Monica Márquez, the new chief justice of the Colorado Supreme Court, sat down with The Denver Post last week, days after she was sworn in, to discuss her vision for the state Judicial Department as it emerges from a turbulent few years. Márquez took the helm of the Supreme Court from Justice Brian Boatright as part of a new system in which the chief justice role will rotate among the justices every three years. This conversation has been edited for length and clarity.
One of the beauties of taking over at this time is that we’ve had this formal onboarding process that has gone on for the last year. I’m super grateful for that opportunity because it’s given me a chance to shadow the chief, to sit in on a lot of meetings, to undergo a series of HR trainings, management trainings, get to know key constituencies across the state. It’s left me probably better prepared than any chief in recent history.
That’s one of the many major shifts that we’ve made in the last handful of years. So I feel lucky. Obviously, there’s a difference between riding in the front passenger seat and taking over the wheel.
I’m now taking over the wheel, but I have looked out the front windshield. I know generally the layout of the vehicle and what the controls do. But steering from here will be its own interesting ride.
I have been out for 30-plus years, but I also want to be clear that I do not claim to be the first openly LGBT justice, and I never have done that. I think others have .