Today, Senators Mark Udall and Michael Bennet announced the addition of Gary M. Jackson to a bipartisan, 11-member advisory committee that will implement an open process to recommend highly qualified applicants to fill a vacancy on the U.S. District Court in Colorado.  The deadline for applications was May 11, 2012.  Chief Judge Wiley Daniel is going on senior status effective January 1, 2013, creating a need to fill the vacancy as soon as possible - as long as it remains open, access to efficient, timely justice is impaired, and sitting judges are forced to deal with overwhelming dockets. 

Gary M. Jackson is a partner at DiManna & Jackson, LLP and has actively practiced as a trial lawyer since 1971.  Mr. Jackson is a former Chief Trial Deputy with the Denver District Attorney and Assistant U.S. Attorney for the District of Colorado, in which he was awarded a Special Commendation from U.S. Attorney Edward Levi for his trial skills.  Currently, Mr. Jackson’s trial practice includes personal injury cases and the representation of attorneys and judges in alleged misconduct and judicial performance matters.  Mr. Jackson received the CBA Award of Merit in 2011, the Colorado Bar Association’s highest honor.  Mr. Jackson has been appointed by the Governors of Colorado and Chief Justices of Colorado to serve on the Judicial Performance Commission of the 18th Judicial District and the Judicial Nominating Commission of the 2nd Judicial District.  He is a member of the American Board of Trial Advocates, (former Colorado Chapter President); American College of Trial Lawyers; Sam Cary Bar Association (Founding Board Member and former President); Colorado Criminal Defense Bar (Founding Board member).  Mr. Jackson was also the Chair of Committee on Conduct for the U.S. District Court and chair of Colorado Law Alumni Board.   Mr. Jackson has received the following awards: 1994 Colorado Law Small Firm Practitioner Distinguished Alumni Award; Colorado Law’s 2003 Honorary Order of the Coif;  CU-Boulder’s 2008 George Norlin Award; 2001 National Bar Association Wiley Branton Award; 2001 Sam Cary Bar Association’s King Trimble Life Time Achievement Award;  2010 William Lee Knous Award.  Mr. Jackson is the chair of the Delta Eta Boule Foundation, which provides college scholarships to deserving high school students of color.  Lastly, Mr. Jackson is a founder and treasurer of the Sam Cary Scholarship Endowment Fund, which has provided more than $150,000 of scholarships to CU and DU law students since its inception in 1986.  Other community boards and associations in which Mr. Jackson has been an active member are: Cleo Parker Robinson Dance Ensemble; Lowry Redevelopment Authority Board; Colorado Black Chamber of Commerce; Urban League of Metropolitan Denver; 100 Black Men of Denver, Inc.; United Negro College Fund; Colorado Trial Lawyer’s Association; James P. Beckwourth Mountain Club; and Sixth of May Foundation.

Jackson joins the following members on the advisory committee:

Hal Haddon (co-chair) - Mr. Haddon has been recognized as 'one of the best lawyers in America for 25 years.'  He has been an adjunct professor of law at Denver University and a fellow with the American College of Trial Lawyers and with the International Academy of Trial Lawyers.  Mr. Haddon was previously served as chairman of the Federal Judicial Selection Commission of Colorado in 1994 and 1998, and served as co-chair of the Federal Judicial Selection Committee in 2009.  He is currently a partner at the law firm of Haddon, Morgan, Mueller, Jordan, Mackey and Foreman, based in Denver.

Rebecca Love Kourlis (co-chair) - Ms. Kourlis served as a Justice of the Colorado Supreme Court for 11 years, resigning in 2006 to head the Institute for the Advancement of the American Legal System at the University of Denver.  Kourlis has received a number of honors, including Citizen of the West in 2010; Lawyers Conference of the American Bar Association Judicial Division Robert B. Yegge Award for Outstanding Contribution in the Field of Judicial Administration in 2009; and the Institute for Legal Reform, United States Chamber of Commerce: Legal Reform Organization of the Year in 2007.  She is a graduate of Stanford University Law School.  She is also a Colorado native and daughter of former Governor John A. Love.

Dale Harris - Mr. Harris is of counsel with the law firm, Davis, Graham & Stubbs, LLP.  He is a fellow of the American College of Trial lawyers and a past president of both the Colorado and Denver Bar Associations.  He has served as chairman of the Board of Trustees of Mile High United Way and is a member of the Colorado Supreme Court Judicial Advisory Council and the Chief Justice Commission on the Legal Profession.  He has been president of the Colorado Association of Corporate Counsel and has extensive experience with complex business and commercial litigation.  He is immediate past-chair of the Board of Directors of the Rocky Mountain Chapter of the Arthritis Foundation and currently serves as the chair of the Board of the Arthritis Foundation Great West Region.

Diego Hunt - Mr. Hunt is an attorney in the Denver office of Holland & Hart LLP, where he specializes in products liability litigation and complex business disputes.  He has litigated cases in several states and represents a wide range of clients.  He is the immediate past-president of the Colorado Hispanic Bar Association and served as the chair of its Judicial Nominations and Endorsements Committee from 2008 to 2011.  Mr. Hunt also managed several community-based initiatives through the Denver District Attorney's Office and Department of Public Safety and has served on several nonprofit and professional boards including the Mi Casa Resource Center.  He continues to actively serve on several committees of Colorado Hispanic Bar Association and is a co-chair of the City of Denver's Latino Commission.

Diane King - Ms. King is a partner in King & Greisen, LLP.  She is a member of the College of Labor and Employment Lawyers and is a frequent lecturer on employment law.  She has served as a president and board member of the Faculty of Federal Advocates and the Plaintiff's Employment Lawyers Association, is a board member of the National Employment Lawyers Association and is a founder and member of the Colorado AIDS Project Legal Referral Service.  Ms. King has extensive experience with the federal bench.  She is the former chair of the U. S. District Court's Committee on Conduct and currently serves as the chair of the Magistrate Judge Merit Selection Panel.

Michelle Lucero - Ms. Lucero is the vice president of Employee Relations at Centura Health, where she currently oversees all matters related to employment and labor issues, including all employment federal court actions.  Prior to her tenure at Centura Health, Lucero served as the Deputy City Attorney for the City and County of Denver from 2003 to 2006.  In that position, Lucero had oversight of all federal court matters.  Ms. Lucero has a diverse professional and community background, serving as a Trustee for Metropolitan State University of Denver, the Denver Career Service Board, and the Winter Park Trust - Board of Trustees. Lucero is a graduate of Rockhurst College, the CU Law School and is a native of Colorado.

Robert Miller - Mr. Miller, a resident of Greeley and partner with Perkins Coie, LLP, has over 45 years of experience in complex commercial litigation and white collar crime.  As the former U.S. Attorney for the District of Colorado, and as a former Colorado District Attorney, he has extensive experience in representing companies, board members, officers and individuals in connection with investigations by federal and state prosecutors.  He also routinely conducts internal investigations and advises companies on compliance programs.  He has represented many public and private companies, officers, board members and individuals in a wide variety of complex commercial litigation.  He is also a panel member for the American Arbitration Association.  

Lori Potter - Ms. Potter is a partner with Kaplan Kirsch & Rockwell, based in Denver.  She has served as an attorney for the Sierra Club Legal Defense Fund and has been listed in 'Best Lawyers in America' since its inception for her extensive work in environmental, water, public lands law and related federal litigation.  She was one of the founding directors of the Faculty of Federal Advocates and Chair of the Civil Justice Reform Act advisory committee for the District of Colorado.

Dan Reilly - Mr. Reilly is a founding member of the trial firm Reilly Pozner LLP.  He is a civil trial lawyer with extensive experience in the federal courts.  In 2000, he was inducted into the American College of Trial lawyers and the American Board of Trial Advocates.  He has been listed in 'The Best Lawyers in America' annually since 1995 and was honored by the Colorado Trial Lawyers Association for Best Amicus Brief.  Mr. Reilly has represented the ownership of the Denver Broncos and has handled a broad spectrum of civil litigation for both plaintiffs and defendants for over 30 years.

Ken Spann - Mr. Spann is a fifth generation Coloradan, a lawyer-rancher, and Vice President of Spann Ranches, Inc., one of the longstanding family-owned, great commercial cattle ranches in Colorado.  Mr. Spann has also served on the Board of the Upper Gunnison River Water Conservancy District and has extensive experience with the livestock industry, public lands management, water law and environmental law, including directly representing the National Cattlemen's Association on issues pertaining to federal land management before Congress and several administrations.  Mr. Spann served on the Colorado Rangeland Reform Panel convened by former Colorado Governor Roy Romer to advise the U.S. Department of the Interior on grazing regulations.  He is a graduate of the University of Colorado School of Law.

Mark Udall said today that a court order blocking the indefinite military detention for people arrested within the country is a victory for civil liberties and the fundamental principles of the country.
 
“I was happy to see that the courts have agreed with me that the military should not be able to indefinitely detain people on American soil without regard for due process, one of the cornerstones of our Constitution,” Udall said. “Judge Forrest’s decision underlines that the military should be focused on our national security abroad and not law enforcement at home.”
 
“I take the president at his word that U.S. citizens would not be subject to indefinite detention, but that promise only holds water until he leaves office,” Udall added. “Choosing between homeland security and due process is a false choice. We can protect our nation without sacrificing our freedom.”
 
Udall fought for an amendment during the consideration of the National Defense Authorization Act of 2012 that would have allowed the military to provide input on the need for indefinite detention authority.

Mark Udall said he was glad to hear that the U.S. Postal Service decided today not to close any of the four mail processing centers in Colorado it had considered for consolidation or closure.
 
“I am relieved that the U.S. Postal Service has decided to keep its mail processing centers in Alamosa, Colorado Springs, Durango and Salida open for business,” Udall said. “Losing any one of these centers would have been devastating for these important regional hubs. The Postal Service needs to change the way it does business to operate more sustainably in the 21st century, but today’s decision shows that at least some of these efficiencies will not fall on the backs of rural Coloradans or the residents of the state’s second largest city.”
 
Mail processing centers employ hundreds of Coloradans and provide critical services to businesses throughout their regions, including first-class overnight mail service. Udall has been an outspoken advocate of rural post offices and maintaining a high level of service and access to mail services for all Coloradans.