September 09, 2010 05:25 PM UTC

"Clear the Bench" Blows the Dog Whistle

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• by: Colorado Pols

We’ve talked a couple of times about the right-wing “Clear the Bench” campaign against originally four, and now three sitting Colorado Supreme Court justices up for retention this year. We’ll start by recognizing that they’re going to take issue, as they always have, with our characterization of their campaign as a “right-wing” operation. “Clear the Bench” doesn’t like being pigeonholed as expressly partisan one way or the other.

The thing is, as their latest rambling statement on the appointment of Deputy Attorney General Monica Marquez to the Court yesterday shows, they’re about as wedgy and partisan as it gets:

Governor Bill Ritter appears to have proved the cynics right (those who argued that he would base his selection on politics, rather than judicial experience) by picking Deputy Attorney General Monica Marquez as the next Colorado Supreme Court justice (replacing outgoing Chief Justice Mary Mullarkey, who announced in June that she would resign rather than be held accountable by voters this November), bypassing what appeared to be two highly experienced, eminently qualified, and non-partisan judges (El Paso District Judge David Prince and Colorado Appeals Court Judge Robert Russel).

Clear The Bench Colorado was among the few who held out hope that the outgoing governor would set aside politics and do the right thing in basing his decision on qualifications and judicial experience. His apparent decision to knuckle under to special interests instead of siding with Colorado Citizens and promoting judges who will uphold the rule of law is disappointing…

Although it may be possible to overcome a lifetime habit of political activism [Pols emphasis] and advocacy to become a fair, impartial judge who upholds the rule of law, it requires a significant mental shift – probably best reinforced by experience gained by being a judge on a lower court, rather than going right to the top.

Unfortunately, Ritter’s selection will only serve to further erode public confidence in a Colorado Supreme Court already damaged by a decade of highly-politicized, anti-constitutional rulings, since Marquez lacks any judicial experience and seems to have built her entire career on policy & political activism. [Pols emphasis]

To be as fair as possible here, “Clear the Bench” doesn’t actually use the word “gay” anywhere in this release–they complain about her work arguing cases CTB doesn’t like on behalf of the state, and support for her appointment from the Hispanic Bar Association. But nobody conversant in modern politics is going to miss the code-word reference to a “lifetime habit of political activism,” unless it’s a reference to her also being born Hispanic–and that’s even worse, isn’t it?

“Clear the Bench” also ignored the glowing recommendation Marquez received from none other than Republican Attorney General John Suthers–it was our understanding that CTB likes Suthers, and his support for Marquez makes an awful mess of their little narrative.

But just beneath the surface, you can see it’s a bit ugly in addition to messy.