Mary Mullarkey
By Matt Masich, LAW WEEK COLORADO
DENVER — One represented New Life Church when it rid itself of Ted Haggard. Another was a two-term governor of Ohio. A third will soon take part in a 3,000-mile bike race across the U.S.
What do they have in common? In a few months, they and a dozen others will compile a short list of lawyers, one of whom the governor will pick to become Colorado’s newest justice on the state’s high court.
The Supreme Court Nominating Commission will meet in August to pick three potential Colorado Supreme Court justices. It will likely have until Sept. 1 to hand its list to Gov. Bill Ritter, who will have 15 days to choose one to replace Chief Justice Mary Mullarkey, who retires Nov. 30.
The 15-member commission is composed of a lawyer and a non-lawyer from each of Colorado’s seven Congressional districts, as well as an at-large non-lawyer. The chief justice is an additional non-voting member of the group.
Commissioners serve six-year terms. Lawyer members are selected by the governor, attorney general and chief justice; non-lawyer members are selected by the governor.
Here’s a look at the justice-makers.
Lawyers
1st CD: Richard Holme, unaffilliated. Holme, a partner at Denver’s Davis Graham & Stubbs, has been a litigator in Colorado for more than 40 years. A member of the prestigious American College of Trial Lawyers since 1983, Holme has also served six terms on the Colorado Bar Association’s Board of Governors and two terms on the Colorado Supreme Court’s Grievance Committee.
2nd CD: S. Lamar Sims, Democrat. Sims is chief deputy district attorney in the Denver DA’s office. Sims, who has been with the office since 1981, has taught at the Denver Police Academy and Harvard Law School’s Advocacy program. He serves as the office’s liaison to local law enforcement agencies.
3rd CD: Alex Tejada, Democrat. Tejada is a partner in the Durango criminal defense and personal injury firm Crane & Tejada, where his law partner, Bethiah Crane, is also his wife. Tejada graduated in 1975 from the University of Denver College of Law. He was a public defender in Denver and Durango before launching his firm in 1990. He also serves on the 6th Judicial District judicial performance evaluation commission, and was previously on the district’s judicial nominating commission.
4th CD: William Kaufman, Republican. Kaufman represented Estes Park and Loveland in the Colorado House of Representatives from 1992 to 2000.
5th CD: Martin Nussbaum, Republican. Nussbaum is a partner in Rothgerber Johnson & Lyons’ Colorado Springs office, where he helps lead the firm’s religious institutions practice. Nussbaum represents a cross-section of religious groups, including multiple Roman Catholic archdioceses. He also represented New Life Church in its termination of Ted Haggard.
6th CD: April Jones, unaffiliated. Jones is managing attorney at Jones Law Firm, a Greenwood Village family law firm. She has been appointed by Gov. Bill Ritter and Gov. Bill Owens to the Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist Board, where she is now vice chair. She is also a board member of Colorado Legal Services, and is past president of the Sam Cary Bar Association.
7th CD: Barbara Glogiewicz, unaffiliated. Glogiewicz, an attorney with Kennedy Childs & Fogg who also holds nursing degree, represents doctors, hospitals, dentists and long-term care facilities in medical malpractice cases. In addition to her trial work, she is managing shareholder of her firm. Glogiewicz was named one of Law Week Colorado’s “Top Women Lawyers” in 2008.
Non-lawyers
1st CD: Romaine Pacheco, Democrat. Pacheco is state director of constituent services for U.S. Sen. Michael Bennet. She was previously a staffer for U.S. Sen. Ken Salazar and U.S. Rep. Pat Schroeder. She has also been on the Denver Board of Water Commissioners and served as communications director for the Denver Auditor’s office.
2nd CD: Jay “Drew” Clark, Republican. Clark is a retired math teacher who finished his career at Horizon High School. He was also a one-term state representative from eastern Boulder County, elected in 1992. These days he “ride[s] bikes and read[s] books.” In June, Clark will be part of a four-man team riding in the Race across America. They will try to ride from Oceanside, Calif. to Annapolis, Md. in seven days.
3rd CD: Mary Stengel, Democrat. Stengel is a practicing OB/GYN in Durango. She completed her bachelor’s and doctorate degrees at the University of Mississippi and completed her residency at the San Bernadino County Medical Center in California.
4th CD: Alan Foutz, Republican. Foutz is president of the Colorado Farm Bureau, an independent organization for farmers and ranchers. A native of Colorado’s eastern plains, he holds a B.S. and M.S. in agronomy from Colorado State University and a Ph.D in agronomy from the University of Arizona. He has been a crop science professor and has run his family farm in Washington County, Colo. since 1982.
5th CD: Dick Celeste, Democrat. Celeste, governor of Ohio from 1983-1991, has served as president of Colorado College in Colorado Springs since 2002. He was U.S. ambassador to India during the second Clinton administration and sits on the board of the Independent Strategic Assessment Group, United States Northern Command.
6th CD: Bruce Alexander, Democrat. Alexander has since 2000 been president and CEO of Denver-based Vectra Bank, which has 38 full-service branches across Colorado. Before that, he was executive director of the Denver Urban Renewal Authority, and spent the previous 20 years managing other banks.
7th CD: Lynn Johnson, Republican. Johnson is the director of Jefferson County Human Services. Before that she was chief of staff for policy for Gov. Bill Owens and chief of staff for Lt. Gov. Jane Norton. She has also managed the Colorado Commission of Indian Affairs and the Head Start State Collaboration Office. She started her career as a probation officer before becoming a mental health specialist.
At-large: Dorothy ”Deedee” Decker, Democrat. Decker, with husband, Peter, owns and operates the Double D Ranch in Ridgway. The ranch, which the Deckers bought in 1974, covers 1,400 acres near the Dallas Divide.
