Matter of the Title v. Campbell

8 P.3d 1194, 2000 Colo. J. C.A.R. 5168, 2000 Colo. LEXIS 1037, 2000 WL 1276736
CourtSupreme Court of Colorado
DecidedSeptember 11, 2000
DocketNo. 00SA193
StatusPublished
Cited by9 cases

This text of 8 P.3d 1194 (Matter of the Title v. Campbell) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Supreme Court of Colorado primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Matter of the Title v. Campbell, 8 P.3d 1194, 2000 Colo. J. C.A.R. 5168, 2000 Colo. LEXIS 1037, 2000 WL 1276736 (Colo. 2000).

Opinion

PER CURIAM.

In this original proceeding brought pursuant to section 1-40-107(2), 1 C.R.S. (1999), the petitioner, Bennett S. Aisenberg (Aisen-berg), challenges the action of the initiative title setting board (Title Board) in setting the title, ballot title and submission clause, and summary (titles and summary) for Initiative 1999-2000 # 246(e) (Initiative # 246(e)).1 Ai-senberg contends that (1) Initiative # 246(e) addresses multiple subjects and (2) the titles and summaries are unfair, unclear, inaceu-rate, and misleading.

Initiative # 246(e) would amend provisions of the Colorado Constitution governing judicial discipline. Proponents filed the initiative with the Secretary of State on May 5, 2000. The Title Board held its hearing and set the titles and summary for it on May 17, 2000. On May 26, 2000, the Title Board granted Aisenberg's motion for rehearing in part and denied it in part. Aisenberg filed his petition for review of the Title Board's action with us on June 1, 2000. On July 3, 2000 we announced our decision to affirm the Title Board with opinion to follow.2

I.

Initiative # 246(e) proposes to amend article VI, section 28(8) of the Colorado Constitution, addressing the Commission on Judicial Discipline, its composition and method of appointment, and its procedures. - The amendments would reduce the membership of the Commission from ten to seven members. The Governor would appoint, subject to Senate confirmation, all future members of the Commission. No person could serve on the Commission for more than eight years. As to the ten existing members of the Commission, the positions of the next three judge or attorney members whose terms expire would not be filled, thereby accomplishing reduction of the Commission to seven members. Current members who are judges or attorneys would be non-voting members until their terms expire. No future appointee could be an attorney or judicial department employee. At the request of the Commission, the governor would appoint three temporary special masters to hear testimony, take evidence, and report to the Commission in a specific proceeding, at which time their terms would expire unless extended by cause for a date certain by the Commission.

Initiative #246(e) also proposes that all papers, proceedings, testimony, and findings of or before the Commission, the supreme court, and special masters would be public records, available on the internet, summarized by the election official forty-five days prior to the judicial officer's future election, and printed in any ballot information booklet and mailed election notice required by law. In a defamation action, the proceedings, papers, testimony, findings, and any publication or posting of these under the authority of the Commission, the summarizing election official, or the publisher of the ballot information booklet, would be privileged, except as to witnesses and the party filing the complaint with the Commission. In all such suits, the [1196]*1196initiative would provide that judicial officers are public figures, and would not be compensated in a defamation action for campaign costs, loss of income from removal or non-retention by the voters, or attorney fees. The plaintiff in a defamation action would compensate the defendant for all actual attorney fees and costs, if the defendant prevailed.

Initiative #246(e) also provides that the General Assembly would enact procedures implementing the judicial discipline process. A preponderance of the evidence standard would be applied to disciplinary actions, but any Commission finding other than a full exoneration would compel a retention vote of the judicial officer on the next yearly state election date that occurs at least ninety days later. The initiative would repeal existing provisions of article VI, section 23(8) that are inconsistent with the proposed amendments.

IL.

We hold that Initiative # 246(e) does not contain multiple subjects and the titles and summary set by the Title Board are not inaccurate, unfair, unclear, or misleading.

A. Single Subject

In a number of previous cases, we held that amending the judicial discipline provisions of the Colorado Constitution is a separate subject from amending the qualifications of judicial officers. See In re Ballot Title 1999-2000 # 33, 975 P.2d 175, 176 (Colo.1999); In re Ballot Title 1999-2000 # 29, 972 P.2d 257, 259 (Colo.1999); In re Ballot Title 1997-1998 # 95, 960 P.2d 1204, 1209 (Colo.1998); In re Ballot Title 1997-1998 # 64, 960 P.2d 1192, 1199 (Colo.1998). We stated that the Commission on Judicial Discipline is an independent constitutional body and "it follows that any alteration of Commission powers, or the composition and manner of selection of Commission membership, does not serve the purpose of altering the qualifications of judicial officers." In re Ballot Title 1997-1998 # 64, 960 P.2d at 1199-1200. We held that provisions proposing to change the "composition, manner of selection, powers and procedures of the Commission further a distinct purpose" and therefore constituted a separate, distinct, and unconnected subject from amending the constitutional provisions relating to the qualifications of judicial officers. Id. at 1200.

Aisenberg argues that the term "judicial discipline" utilized by the proponents is too broad, and the "amalgamation of topics" presents "no apparent singular purpose" that fits the single subject requirement. We determine, to the contrary, that the proposed provisions all relate to the selection, powers, and procedures of the Commission. These provisions implement the single subject of establishing and directing the performance of a commission whose responsibility it is to independently assess and determine the disposition of complaints seeking the discipline of judicial officers.

Our responsibility in single-subject review is to determine whether the subject treated in the body of the proposed initiative is clearly expressed in its titles and whether the initiative unites separate, distinct, and unconnected subjects. See In re Ballot Title 1999-2000 # 25, 974 P.2d 458, 460-61 (Colo.1999). Implementation provisions tied to an initiative's central focus do not violate the single-subject requirement. See In re Ballot Title 1999-2000 # 200A, 992 P.2d 27, 30-31 (Colo.2000).

In the context of judicial officer qualifications, we recently held that a single subject existed in a proposal that addressed the selection, terms of office, and removal of judicial officers, and procedures associated therewith. See In re Ballot Titles # # 245(b), 245(c), 245(d) & 245(e), 1 P.3d 720, 422-28 (Colo.2000); In re Ballot Titles # # 245(f) & 245(g), 1 P.3d 739, 742-48 (Colo.2000).

Parallel provisions relating to the Commission exist here.

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Bluebook (online)
8 P.3d 1194, 2000 Colo. J. C.A.R. 5168, 2000 Colo. LEXIS 1037, 2000 WL 1276736, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/matter-of-the-title-v-campbell-colo-2000.