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Judges Receive Awards For Excellence
From The Denver Post
Several veteran judges and one longtime magistrate were named today as recipients of the Colorado Judicial Institute's "judicial excellence" awards.
They include Denver County Judge Alfred Harrell and Arapahoe County District Judge Robert Russell.
Also named was District Judge Jon Kolomitz, who sits in the 16th Judicial District, which serves Bent, Crowley and Otero counties.
The fourth recipient is Magistrate Jane Westbrook, who sits in the 21st Judicial District or Mesa County.
Before beginning his career on the bench, Russell was a lieutenant colonel in the Air Force. He retired from the service in 1984, was appointed an Arapahoe County magistrate in 1985, an Arapahoe County Court judge in 1989 and named to the district-court bench in August 1998.
Russell has served as president of the Arapahoe County Bar Association and the Sam Cary Bar Association as well as vice president of the Colorado Bar Association.
Court Finds For Colo. Christian College In Dispute
From www.Examiner.com
A federal appeals court has sided with a Christian university's argument that the state's denial of financial aid to its students is unconstitutional.
The 10th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals on Wednesday reversed a lower court's decision that had upheld denial of the state aid to students of Colorado Christian University in Lakewood.
The nondenominational university of about 2,000 students applied in 2003 to take part in the state's College Opportunity Fund, which makes stipends available to Colorado undergraduate students who qualify for in-state tuition. The school filed a lawsuit in 2004 after the Colorado Commission on Higher Education found the university to be "pervasively sectarian."
State law forbids appropriations "to any denominational or sectarian institution or association."
As he does four days out of the week, Commissioner Ron Albers strolls into his courtroom carrying a fishbowl filled with folded-up Post-it notes.
“All rise!” intones the bailiff.
His black judicial robe flowing behind him, Albers sets the fishbowl on the table and takes a seat at a raised dais, from which he presides over the San Francisco Drug Court. Albers is built like a small, compact boxer, and in the minutes before the proceedings begin, he surveys his courtroom with a quiet, almost feline interest. The courtroom audience is composed almost entirely of addicts who have been arrested for nonviolent felonies, such as auto theft or drug dealing or possession. They’ve been sent to his court because substance abuse motivated their crimes; in exchange for attending a drug program and thrice-weekly drug tests, they’ve avoided jail or prison. Albers monitors their progress through regular court dates, using a system of rewards — that’s where the fishbowl comes in — to urge defendants along the path of sobriety.
State Worker in Hot Water For E-mail Accusing Carol Chambers
From The Rocky Mountain News
An employee in the Colorado attorney general's office sent an e-mail from her work computer Tuesday accusing Arapahoe District Attorney Carol Chambers' re-election campaign of being bankrolled by "notorious attorney Frank Azar."
The employee, Dara Rockett Benoit, wrote that she backs Chambers' GOP primary opponent, George Brauchler, a former assistant district attorney in Jefferson County.The state does not allow employees to send political e-mails on their work accounts.
"The employee's actions are a clear violation of office policy, and the matter will be handled internally," said Nate Strauch, spokesman for Attorney General John Suthers.
Diane Gross has been appointed vice president and general counsel for Poudre Valley Health System in Fort Collins. She has been the health system’s associate general counsel since 2000.
The former medical malpractice attorney will oversee the health system’s legal activities including contracting, health care regulatory guidance, joint ventures, and managing the corporate insurance program.
“Diane has an incomparable depth and breadth of legal knowledge and experience in health care law and the issues that PVHS faces as we continue to grow,” Rulon Stacey, PVHS president and CEO said in a statement.
“Health care has become a complex industry, requiring medical organizations to continually improve and prove their quality,” Gross said. “With the complexity comes the absolute necessity of maintaining a solid legal foundation.”
Convicted penny-stock spammer Eddie Davidson walked away from a federal minimum-security prison camp in Colorado on Sunday, the U.S. Department of Justice said Tuesday.
Davidson, 35, had been serving 21 months in federal prison after pleading guilty to criminal spam charges in December. He is now considered an escapee and is being pursued by U.S. marshals, with help from the U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation, the U.S. Internal Revenue Service and local police.
He earned millions of dollars between 2003 and 2006 by operating a spamming operation, called Power Promoters, out of his home. He would change the header information in his messages to make it appear as if they had come from legitimate companies such as AOL and then send them out to hundreds of thousands of addresses.
