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Nathan Coats
Nathan B. Coats was a justice of the Colorado Supreme Court. He was selected to be chief justice by his fellow justices in 2018 to replace former Chief Justice Nancy Rice. He was appointed to the court on April 24, 2000, by Republican Governor Bill Owens. Coats was retained by voters in 2002 and 2012. He served on the court until his retirement on December 31, 2020, after reaching the mandatory retirement age of 72.[1][2] To learn more about this vacancy, click here.
Education
Coats earned his undergraduate degree in economics from the University of Colorado in 1971. In 1977 he earned his J.D. from the University of Colorado Law School.[1]
Career
- 2000-2020: Justice, Colorado Supreme Court
- 1986-2000: Appellate Deputy District Attorney, Colorado 2nd Judicial District
- 1983-1986: Deputy Colorado Attorney General, Appellate Section
- 1978-1983: Assistant Colorado Attorney General, Appellate Section
- 1977-1978: Associate, Hough, Grant, McCarren and Bernard[1]
Awards and Associatons
Associations
- Member, Colorado Supreme Court, Criminal Rules Committee, 1993-2000
- Chair, Colorado Supreme Court, Criminal Rules Committee, 1997-2000
- Member, Colorado Supreme Court, Appellate Rules Committee, 1985-2000
- Member, Colorado Supreme Court, Criminal Pattern Jury Instructions Committee, 1987-2000
- Member, Colorado District Attorneys Council Legislative Committee, 1990-2000
- Member, Colorado Supreme Court, Joint Civil/Criminal Subcommittee on the Colorado Rules of Evidence, 1996-2000
- Member, Colorado Supreme Court Jury Reform Pilot Project Committee, 1998-2000
- Reporter, Governor's Columbine Commission, Fall 1999-April 2000
- Lecturer, Denver Police Academy, 1986-1997
- Member, Colorado Supreme Court, Board of Law Examiners, 1984-1994[1]
Elections
2012
- See also: Colorado judicial elections, 2012
Coats stood for retention in the general election on November 6, 2012, and was retained, winning 71.39% of the vote.[3]
2002
| Colorado Supreme Court, Associate Justice 2002 General election results | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Candidates | Votes | Percent | ||
Nathan Coats 
|
828,622 | 74.3% | ||
| Against retention | 286,961 | 25.7% | ||
- Click here (scroll to page 129) for 2002 General Election Results from the Colorado Secretary of State.
Judicial performance evaluations
2012 performance evaluation
Colorado Commission on Judicial Performance
The Colorado Commission on Judicial Performance announced its recommendations for judges up for retention in 2012. According to its website, the commission evaluates judges based on the following criteria: integrity, legal knowledge, communication skills, judicial temperament, and administrative performance.[4] Justice Coats was recommended for retention by a 10-0 vote. [5]
Clear the Bench Colorado
Clear the Bench Colorado is a conservative organization which provides evaluations for individual rulings of judges seeking retention. It summarized Justice Coats as voting 6-2-2 in upholding the Colorado Constitution. For a comparison of his votes in specific cases, see: Clear the Bench Colorado, Key Colorado Supreme Court Cases.
Support retention
- Boulder Weekly. To read the article calling for the judge's retention, see Boulder Weekly, "Justice of the Colorado Supreme Court: Retain Justice Nathan B. Coats," October 4, 2012.
- The Pueblo Chieftain.[6]
2002 performance evaluation
The Colorado Office of Judicial Performance Evaluation voted unanimously to recommend Coats for retention. The COJPE reviews the answers of attorneys and District Judges and asked a variety of questions to determine the Judge's performance. The score is rated on a 4 point scale similar to school grades. Since 1990, which was the first election year after the statutory creation of judicial performance commissions and the use of performance evaluations, all Colorado Supreme Court justices and Court of Appeals judges standing for retention have received do retain recommendations.[7]
| Question classification | Attorney score | District Judge score | Combined average |
|---|---|---|---|
| Impartiality | 3.4 | 3.3 | 3.35 |
| Clear opinions | 3.3 | 3.3 | 3.3 |
| Adequate explanation of opinion | 3.5 | 3.1 | 3.3 |
| Timely response | 3.2 | 3.2 | 3.2 |
| Response without criticism | 3.5 | 3.4 | 3.45 |
| Response based on law | 3.2 | 3.3 | 3.25 |
| Not ruling on extra issues | 3.7 | 3.3 | 3.5 |
| Respect towards all parties | 3.7 | 3.7 | 3.7 |
| No ex parte communications | 3.9 | 3.7 | 3.8 |
| Overall | 3.49 | 3.78 | 3.64 |
Political ideology
In October 2012, political science professors Adam Bonica and Michael Woodruff of Stanford University attempted to determine the partisan ideology of state supreme court justices. They created a scoring system in which a score above 0 indicated a more conservative-leaning ideology, while scores below 0 were more liberal.
Coats received a campaign finance score of 0.29, indicating a conservative ideological leaning. This was more conservative than the average score of -0.29 that justices received in Colorado.
The study was based on data from campaign contributions by the judges themselves, the partisan leaning of those who contributed to the judges' campaigns, or, in the absence of elections, the ideology of the appointing body (governor or legislature). This study was not a definitive label of a justice, but an academic summary of various relevant factors.[9]
Recent news
The link below is to the most recent stories in a Google news search for the terms Colorado Justice Nathan Coats. These results are automatically generated from Google. Ballotpedia does not curate or endorse these articles.
Noteworthy events
Public censure and judicial code of conduct violation (2023)
On August 7, 2023, a special tribunal of Colorado Court of Appeals judges censured Coats as part of an agreement between Coats and the Colorado Commission on Judicial Discipline.[10][11]
Coats admitted to violating the state’s judicial code of conduct in 2019 when the state judicial branch awarded a $2.75 million contract to Mindy Masias, a former chief of staff in the Colorado Judicial Department. An investigation found that Masias and other employees engaged in unethical behavior to secure the contract and that Coats failed to wield authority over the judicial department.[12][10][13]
See also
External links
Footnotes
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 Colorado Judicial Branch, "Nathan B. Coats," accessed August 10, 2016
- ↑ Colorado Judicial Branch, "Chief Justice Nathan B. Coats announces retirement, Justice Brian D. Boatright to serve as next Chief Justice as Colorado Supreme Court moves to rotational terms for Chief," August 19, 2020
- ↑ Colorado Secretary of State, 2012 Official General Election Results
- ↑ Colorado Office of Judicial Performance Evaluation, "Honorable Nathan B. Coats," accessed January 4, 2021
- ↑ Colorado Office of Judicial Performance Evaluation, Nathan B. Coats
- ↑ The Pueblo Chieftain, "Retain judges," October 15, 2012 (dead link)
- ↑ Email correspondence with Jane B. Howell, Executive Director of the CCJPE, Aug 27, 2010
- ↑ Colorado Office of Judicial Performance Evaluation, Review of Justice Coats
- ↑ Stanford University, "State Supreme Court Ideology and 'New Style' Judicial Campaigns," October 31, 2012
- ↑ 10.0 10.1 Denver Post, "Colorado judicial watchdog seeks unprecedented public censure of former Chief Justice Nathan Coats," accessed August 9, 2023
- ↑ Colorado Courts, "Order re: Recommendation of the Colorado Commission on Judicial Discipline and Public Censure, accessed August 9, 2023
- ↑ Denver Post, "Investigation into judicial scandal finds unethical behavior, but no contract-for-silence deal," accessed August 9, 2023
- ↑ Robert C. Troyer and Nicholas E. Mitchell, "Independent Investigation into the Leadership Services Contract Awarded by the Colorado Judicial Department to the Leadership Practice LLC," accessed August 9, 2023
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
