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Carlos Armando Samour Jr.: Difference between revisions
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Samour first became a member of the court by appointment. He was appointed in May 2018 by Democratic [[Governor of Colorado|Governor]] [[John Hickenlooper]] to fill the vacancy created by Justice [[Nancy Rice]]'s retirement.<ref name=appt/> To | Samour first became a member of the court by appointment. He was appointed in May 2018 by Democratic [[Governor of Colorado|Governor]] [[John Hickenlooper]] to fill the vacancy created by Justice [[Nancy Rice]]'s retirement.<ref name=appt/> To learn more about this appointment, [[Colorado Supreme Court justice vacancy (June 2018)|click here]]. | ||
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===2020=== | ===2020=== | ||
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===2016=== | ===2016=== | ||
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====Retention recommendation==== | ====Retention recommendation==== | ||
Samour was recommended for retention in 2010 by the Colorado Office of Judicial Performance Evaluation.<ref name=bio/> Read Samour's judicial performance review [https://web.archive.org/web/2/http://www.coloradojudicialperformance.gov/retention.cfm/ret/623 here]. | Samour was recommended for retention in 2010 by the Colorado Office of Judicial Performance Evaluation.<ref name=bio/> Read Samour's judicial performance review [https://web.archive.org/web/2/http://www.coloradojudicialperformance.gov/retention.cfm/ret/623 here]. | ||
==Appointments== | |||
===2018=== | |||
::''See also: [[Colorado Supreme Court justice vacancy (June 2018)]]'' | |||
Colorado Supreme Court Chief Justice [[Nancy Rice]] {{Greener|start=6/30/2018 5pm PST|before=will retire|after=retired}} on June 30, 2018.<ref name=Gazette>[http://gazette.com/colorado-supreme-court-chief-justice-nancy-e.-rice-to-retire/article/1622332 ''The Gazette'', " Colorado Supreme Court Chief Justice Nancy E. Rice to retire," March 8, 2018]</ref> | |||
Under Colorado law, Gov. [[John Hickenlooper]] appointed Rice's replacement. On May 30, 2018, Hickenlooper announced the appointment of Judge [[Carlos Armando Samour Jr.|Carlos Samour Jr.]] to fill Rice's seat. Samour was Hickenlooper's fifth nominee to the seven-member Supreme Court.<ref name=appt>[https://www.colorado.gov/governor/news/gov-hickenlooper-appoints-new-justice-colorado-supreme-court-1 ''Colorado Gov. John Hickenlooper'', "Gov. Hickenlooper appoints new justice to Colorado Supreme Court," May 30, 2018]</ref> | |||
==[[Campaign themes]]== | ==[[Campaign themes]]== | ||
Latest revision as of 22:46, 14 July 2025
2018 - Present
2031
7
Carlos Armando Samour Jr. is a judge of the Colorado Supreme Court. He assumed office in 2018. His current term ends on January 14, 2031.
Samour ran for re-election for judge of the Colorado Supreme Court. He won in the retention election on November 3, 2020.
Samour first became a member of the court by appointment. He was appointed in May 2018 by Democratic Governor John Hickenlooper to fill the vacancy created by Justice Nancy Rice's retirement.[1] To learn more about this appointment, click here.
In 2020, Ballotpedia published Ballotpedia Courts: State Partisanship, a study examining the partisan affiliation of all state supreme court justices in the country. As part of this study, we assigned each justice a Confidence Score describing our confidence in the degree of partisanship exhibited by the justices' past partisan behavior, before they joined the court.[2] Samour received a confidence score of Indeterminate.[3] Click here to read more about this study.
Samour was formerly a judge on the 18th District Court in Colorado.
Samour presided over the trial of James Holmes following the 2012 movie theater shooting in Aurora, Colorado, which resulted in 12 deaths and 70 injuries.[4] Click here to learn more.
Biography
Samour was born in El Salvador and came to the U.S. when he was 13. He received his undergraduate degree in psychology, graduating from the University of Colorado at Denver in 1987. He received a J.D. from the University of Denver College of Law in 1990.[5][6][7]
Following law school, Samour clerked for Judge Robert H. McWilliams, Jr. of the United States Court of Appeals for the 10th Circuit. He worked in civil practice at Holland & Hart LLP, then was a prosecutor with the Denver District Attorney’s Office. Samour was a judge on Colorado's 18th Judicial District Court for more than 11 years and was appointed chief judge of that court in 2014. He served in the district court until his appointment to the state supreme court.[7]
Samour became chair of the Bail Blue Ribbon Commission in 2018.[7]
Elections
2020
Colorado Supreme Court, Carlos Armando Samour Jr.'s seat
Carlos Armando Samour Jr. was retained to the Colorado Supreme Court on November 3, 2020 with 73.4% of the vote.
Retention Vote |
% |
Votes |
|||
| ✔ | Yes |
73.4
|
1,966,343 | ||
No |
26.6
|
710,809 | |||
Total Votes |
2,677,152 | ||||
|
|
2016
Colorado held judicial retention elections in 2016. Fifty-eight district court judges sought retention to six-year terms in the general election on November 8, 2016.
Carlos Armando Samour Jr. was retained in the Colorado 18th Judicial District, Carlos Armando Samour Jr. Retention Election with 72.22 percent of the vote.
| Colorado 18th Judicial District retention election, 2016 | ||
|---|---|---|
| Name | Yes votes | |
 Carlos Armando Samour Jr. | 72.22% | |
| Source: Colorado Secretary of State, "Official election results," accessed June 18, 2021 | ||
2010
- See also: Colorado judicial elections, 2010
Samour was retained to the Eighteenth Judicial District Court for a six-year term, winning 62.18 percent of the vote.[8]
Retention recommendation
Samour was recommended for retention in 2010 by the Colorado Office of Judicial Performance Evaluation.[7] Read Samour's judicial performance review here.
Appointments
2018
Colorado Supreme Court Chief Justice Nancy Rice retired on June 30, 2018.[9]
Under Colorado law, Gov. John Hickenlooper appointed Rice's replacement. On May 30, 2018, Hickenlooper announced the appointment of Judge Carlos Samour Jr. to fill Rice's seat. Samour was Hickenlooper's fifth nominee to the seven-member Supreme Court.[1]
Campaign themes
2020
Ballotpedia survey responses
See also: Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection
Carlos Armando Samour Jr. did not complete Ballotpedia's 2020 Candidate Connection survey.
Analysis
Ballotpedia Courts: State Partisanship (2020)
Last updated: June 15, 2020
In 2020, Ballotpedia published Ballotpedia Courts: State Partisanship, a study examining the partisan affiliation of all state supreme court justices in the country as of June 15, 2020.
The study presented Confidence Scores that represented our confidence in each justice's degree of partisan affiliation. This was not a measure of where a justice fell on an ideological spectrum, but rather a measure of how much confidence we had that a justice was or had been affiliated with a political party. The scores were based on seven factors, including but not limited to party registration.[10]
The five resulting categories of Confidence Scores were:
- Strong Democrat
- Mild Democrat
- Indeterminate[11]
- Mild Republican
- Strong Republican
This justice's Confidence Score, as well as the factors contributing to that score, is presented below. The information below was current as of June 2020.
Carlos Armando
Samour
Colorado
- Partisan Confidence Score:
Indeterminate - Judicial Selection Method:
Assisted appointment through governor controlled judicial nominating commission - Key Factors:
- Appointed by a Democratic governor
- Was a registered Republican before 2020
- Donated less than $2,000 to Democratic candidates
Partisan Profile
Details:
Samour Jr. was appointed by Gov. Hickenlooper (D). Samour was a registered Republican prior to 2020. He contributed $1000.00 to a Democratic campaign for governor in 2006. The majority of his endorsements were from Democrat-affiliated groups.
Noteworthy cases
Anderson v. Griswold (2023)
- See also: Presidential election in Colorado, 2024
On December 19, 2023, Samour dissented from the 4-3 Colorado Supreme Court ruling that excluded Donald Trump (R) from the state's presidential primary ballot. On March 4, 2024, the United States Supreme Court overruled the state supreme court's ruling.[12]
The Colorado Supreme Court reversed a Denver district court's ruling that Section 3 of the 14th Amendment, which "disqualifies people who have engaged in insurrection against the Constitution after having taken an oath to support it from holding office," did not apply to the presidency.[13] The majority opinion said, "A majority of the court holds that President Trump is disqualified from holding the office of President under Section Three of the Fourteenth Amendment of the United States Constitution. Because he is disqualified, it would be a wrongful act under the Election Code for the Colorado Secretary of State to list him as a candidate on the presidential primary ballot."[14]
The Colorado Supreme Court was the first court in the country to determine that the 14th Amendment's disqualification clause applied to Trump. The decision was stayed until January 4, 2024, to allow for appeals. Trump's campaign said they would appeal the decision to the U.S. Supreme Court.[13]
On January 5, 2024, the U.S. Supreme Court agreed to review the Colorado Supreme Court’s decision barring Trump from the state’s primary ballot. Oral arguments in the case took place on February 8, 2024.[15]
Aurora, Colorado, movie theater shooting case
On April 1, 2013, Judge William Blair Sylvester reassigned the case involving defendant James Holmes to Samour in Colorado's 18th Judicial District. Holmes faced several charges of murder and attempted murder for a shooting at a movie theater in Aurora, Colorado, on July 20, 2012. Twelve were killed and 70 injured in the incident.[16]
Samour initially set a tentative trial date for February 2014. However, the trial was delayed due to the prosecution's request that Holmes undergo a second psychiatric evaluation. Holmes entered a plea of not guilty by reason of insanity and underwent the mandatory psychiatric evaluation. The prosecution sought the death penalty for Holmes.[17]
Lawyers for the defense filed a request for a change of venue in April 2014. They argued that due to the media coverage regarding the incident, their client would be unable to get a fair trial in Arapahoe County, Colorado, where the shootings occurred. Holmes entered a plea of not guilty by reason of insanity, and Samour accepted the plea.[18][19]
Jury selection for Holmes' trial began on January 20, 2015. A record number of jury summonses, 9,000 (one of the largest jury pools in United States history), were sent out to potential jurors in Arapahoe County. Commencing on January 20, 250 jurors per day received instructions and a questionnaire from Samour. Jurors were called back for more questioning and finalists were questioned in a group session until 12 jurors and 12 alternates remained.[20]
The trial began on April 27, 2015.[21] During the trial, two psychiatrists called by the prosecution said that Holmes may have suffered from mental illness, but that he was sane on the days he planned and carried out the attack. On the side of the defense, two psychiatrists testified that Holmes was schizophrenic and delusional, in support of the insanity plea.[22] On July 16, the jury found Holmes guilty of the murder of 12 people, attempted murder, and an explosives charge, rejecting his insanity plea. Since the jury did not agree unanimously to give him the death penalty, he was automatically given life in prison, according to Colorado law. He was formally given his life sentence without parole on August 26.[23]
State supreme court judicial selection in Colorado
- See also: Judicial selection in Colorado
The seven justices on the Colorado Supreme Court are selected through the assisted appointment method. Each justice is appointed by the governor from a list of names compiled by the Colorado Supreme Court Nominating Commission.[24][25]
Initial terms last at least two years, after which justices must stand for retention in a yes-no election. Subsequent terms last 10 years.[25]
Qualifications
To serve on this court, a justice must be:[26]
- a qualified elector in the state;
- licensed to practice law in the state for five years; and
- under the age of 72 (retirement by 72 is mandatory).
Chief justice
The chief justice of the supreme court is selected by peer vote. Beginning in January 2021, the chief justice began serving for a set term on a rotating basis. Previously, the chief justice served indefinitely as long as he or she had the support of his or her peers.[27]
Vacancies
If a midterm vacancy occurs on the court, the seat is filled as it normally would be if the vacancy occurred at the end of a justice's term. A judicial nominating commission recommends to the governor three qualified candidates for an appellate court vacancy (two or three for a trial court vacancy), and the governor selects a successor from that list. After occupying the seat for two years, the newly appointed justice stands for retention in the next general election. The justice then serves a full 10-year term if he or she is retained by voters.[25]
The map below highlights how vacancies are filled in state supreme courts across the country.
See also
External links
Footnotes
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 Colorado Gov. John Hickenlooper, "Gov. Hickenlooper appoints new justice to Colorado Supreme Court," May 30, 2018
- ↑ We calculated confidence scores by collecting several data points such as party registration, donations, and previous political campaigns.
- ↑ The five possible confidence scores were: Strong Democrat, Mild Democrat, Indeterminate, Mild Republican, and Strong Republican.
- ↑ The Denver Post, "Carlos A. Samour Jr., who presided over Aurora theater shooting trial, chosen for Colorado Supreme Court seat," May 30, 2018
- ↑ '"CBS Local, "Holmes Case Will Test New Judge’s Patience, Humor," April 7, 2013
- ↑ State of Colorado Office of Judicial Performance Evaluation, "Judicial Performance Reviews 2010, Eighteenth Judicial District Judge, Honorable Carlos Armando Samour, Jr.," accessed May 12, 2014
- ↑ 7.0 7.1 7.2 7.3 Colorado Judicial Branch, "Carlos A. Samour, Jr.," accessed June 18, 2021
- ↑ Colorado Secretary of State, "Election Results Archive, 2010, Colorado Cumulative Report, Official Results - General Election, Carlos Armando Samour, Jr. of the 18th Judicial District," updated May 12, 2011
- ↑ The Gazette, " Colorado Supreme Court Chief Justice Nancy E. Rice to retire," March 8, 2018
- ↑ The seven factors were party registration, donations made to partisan candidates, donations made to political parties, donations received from political parties or bodies with clear political affiliation, participation in political campaigns, the partisanship of the body responsible for appointing the justice, and state trifecta status when the justice joined the court.
- ↑ An Indeterminate score indicates that there is either not enough information about the justice’s partisan affiliations or that our research found conflicting partisan affiliations.
- ↑ Supreme Court, "Trump v. Anderson," accessed March 4, 2024
- ↑ 13.0 13.1 The New York Times, "Trump Is Disqualified From the 2024 Ballot, Colorado Supreme Court Rules," December 19, 2023
- ↑ NBC News, "Colorado Supreme Court kicks Trump off the state's 2024 primary ballot for violating the U.S. Constitution," December 19, 2023
- ↑ The New York Times, "Justices to Decide Whether Trump Is Eligible for Colorado Ballot," January 5, 2024
- ↑ NBC Latino, "Salvadoran immigrant named new judge for James Holmes’ trial," archived April 3, 2013
- ↑ LA Times, "James Holmes' Colorado theater shooting trial postponed so he can be tested," November 21, 2013
- ↑ NBC News, "James Holmes asks for change of venue in Aurora shooting trial," April 7, 2014
- ↑ NBC News, "Fed-Up Judge Delays James Holmes' Theater Shooting Trial to January," October 27, 2014
- ↑ International Business Times, "Aurora Shooting Trial: James Holmes Jury Selection To Start Tuesday, Could Last Until June," January 20, 2015
- ↑ Los Angeles Times, "James Holmes painted as a cunning killer, or a victim of schizophrenia," April 27, 2015
- ↑ NBC News, "Aurora Theater Trial: James Holmes Found Guilty of Murder," July 16, 2015
- ↑ NBC News, "James Holmes Trial: Judge Formally Sentences Aurora Gunman to Life in Prison," August 26, 2015
- ↑ Colorado Judicial Branch, "Colorado Supreme Court," accessed March 28, 2023
- ↑ 25.0 25.1 25.2 Colorado Judicial Branch, "Judicial Nominating Commissions," accessed March 28, 2023
- ↑ Colorado Judicial Branch, "What it takes to become a Judge," accessed March 28, 2023
- ↑ The Denver Post, "Colorado Supreme Court to impose term lengths for chief justice as current one retires," August 19, 2020
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
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