Melissa Hart, an associate professor at the University of Colorado Law School, was named one of three finalists Wednesday for an upcoming vacancy on the Colorado Supreme Court.
The state’s Supreme Court Nominating Commission selected Hart along with Richard L. Gabriel and David S. Prince as finalists to succeed Justice Gregory J. Hobbs Jr.
CU Law Dean Philip J. Weiser spoke highly of Hart, and said that “it’s going to be extraordinarily difficult to replace her” if she is ultimately is appointed by Gov. John Hickenlooper.
“She’s one of the smartest people I’ve ever worked with, has incredible intellectual firepower and is very thoughtful of the law,” Weiser said.
Hart, who graduated from Harvard Law School with a juris doctorate in 1995, was hired as an associate professor at CU in 2001.
Nine years later, she was appointed director of CU’s Byron R. White Center for the Study of American Constitutional Law. The center is shaped around the belief that citizens who are well-informed in regards to the Constitution are essential in an effective democracy.
“One of the major crises in this country’s judicial system is the inaccessibility to justice” Hart said Wednesday.
According to Hart, the average citizen is disconnected from the country’s legal system.
“It’s too expensive, it isn’t just the indigent who cannot afford it, it’s the working class as well” Hart said.
Hart, who stressed that she is only a part of a large process working to improve the legal system, related a few goals to increase its accessibility.
She said that there needs to be more encouragement for lawyers to work pro bono, for overall legal services to become cheaper, and for the court system to become more efficient to better handle overall expenses.
“It’s important for people to have confidence in the legal system,” Hart said. “If they don’t have access to the legal system, then they cannot trust it.”
Hart’s experience as a professor on the Boulder campus has been very positive in her opinion.
“I have really enjoyed working at CU,” she said. “I have had remarkable students.”
While Weiser is reluctant to possibly see Hart go, having said that “she is the complete package,” he expressed his gratitude for her work and the recognition that this would bring the CU Law School.
Hickenlooper must decide who will succeed Hobbs by June 25. The justice is stepping down Sept. 1.
Hart was nominated alongside two experienced judges.
Gabriel is a judge on the Colorado Court of Appeals. He graduated from the University of Pennsylvania School of Law in 1987. In 2008, he was appointed to the Colorado Court of Appeals.
Prince is a deputy chief judge for the Fourth Judicial District in Colorado Springs. He graduated from the University of Utah School of Law in 1990, and was appointed to the district court in Colorado Springs in 2006 .
In 2010, Prince was selected as a finalist for the Colorado Supreme Court, however, Monica Marquez was chosen instead.
