Second Judicial District - Denver County Court Judge
Honorable James B. Breese
Retention Year: 1998
Recommendation: Retain
The Second Judicial District Commission on Judicial Performance recommends that Judge James B. Breese BE RETAINED.
Judge Breese graduated from Harvard University in 1969 and received his law degree from Northeastern University in 1973. He was admitted to the Colorado Bar in 1973. Before his appointment to the bench, Judge Breese practiced law in Denver and was also a clinical professor of law at the University of Colorado and the University of Denver. He was appointed to the bench on April 1, 1987. Since then, he has presided over traffic, state criminal, city ordinance and civil divisions. He is currently assigned to the division that handles violations of state law.
Despite the high volume of cases he handles as a County Court judge, Judge Breese believes it is very important to give each case appropriate, individual attention, that the court procedures be explained to all parties, and that the reasons for his decisions be clear. He has worked on committees to develop standardized procedures between different courtrooms to encourage consistency.
Groups surveyed concerning Judge Breese's retention include litigants, jurors, attorneys and court employees. However, only the number of attorney responses provides a statistically valid sample. Attorneys responded 92% to retain, 2% had no opinion and 6% did not recommend retention.