Rocky Mountain Appellate Blog

Colorado Supreme Court Upholds Constitutionality of State School Funding

The Colorado Supreme Court this morning issued its decision in Lobato v. State of Colorado. The decision is here, and the Denver Post's report is here. In a 4-2 decision, the Court reversed the trial court's finding that the state's school funding system fails to meet the "thorough and uniform" standard set forth in the state constitution.

In a decision by Justice Rice, joined by Justices Coates, Eid and Boatright, the Court held that the "current public school financing system is rationally related to the 'thorough and uniform' mandate because it funds a system of free public schools that is of a quality marked by completeness, is comprehensive, and is consistent across the state." The Court also noted, citing prior Colorado Supreme Court precedent, that the "thorough and uniform" standard "does not demand absolute equality in the state's provision of educational services, supplies, or expenditures."

Justice Hobbes and Chief Justice Bender each filed dissenting opinions. Justice Marquez, who worked for the Attorney General's office while the case was being litigated, did not take part in the decision.

Tenth Circuit Hears Death Penalty Appeal

The Daily Oklahoman has this story on oral argument held yesterday in Magnan v. Trammell, which involves whether the Oklahoma state trial court had jurisdiction to try David Magnan for murders that, according to Magnan's attorney, occurred on Seminole land.  Magnan was convicted of the first-degree murders of three people and sentenced to death in 2005.  The question of whether the murders occurred on Seminole land appears to require tracing the title to a one-acre parcel of land back to a 200-acre property allotment more than a century ago.

If the murders occurred on Seminole land, Magnan would not be subject to the death penalty because the Seminole Nation has not agreed to application of the death penalty in its territory.  Indeed, the Seminole Nation filed an amicus brief in support of Magnan's appeal.