Michael Berger (Colorado)
Michael Berger was a judge of the Colorado Court of Appeals. He assumed office on December 18, 2013. He left office on October 29, 2022.
Michael Berger was appointed by Gov. John Hickenlooper (D) to the Colorado Court of Appeals in December 2013.[1] Berger was required to stand for retention by voters in 2016. He was retained for a full eight-year term that began on January 10, 2017. He retired from office in October 2022.[2]
Education
Berger received his B.S. from Cornell University in 1972 and his J.D. from the University of Colorado Law School in 1975.[3]
Career
Berger was a law clerk for Colorado Supreme Court Chief Justice Edward E. Pringle from 1975 to 1976. After his clerkship, Berger was a commercial litigator with the law firms of Koff Corn & Berger P.C. and Jacobs Chase LLP. He was a partner with Husch Blackwell LLP from 2011 to 2013.[3]
Awards and associations
Awards
- 2013: Colorado Bar Association Award of Merit
Associations
- Judicial fellow, American College of Trial Lawyers
- Member and current chair, Colorado Supreme Court Committee on Rules of Civil Procedure
- Colorado Supreme Court Committee on Rules of Appellate Procedure
- Colorado Supreme Court Standing Committee on the Colorado Rules of Professional Conduct
- Past chair, ABA Model Rules of Professional Conduct subcommittee
- Member and past chair, Colorado Bar Association Ethics Committee
- Former member and past chair, Colorado Bar Association Amicus Brief Committee[3]
Elections
2016
Judge Berger filed to stand for retention in 2016.[4]
Election results
November 8 general election
| Colorado Court of Appeals, Berger's seat, 2016 | ||
|---|---|---|
| Name | Yes votes | |
 Michael Berger | 68.91% | |
| Source: Colorado Secretary of State Official Certified Results | ||
Noteworthy cases
Colorado panel says CADA does not violate the First Amendment
Prior to their wedding, Charlie Craig and David Mullins solicited a Colorado business, Masterpiece Cakeshop, to design and make a wedding cake. The owner, Jack C. Phillips, refused, citing religious objections to same-sex weddings, but offered to design and bake any other baked good the couple requested. The couple filed discrimination charges under Colorado's Anti-Discrimination Act (CADA), which prohibits businesses and other places of public accommodation from discriminating on the basis of sexual orientation. The Colorado Civil Rights Commission issued a cease-and-desist order to Masterpiece Cakeshop, while Phillips alleged that both the order and CADA violated his First Amendment freedoms of expression and religious exercise.[5]
A three-judge panel of the Colorado Court of Appeals composed of Chief Judge Alan Loeb and Judges Daniel Taubman and Michael Berger heard the appeal. Judge Taubman wrote the opinion of the panel in which Chief Judge Loeb and Judge Berger concurred. In his opinion for the panel, Judge Taubman upheld the Commission's order. In rejecting Masterpiece's free expression challenge, Judge Taubman acknowledged that "First Amendment protections extend to conduct that is 'inherently expressive.' ... In deciding whether conduct is 'inherently expressive,' we ask whether ‘[a]n intent to convey a particularized message was present, and [whether] the likelihood was great that the message would be understood by those who viewed it.’" In the panel's view, the crafting of a wedding cake for a same-sex married couple did not present such a likelihood. Judge Taubman noted that designing and selling a wedding cake to any and all customers in a non-discriminatory manner did not convey a celebratory message about same-sex weddings that was likely to be understood by those who viewed the cake. [5]
With respect to Masterpiece's religious exercise challenge, the panel determined that CADA "was not designed to impede religious conduct and does not impose burdens on religious conduct not imposed on secular conduct." Therefore, as the law was neutral to religious exercise and applied to all places of public accommodation generally, the panel reviewed CADA under a standard of review known as rational basis. A rational basis assessment requires that a law be rationally related to a legitimate government interest. Here, the panel held that CADA was rationally related to Colorado's asserted "interest in eliminating discrimination in places of public accommodation." The panel similarly upheld that Phillips' free exercise rights were not violated under the Colorado constitution.[5]
The U.S. Supreme Court agreed to hear arguments in this case during its October 2017 term.
- For more, see Masterpiece Cakeshop v. Colorado Civil Rights Commission
Recent news
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See also
External links
Footnotes
- ↑ Law Week Colorado, "New Judges Join 17th District And Court Of Appeals," December 18, 2013
- ↑ El Paso County Bar Association, "Colorado Court of Appeals Judges Berger, Richman to retire," July 12, 2022
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 Colorado Judicial Branch, "Michael H. Berger," accessed September 15, 2015
- ↑ Colorado Secretary of State, "2016 General Judicial Retention List," accessed August 10, 2016
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 Colorado Court of Appeals, Charlie Craig and David Mullins v. Masterpiece Cakeshop, Inc., and any successor entity, and Jack C. Phillips, and Colorado Civil Rights Commission, August 13, 2015
Federal courts:
Tenth Circuit Court of Appeals • U.S. District Court: District of Colorado • U.S. Bankruptcy Court: District of Colorado
State courts:
Colorado Supreme Court • Colorado Court of Appeals • Colorado District Courts • Colorado County Courts • Denver Probate Court • Denver Juvenile Court • Colorado Municipal Courts • Colorado Water Courts
State resources:
Courts in Colorado • Colorado judicial elections • Judicial selection in Colorado
