Litigation

Campaign Complaint Against JAS Partners Dismissed

By Peter Hardin

A campaign finance complaint by Clear the Bench Colorado, a group that sought to oust three state Supreme Court justices last year, against the Colorado Bar Association and three allied groups was dismissed by a judge.

Clear the Bench contended that the groups it sued had expressly advocated for retaining the justices whose names appeared on last year’s retention ballot, and the groups should have been subject to the same contribution limits as political committees, according to a Law Week Colorado article.

Administrative Law Judge Judith Schulman took legal sides with the bar association, which argued the groups’ Know Your Judge campaign was a voter education effort. That effort linked to Colorado judicial performance evaluation websites.

Also named in the complaint were University of Denver?s Institute for the Advancement of the American Legal System, the Colorado Judicial Institute and the League of Women Voters of Colorado.

?CJI is pleased that Judge Schulman confirmed the position of the partners in the Know Your Judge effort,” said Colorado Judicial Institute Board Chair Sheila Gutterman in a press release.  “Providing individuals with information about the judicial system that includes a link to the Colorado Office of Judicial Performance Evaluation is not campaigning.”

CJI, IAALS and the League of Women Voters are Justice at Stake partners.

Full post as published by The Gavel on March 15, 2011 (boomark / email).