Chief justice says Trump ruling "came at a real cost"
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Colorado Supreme Court Justice Monica Márquez, left, talks with other justices, including Melissa Hart, right, in 2017. Photo: Andy Cross/The Denver Post via Getty Images
Colorado Chief Justice Monica Márquez has detailed for the first time the consequences of her late 2023 vote to remove President-elect Trump from the state ballot for his role in the Jan. 6 riot, saying "it came at a real cost."
Why it matters: The rare remarks from a sitting justice reveal the fear judges feel when making tough decisions in this hyper-charged political atmosphere.
Driving the news: Márquez never mentioned Trump or the case, but the implications were clear in her speech to the nonprofit Colorado Judicial Institute's annual gala last week in Denver, Colorado Politics reports.
- "I want to emphasize: I did not relish that vote at all. I cast it because in my view, it was what the law required," Márquez said.
- She added: "I did it because it was my duty. And honestly, each of us did our duty that day to apply the law without fear or favor and without being swayed by public reaction to the decisions that we each concluded the law required."
Catch up quick: Last December, Márquez sided with the 4-3 majority to block Trump from appearing on Colorado's 2024 presidential ballot under the 14th Amendment's insurrection clause.
- In a unanimous decision, the U.S. Supreme Court later overturned the decision, saying states had no role in enforcing the provision.
The intrigue: Her move prompted a conservative organization to launch a rare and closely watched campaign against Márquez, who faced a retention vote Nov. 5.
- She won retention with 64% support, according to preliminary election results.
Zoom in: In her speech, Márquez said the day she cast "probably the most consequential vote of my career" she lay awake since 2am thinking about the case and later vomited in her chambers' bathroom from the stress.
- "Because I knew what that would mean. I understood fully the personal consequences that would flow from it. Consequences potentially to my career. Consequences potentially to my physical safety. The safety of my family. The safety of my coworkers, my colleagues, my law clerks, my neighbors," she said, wiping away tears.
Between the lines: In September, Justice Melissa Hart recalled how her house was subjected to a fake police call about an emergency after her vote to remove Trump from the ballot, Colorado Politics reported.
- "My house was swatted. I had nine guns pointed at me by the Denver Police Department. It was the scariest night of my life," Hart said at a different judicial conference.
The bottom line: Márquez said her comments were not meant to make the audience pity her, but to raise alarms about "the broader social dynamics that we are witnessing right now are ultimately eroding the rule of law."