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Levy’s bill would curb judges

Legislation spurred by south Boulder land acquisition case

By Heath Urie

Thursday, January 24, 2008

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Claire Levy

Ongoing Coverage

Stay up-to-date in our Ongoing Coverage Section for the Adverse Possession Case

VIDEO: Nov. 18 protest picnic in support of the Kirlins. WATCH »

VIDEO: Take a look at Don and Susie Kirlin's land and hear them speak about the case. WATCH »

MAP: Satellite image Google map of Hardscrabble Drive.

AUDIO: Listen to NPR's report on the case.

AUDIO: Local singer Don Wrege composed several songs about the land dispute.

• 1. Stealing Land From Our Neighbor

• 2. This Land Belongs to Don & Susie

• 3. Edie & Dick (The Grinch Theme)

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Documents:

PDF: Read the court order.

PDF: Read the letter to Susie Kirlin from the Colorado Supreme Court’s Attorney Regulation Counsel rejecting her legal ethics claim

PDF: Read a letter sent from Richard McLean and Edith Stevens to their friends and supporters, in which they explain their actions.

PDF: Read a column by Boulder County Bar Association president Sonny Flowers that defends Boulder District Court Judge James C. Klein.

PDF: Read the police report about the suspicious package

more documents ...

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A Boulder legislator this week introduced a bill that would bar Colorado judges from presiding over cases involving other current or former judges within the same jurisdiction.

Rep. Claire Levy, a Democrat, said she authored the House bill in reaction to a high-profile south Boulder property dispute involving a former district judge. It's the second bill introduced in connection with the land conflict this month to bear Levy's name.

The Hardscrabble Drive case drew national media attention -- and sparked a public outcry -- when Boulder District Judge James C. Klein last fall awarded Richard McLean, himself a former Boulder district judge, and his wife, attorney Edith Stevens, about 34 percent of one of their neighbors' two vacant lots.

McLean and Stevens sued neighbors Don and Susie Kirlin in 2006, using the long-standing legal doctrine of "adverse possession" -- essentially a squatters' rights law -- to claim the land next door.

While the Kirlins have not publicly criticized Klein's role in their case, other observers have suggested there was an element of favoritism orbias toward McLean, who worked as a Boulder judge for 15 years and is generally well known among his peers.

"What I'm concerned about is the perception of the public; that the parties before the court didn't get a fair shake," Levy said of the Kirlins' case. "I'm not passing judgment on whether that's true or not -- but as long as there is doubt by the public or the litigants that they're getting a fair shake, we've got a problem."

Levy -- who is friends with McLean and Stevens, and who has faced public calls to "disassociate" herself from the couple -- said her straightforward, four-sentence-long amendment would fix that issue. It requires the chief justice of the Colorado Supreme Court to appoint a presiding judge from another jurisdiction in county and district court cases where one of the parties is a current or former judge from within the same district in which the case is filed.

"What I'm trying to do with the bill is just create a black-and-white rule that applies across the board," Levy said. "We're going to err on the side of safety and be sure that the process is squeaky clean."

Levy acknowledged that existing laws require all judges to excuse themselves from cases where there is a clear conflict of interest, and that any party to a case can request a new judge in such instances. This bill, Levy said, is designed to be a "better safe than sorry" measure.

The bill has been assigned to the House Judiciary Committee, on which Levy sits. There is not yet a Senate sponsor for the measure, but Levy said she expects to find one soon.

Levy also is co-sponsoring legislation that would change the requirements to win an adverse-possession claim, and would give judges in those types of cases the power to charge fair-market value for any land won through adverse possession. That bill is scheduled to be heard by the judiciary committee Feb. 6.

Don Kirlin said Wednesday he is happy that both of Levy's bills are moving forward.

"What happened to us was very unfortunate, but what I see is a lot of good coming out of the injustice we've had to endure," he said. "The Colorado Legislature is being so proactive. ... I'm very happy with that."

An attorney representing McLean and Stevens said the couple had no comment Wednesday night.

Contact Camera Staff Writer Heath Urie at urieh@ or 303-473-1328.

Read the bill by Claire Levy to prevent judges from hearing cases involving other judges from the same district

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