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Advance Colorado, et al. v. Jena Griswold, Colorado Secretary of State

Paid petition · United States Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit, No. 23-1282 · judgment April 26, 2024


Certiorari denied · February 24, 2025
Pre-decision estimate: 4% cert probability

Before the decision, roughly the 4.1% base rate. The model weighted this up for a circuit split argued in the petition, a dissent in the court below (flagged in the petition), and a Tenth Circuit decision below, and down for a state or local-government respondent.

Question presented

The Colorado Legislature and the Governor of Colorado are hostile to ballot measures that would reduce state tax revenue. After several tax reduction measures nevertheless received a majority of the vote in Colorado, the Legislature enacted the “Ballot Measure Fiscal Transparency Act of 2021,” which is codified at Colo. Rev. Stats. § 1-40-106(e). This legislation targets tax-cut initiatives specifically by compelling that the ballot title “must begin” with language stating that the tax cut “will reduce funding for state expenditures that include but are not limited to” programs like health and human services programs, K-12 education, and corrections and judicial operations. The language must be included in the ballot title and printed on ballot initiative petitions circulated by Petitioners, even in cases where it is demonstrably false. This petition thus presents the following questions: 1. Does the government-speech doctrine completely immunize Colorado’s intentional efforts to undermine Petitioners’ ballot measures, by forcing them to include false and perjorative language on the petition that they circulate to voters for signatures?

Counsel of record

For petitioner
William E. Trachman
Mountain States Legal Foundation

For respondent
Shannon Wells Stevenson
Colorado Department of Law

Case

Conference history
Distributed for 2 conferences

Amicus briefs
1 cert-stage

Linked docket
24A6

Proceedings

  1. Feb 24 2025
    Petition DENIED.
  2. Feb 04 2025
    Reply of petitioners Advance Colorado, et al. filed. (Distributed)
  3. Feb 03 2025
    Brief of Advance Colorado, et al. in support not accepted for filing. (February 04, 2025)
  4. Jan 22 2025
    DISTRIBUTED for Conference of 2/21/2025.
  5. Jan 03 2025
    Brief of respondent Jena Griswold, Colorado Secretary of State in opposition filed.
  6. Oct 21 2024
    Motion to extend the time to file a response is granted and the time is extended to and including January 3, 2025.
  7. Oct 18 2024
    Motion to extend the time to file a response from November 4, 2024 to January 3, 2025, submitted to The Clerk.
  8. Oct 03 2024
    Response Requested. (Due November 4, 2024)
  9. Sep 27 2024
    Brief amicus curiae of The Buckeye Institute filed. (Distributed)
  10. Sep 25 2024
    DISTRIBUTED for Conference of 10/11/2024.
  11. Sep 20 2024
    Waiver of right of respondent Jena Griswold, Colorado Secretary of State to respond filed.
  12. Aug 26 2024
    Petition for a writ of certiorari filed. (Response due September 27, 2024)
  13. Jul 12 2024
    Application (24A6) granted by Justice Gorsuch extending the time to file until August 24, 2024.
  14. Jul 01 2024
    Application (24A6) to extend the time to file a petition for a writ of certiorari from July 25, 2024 to September 23, 2024, submitted to Justice Gorsuch.