Austen Erblat is a digital producer and assignment editor at CBS News Colorado and is Covering Colorado First. Originally from South Florida, he's been working as a journalist in Denver since 2022.
Colorado Gov. Jared Polis announced on Tuesday afternoon that Susan Blanco would be appointed as the state Supreme Court's newest justice.
Blanco served as the chief judge of Colorado's 8th Judicial District, which covers Larimer and Jackson counties -- the first woman to hold that title -- and will now serve on the highest court in the state.
"When I heard about and think about Justice Blanco, a few words come to mind: innovation, excellence, creativity, hard work," Polis said at a news conference on Tuesday. "These are values that we need across society, and of course, reflected in the judiciary branch, and of course, in particular, in the Colorado Supreme Court."
The announcement follows the retirement of Justice Melissa Hart and will fill the vacancy left by Hart on the seven-seat court.
"It is the honor of a lifetime to serve on the Colorado Supreme Court as a Colorado native and as an American with Middle Eastern heritage," Blanco said at the news conference. "I'm the daughter of immigrants and come from a family of political asylees and I am a living promise of the American dream, yet my heart grieves for the people in Iran and others in the Middle East, including my extended family, who do not enjoy the protections of the rule of law that we hold sacred here in the United States."
Blanco was born and raised in Fort Collins, a community she said shaped her work ethic and sense of service and integrity. The daughter of Iranian immigrants, she appears to be the first person of Middle Eastern or West Asian descent to serve on the Colorado Supreme Court.
"In Iran, we don't have female judges. In some Middle Eastern countries, even being a female attorney is rare," she told the University of Colorado Law School, where she earned her law degree. "I think we sometimes take for granted the opportunities we have in the U.S. because our society has progressed in ways others haven't."
Blanco earned a bachelor's degree in psychology from Colorado State University and a master's degree in law from Duke University before getting a law degree from CU Boulder.
She has presided over criminal, civil, probate, domestic relations, adoptions, appeals, and other types of cases and currently serves on the board for Bridges of Colorado as well as the Institute for the Advancement of the American Legal System. She was also a founding board member of the Colorado Bar Association's Diverse Attorney Community Circle and a founding member of Colorado's Middle Eastern North African Bar Association.
In contrast to the U.S. Supreme Court, Colorado Supreme Court justices serve 10-year terms. In addition to Blanco, the Supreme Court Nominating Committee nominated former Deputy U.S. Attorney for the District of Colorado Andrea S. Wang and Christopher Clayton Zenisek, district judge in Colorado's First Judicial District, which covers Jefferson County.
The Colorado Supreme Court hears cases it decides to take on review that were previously tried in lower state courts, like the various district courts or the Colorado Court of Appeals. The Colorado Supreme Court typically sees over 1,000 applications to take cases each year and writes between 60 and 100 opinions on matters of attorney discipline, water rights, Public Utility Commission cases, prosecutorial appeals from trial court orders suppressing evidence, and state election issues.
Some recent cases it has taken on include that of a snowboarder hit by a Breckenridge resort employee on a snowmobile, the disbarment of a former prosecutor, a lawsuit from Boulder against Exxon and Suncor over fossil fuel emissions, and President Trump's eligibility to run in the 2024 election, a ruling that was ultimately overturned by the U.S. Supreme Court.
Blanco was selected not only due to her legal experience but also because of her work in the community, Polis said at the news conference.
Colorado Supreme Court Chief Justice Monica M. Márquez welcomed Blanco to the court, saying "we've got a big pile of work for her," on Tuesday.
"I do not take lightly what it means to have a seat at this table; to help interpret and uphold the laws of this state," she said. "It is both a solemn responsibility and a powerful affirmation that in America, justice belongs to everyone and its guardians can come from the most unexpected places."