Second Judicial District - Denver County Court Judge
Honorable Arthur L. Fine
Retention Year: 1994
Recommendation: Retain
Judge Fine graduated Harvard University Law School and was appointed to the county court bench in February 1988. Prior to his appointment, he was an attorney in private practice, including complex litigation. In the past two years his work load has been approximately 60% criminal and 40% juvenile.
Judge Fine serves on the board of the Metropolitan Mediation Center and has initiated the use of mediation in cases involving juveniles, zoning and neighbor disputes. Because of the high volume of cases in Denver County Court, Judge Fine is working on increasing the efficiency of court procedures. Judge Fine has required early scheduling of cases for trial and does not allow automatic postponement of trials. Among the other judges of the general sessions division of the Denver County Court, Judge Fine participated in obtaining additional staff for both the city attorney and public defender’s office to increase efficiency. Greater utilization of mediation and diversion will increase efficiency according to Judge Fine, and he favors exploring alternative to traditional sentencing, in part because of the overcrowding at the county jail. In the juvenile division, Judge Fine recruited volunteers to provide hundreds of hours of useful public service to such entities as Share Colorado, The Women’s Bean Project, and Denver Opportunity. Judge Fine would like to see a satellite court established at a convenient location with hours more convenient to the public.
Survey results received by the Commission rate Judge Fine far above average in most categories, and about average with respect to maintaining punctual proceedings.
The Commission has received official transcripts of sentencing proceedings and found that Judge Fine sentence convicted defendants within the boundaries of judicial discretion. The official transcripts revealed appropriate sensitivity to the victims and a balanced attitude toward punishing the offender.
Judge Fine considers domestic violence a major community problem. He requires completion of a 36 week counselling program as a primary tool in sentencing domestic violence offenders, and does not hesitate to send violent persons to jail in proper cases.
The Second Judicial District Commission on Judicial Performance recommends that Judge Fine BE RETAINED.