chase’s decision to terminate their parental rights “can best be explained in light of the foregoing.” Because these contentions may provide a basis for relief from judgment, father and mother should raise them in a C.R.C.P. 60(b) motion in the juvenile court and obtain a ruling from a judicial officer other than Judge Chase, to avoid any appearance of partiality, subject to further review in this court. 4 ¶ 6 Accordingly, we deny parents’ request to reverse the termination judgment, but we grant their request for a limited remand. On limited remand, parents must file their motions for relief from judgment, and a juvenile court judge, other than Judge Chase, shall conduct further proceedings relevant to the allegations raised in the C.R.C.P. 60(b) motion and enter findings of fact and conclusions of law. ¶ 7 The case is remanded to the juvenile court for the limited purpose of hearing and ruling upon the C.R.C.P. 60(b) motions, which shall be done with all due speed. ¶ 8 After the motion has been resolved, parents must immediately forward a certified copy of the district court’s order to this court, and the case will be recertified. The order entered will be made a part of the record on appeal. A supplemental record, consisting of the juvenile court record created on remand, including the juvenile court’s order, is due fourteen days after recertification. If any party wishes to supplement the record with transcripts of any hearings that occurred on remand, that party shall file a supplemental designation of transcripts with the juvenile court and this court within seven days of recertification. If supplemental transcripts are 5 designated, the complete supplemental record, including the court record will be due twenty-one days after the filing of the supplemental designation of transcripts. ¶ 9 Within fourteen days of the filing of the supplemental record, the parents, Department, and GAL may file supplemental briefs, each not to exceed 3,500 words, limited to addressing the juvenile court’s findings and conclusions on remand. Within fourteen days of any supplemental brief by a parent, any other party may file a supplemental response brief not to exceed 3500 words. ¶ 10 It is further ordered that parents must notify this court in writing of the status of the juvenile court proceedings if this matter is not concluded within twenty-eight days from the date of this order, and that the parents must do so every twenty-eight days thereafter until the juvenile court rules on the motion. JUDGE FURMAN and JUDGE JOHNSON concur.