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Group seeks to oust state's top judge | Western Colorado
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Group seeks to oust state's top judge | Western Colorado

A right-wing national group that claims Democrats are weaponizing the courts has begun convincing Colorado voters to reject the term of Colorado Supreme Court Chief Justice Monica Marquez.

The group contends that Marquez should not be elected in the fall election because she was one of four Colorado justices who wrote the majority opinion that disqualified former President Donald Trump from the June primary.

That ruling was later overturned by a unanimous decision by the U.S. Supreme Court, after which Trump appointed three of his most conservative justices. The court ruled that candidates for federal office cannot be barred from running by state courts.

“Justice Monica Marquez, along with three other left-leaning justices, voted to remove Trump from the ballot in a sharply divided 4-3 ruling from this all-Democratic court, only to have her decision overturned in a unanimous decision by the U.S. Supreme Court.” the group said in an email. “This decision not only underscores the radical, baseless nature of Marquez's ruling, but also sends a clear message about the importance of accountability and upholding the rule of law.”

Marquez, a Grand Junction native, was appointed to the Supreme Court in 2010 by then-Gov. Bill Ritter. She was appointed chief justice earlier this year.

In its judicial performance review, the state Commission on Judicial Performance unanimously concluded that she should be retained, saying she was well prepared, courteous and respectful of attorneys appearing before the Supreme Court.

“The Commission found that Chief Justice Marquez was curious and deeply thoughtful and asked insightful and detailed questions,” the Commission wrote. “Numerous attorneys commented that Chief Justice Marquez was intelligent and considerate, bringing a new, unbiased vision to the court, and that her fairness and impartiality were unquestioned.”

Still, the group The Article III Project says Marquez doesn't respect democracy.

“Monica Marquez attempted to disenfranchise over 550,000 Trump primary voters in Colorado,” said Mike Davis, founder and president of the nonprofit group. “It does not respect democracy and the rule of law. “So it’s time for Colorado voters to fire Monica Marquez in this November 5 election.”

Davis previously worked for U.S. Sen. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, as senior counsel on the Senate Judiciary Committee. He later pushed for the confirmation of two of Trump's Supreme Court appointees: Neil Gorsuch and Brett Kavanaugh.

The group, also known as A3P, says it “defends constitutional judges, resists racist attacks on the independence of the judiciary, such as:

Marquez graduated from Grand Junction High School in 1987, where she was valedictorian. She received her law degree from Yale in 1997. She is the daughter of former Colorado Court of Appeals Judge Jose Marquez, who previously served as a district judge in Mesa County.

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