HearSay by Law Week Colorado

District attorney positions are seen as apolitical public servants. Yet they run for election, raise campaign funds and appear on the ballot with a political party affiliation. In this four-part podcast, we discuss the politicization of prosecutors, and issues special to Colorado's rural areas, and we take a look at one of Colorado's more hotly contested DA races.

District attorney positions are seen as apolitical public servants. Yet they run for election, raise campaign funds and appear on the ballot with a political party affiliation. In this four-part podcast, we discuss the politicization of prosecutors, and issues special to Colorado's rural areas, and we take a look at one of Colorado's more hotly contested DA races.

District attorney positions are seen as apolitical public servants. Yet they run for election, raise campaign funds and appear on the ballot with a political party affiliation. In this four-part podcast, we discuss the politicization of prosecutors, and issues special to Colorado's rural areas, and we take a look at one of Colorado's more hotly contested DA races.

District attorney positions are seen as apolitical public servants. Yet they run for election, raise campaign funds and appear on the ballot with a political party affiliation. In this four-part podcast, we discuss the politicization of prosecutors, and issues special to Colorado's rural areas, and we take a look at one of Colorado's more hotly contested DA races.

In this episode, reporter Julia Cardi looks into why the COVID-19 pandemic is a touchpoint for mental health in the legal profession. The COVID-19 pandemic has come with a whole set of potential triggers for mental health struggles and substance use: The upending of daily routines we took for granted. Financial distress. Absorbing the trauma of clients who have suffered economically. The episode's first guest is Sarah Myers, executive director of the Colorado Lawyer Assistance Program. We also hear from a lawyer who returned to practicing law after coming back from an alcohol addiction and disbarment. Even though he's been sober for more than 15 years, his story might resonate with lawyers who have had mental health struggles triggered by the pandemic.

In this episode, reporter Julia Cardi looks at a new state office that’s been years in the making. Advocates talk about why Colorado's Office of Public Guardianship took nearly three years to start operating, and what it might come up against for the legislature to keep funding it.

The need to slow the spread of the novel coronavirus has caused some chaos in Colorado’s courts. In mid-March, Chief Justice Nathan Coats ordered the suspension of most matters except emergency proceedings, like criminal trials coming up on constitutional deadlines. Just a few days later, he extended the stay on jury trials through May 15. Some judicial districts have decided to restrict their operations even more, such as closing courts to the public for a few days and postponing all trials. Courts have had to scramble to find a balance between needing to restrict their functioning to protect public health and rights related to speedy trials and public access to proceedings. This month on HearSay, reporter Julia Cardi talks these implications over with Holland & Hart partner Chris Jackson.

Public records are the property of the public. At least that's the spirit behind laws for access to government records. But Colorado's Open Records Act doesn't cover the judicial branch. This month on HearSay, reporter Julia Cardi talks with a local advocate for open government about why the exemption means accessibility of judicial records in Colorado is far from black and white.

The Senate is expected to end the impeachment trial of President Donald Trump tomorrow by voting on whether to remove him from office. Trump is just the third impeached U.S. president. In lawyer speak, that means we don’t have a lot of case law to help define impeachable behavior. His lawyers and his supporters in Congress have argued impeachment requires the president to commit a crime. For perspective on how the Founding Fathers thought about the purpose and scope of impeachment power when they established it in the Constitution, reporter Julia Cardi talked with Scott Barker, a lawyer at Wheeler Trigg O'Donnell and self-taught impeachment scholar.

From funding of prosecutors' offices to legislative efforts to get the Office of Public Guardianship off the ground, a lot happened in Colorado's legal world last year. Julia Cardi sits down with Law Week Colorado reporters Doug Chartier and Jessica Folker, and assignment editor Jess Brovsky-Eaker, to discuss some of the most rewarding and interesting stories the editorial team covered in 2019.

Shortly before his death in May, Judge Richard Matsch, best known as the judge who presided over the Oklahoma City bombing trials, had finished a series of interviews for an oral history of his life and career by the 10th Circuit Historical Society. The 240-page transcript is a remarkably thorough record of Matsch’s early life, career and judicial philosophies given his reclusive and unapproachable reputation. The oral history is part of a renewed effort by the 10th Circuit Historical Society to document the careers of well-known judges within the circuit’s six states. This month, reporter Julia Cardi sits down with the judge who interviewed Matsch to talk about the historical society's oral histories and his sessions with Matsch.

Most people probably don't pay much attention to how judges in Colorado get selected, and it's tough to get voters engaged in judicial retention elections. But a high school presentation series seeks to change that. Students participate in a mock nominating commission process to learn about picking judges in Colorado, right as they are getting close to voting age. Reporter: Julia Cardi

What do gun regulations and Colorado’s Open Meetings Law have in common? They’re both issues in cases the state Supreme Court has taken on for the new session. This month, reporter Julia Cardi discusses a few significant cases with Sherman & Howard's Chris Jackson. One looks at whether the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment is subject to the Open Meetings Law. Another takes on the constitutionality of the state's high-capacity firearms magazine ban. Reporter: Julia Cardi Managing editor: Tony Flesor

For prosecutors and public defenders, the measure of an effective office is a matter of perspective. They don't even agree on the fundamentals of what makes each side’s job complicated, and each seems to think their responsibilities are more burdensome than the other side has. Reporter: Julia Cardi Managing editor: Tony Flesor

Cultural norms for professional dressing aren't just about what a person wears. This month, reporter Julia Cardi talks with two consultants about the messages clothing can send a message about gender stereotypes, corporate hierarchy and a company’s culture. Reporter: Julia Cardi Managing editor: Tony Flesor

With another Colorado appellate court session behind us, we look back at a controversial case over oil and gas regulations that the Colorado Supreme Court decided in January. The court separated the decision from political rhetoric. Less than two months later, the state legislature came up with a major overhaul of oil and gas regulations. So what does the case tell us about how Colorado's court system and legislature relate to each other? Reporter: Julia Cardi Managing editor: Tony Flesor

Colorado's counties are responsible for most of the funding district attorney offices get. So offices in different judicial districts don't have proportionally equal funding, leading to disparities in staffing, workloads and specialty court programs. But even if counties and districts agree they want the state to contribute more funding, it's a thorny issue in the legislature. Reporter: Julia Cardi Managing editor: Tony Flesor

Would most attorneys who represent individual people be able to afford their own rates? Two family law attorneys realized the answer was no, not if they used the traditional billable hour. This month, Doug Chartier talks with Erika Holmes and Lauren Lester about the rise of "modern law," a model that allows clients to choose what particular components of their cases they want representation for and pay fixed fees. The attorneys discuss what modern law is, but also what it isn't. Producer: Julia Cardi Managing editor: Tony Flesor

After someone dies at the hands of law enforcement, officers rarely face criminal charges. And going through the civil court system in a wrongful death lawsuit takes a punishing emotional toll on everyone involved. So then how might victims' families pursue justice? This month on HearSay, we look at approaches to policing policy reform aimed at reducing preventable use of force. Reporter: Julia Cardi Producers: Hannah Blatter, Julia Cardi Managing editor: Tony Flesor

How might Konstantin Stanislavski, probably the best-known acting teacher in modern history, coach a lawyer on writing a motion to dismiss? For this month's episode of HearSay, Law Week sat down with Joe Daniels, a business litigator and theater buff, to talk about how acting theory can apply to litigation. Reporter: Doug Chartier Producers: Julia Cardi, Scott Hicken Managing editor: Tony Flesor

The confirmation fights for President Donald Trump's Supreme Court picks have been fierce. But presidential administrations and outside organizations have pushed for decades to pack courts with judges they believe will make decisions that line up with their agendas. This month, Law Week talked to a few experts to find out how we got to today’s climate of heavily politicized high court appointments.

Description: The First Amendment made a lot of news in 2018. One Colorado case, Masterpiece Cakeshop v. Colorado Civil Rights Commission, was especially controversial because it set the key constitutional rights of religious freedom and LGBTQ rights against each other. But this month, Law Week sat down with an expert in religious freedom and the First Amendment to talk about how the core arguments in religious cases haven’t fundamentally changed over the U.S.’s history. Reporter: Julia Cardi Producer: Scott Hicken Managing Editor: Tony Flesor

A lawsuit over land use in Costilla County's Cielo Vista Ranch has amassed a huge case record since it started in 1981. This month, the lead attorneys weigh in on what it's been like to work with a record that's tens of thousands of pages. Note: This story has been re-uploaded to correct an audio issue with the previous version.

Through dynamics of language, women justices on the U.S. Supreme Court have an uphill battle to get respect from their male colleagues. But do women judges on Colorado's courts face the same challenge?

Sometimes the struggles of domestic violence survivors don't end after they leave the relationship. This episode explores one woman's experience with the access gap in legal services for domestic violence survivors and how legislative and judicial efforts are aiming to combat the problem.

As Colorado legislation allows autonomous vehicles to rev up, what legal roadblocks will the new technology face? Find out on HearSay from Law Week Colorado. http://lawweekcolorado.com/hearsay/