Recently in Court News Category

A number of you were probably disappointed when the Tenth Circuit Court of Appeals announced last year that it was cancelling its 2012 Bench & Bar Conference. Colorado Springs may not be the most exotic location for a legal elbow-rubbing, but the Broadmoor resort — the proposed location for the conference — is the longest-running consecutive winner of both the AAA Five-Diamond and Forbes Travel Guide Five-Star awards. It looks swanky on the website.

But instead of planning a conference where you could kick back by the pool and share indemnity ghost stories with Judge Neil Gorsuch, the Tenth Circuit decided that it wouldn't be prudent to hold the conference due to budget cuts.

Your Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals neighbors have the opposite problem.

The Colorado Mining Association and the State of Wyoming are joining forces to ask the Supreme Court to overturn the Roadless Rule, a regulation that bans construction and reconstruction in certain inventoried roadless areas (IRAs).

The Tenth Circuit Court of Appeals denied en banc rehearing on the Roadless Rule in February; now the Clinton-era law's fate is in the Supreme Court's hands.

A Colorado inmate is heading back to the Tenth Circuit Court of Appeals to challenge his murder conviction 25 years after a court convicted him.

Patrick Wood was convicted of murdering a pizza shop assistant manager and other crimes in 1987. In 2008, he filed a federal habeas petition. Though the government never argued that Wood’s petition was untimely, the Tenth Circuit Court of Appeals raised the issue sua sponte and rejected Wood's petition as time-barred.

So are the Nine over sua sponte issues?

The Tenth Circuit Court of Appeals doesn't get as much love from the Supreme Court as its Ninth Circuit neighbors -- and by love, we of course mean reversal -- but the Denver-based appellate court and the Oklahoma Court of Criminal Appeals have been on the High Court's radar over the last week.

The Supreme Court recently issued two orders related to the Tenth Circuit.

The Tenth Circuit Court of Appeals has issued its final word on the Roadless Rule, denying en banc rehearing in the matter this week; now it’s up to the Supreme Court to strike the Clinton-era law.

The Forest Service initially adopted the Interim Roadless Rule, an 18-month moratorium on road construction in most inventoried roadless areas (IRAs) in March 1999. The interim rule, which continued through August 2000, temporarily suspended decision-making regarding road construction and reconstruction in many unroaded areas within the National Forest System (NFS).

President Obama nominated Oklahoma Judge Robert Bacharach to a seat on the Tenth Circuit Court of Appeals on Tuesday.

Judge Bacharach, who currently serves as a federal magistrate judge in Oklahoma City, will replace Judge Robert Henry. Judge Henry left his post as Chief Judge of the Tenth Circuit Court of Appeals in 2010 to accept a position as President and CEO of Oklahoma City University, reports Tulsa World.

Wyoming Governor Matt Mead is leading the charge for a Tenth Circuit Court of Appeals en banc review of the Clinton-era Roadless Rule. The state filed a petition for rehearing on Monday.

In October, the Tenth Circuit ruled that a Wyoming district court abused its discretion in permanently enjoining the Roadless Rule on a nationwide basis because the district court's action was based on the erroneous legal conclusion that Wyoming had succeeded on the merits of its claims.

(Sidebar: Does anyone else hear the term "Roadless Rule" and immediately think of Doc Brown's closing line in Back to the Future? "Roads? Where we're going, we don't need roads." No? So it is just us ...)

Get ready to pay higher fees in the Tenth Circuit Court of Appeals.

The Judicial Conference of the United States recently approved increases to miscellaneous fees in the federal courts. The increased fee amounts will become effective on November 1.

Yes, it’s frustrating that the cost of practicing law is going up, but it has been eight years since the Judicial Conference last implemented an inflationary increase on miscellaneous fees. Here are the announced increases:

The Tenth Circuit Court of Appeals is accepting comments in response to five proposed changes to the Tenth Circuit rules until Sunday, October 23, 2011.

Comments on the proposed changes may be emailed to 10th_Circuit_Clerk@ca10.uscourts.gov. Interested parties are also invited to call the office of the Clerk with any questions they may have. That number is 303-844-3157.

The proposed changes are summarized below.

Are you looking for a legal job in Colorado? The Tenth Circuit Court of Appeals is hiring!

The job was posted on June 10, 2011, and is open until filled. Here’s the great news: There may be more than one position, according to the job listing on the Tenth Circuit Court of Appeals website.

The position is for a Staff Attorney and is a temporary job, with a starting salary of $59,057-$70,231. The position is not anticipated to last more than three months.