Richard L. Gabriel
Richard L. Gabriel | |
---|---|
Associate Justice of the Colorado Supreme Court | |
Assumed office September 1, 2015 | |
Appointed by | John Hickenlooper |
Preceded by | Gregory J. Hobbs Jr. |
Personal details | |
Born | Brooklyn, New York, U.S. | March 3, 1962
Alma mater | Yale University University of Pennsylvania Law School |
Richard L. Gabriel (born March 3, 1962) is an American lawyer and judge, who is an associate justice of the Colorado Supreme Court.[1] He previously served on the Colorado Court of Appeals from 2008 to 2015.[1]
Education and early career
Gabriel was born in Brooklyn, New York City, in 1962, and was one of seven children.[2] He completed a Bachelor of Arts degree in American studies in 1984 at Yale University, and completed a law degree in 1987 at the University of Pennsylvania Law School, where he was articles editor for the University of Pennsylvania Law Review in 1986-87.[1]
Gabriel clerked for federal judge J. Frederick Motz of the United States District Court for the District of Maryland in 1987-88. He worked in private practice in New York City from 1988 to 1990. Gabriel moved to Colorado in 1990, because of a job offered to his wife, and was an associate attorney and then a partner at a law firm in Denver from 1994 to 2008.[2] Gabriel's wife, Jill Wichlens, is an attorney with the Federal public defender's office in Denver.[3]
Gabriel specialized in business law, including commercial litigation and intellectual property law.[2] He also served as city prosecutor for Lafayette, Colorado for several years.[1] In 2007, Gabriel was named the Intellectual Property Lawyer of the Year by Law Week Colorado.[4]
Judicial service
The Governor of Colorado Bill Ritter announced in May 2008 that Gabriel would be appointed to the Colorado Court of Appeals, and he was sworn in as a judge on June 30.[5] He was retained in a retention election in November 2010, winning 65.9 per cent of the vote.[6]
In March 2015, Colorado Supreme Court justice Gregory J. Hobbs Jr. announced that he would retire effective from September 1, 2015.[7] The Colorado Judicial Nominating Commission selected Gabriel as one of three possible candidates to replace Hobbs.[8] The other two candidates were University of Colorado Law School professor Melissa Hart and district court judge David Prince of the 4th Judicial District.[8] Governor John Hickenlooper announced Gabriel as his choice to replace Hobbs on June 23, 2015.[9]
In May 2017, Justice Gabriel concurred in judgment when finding that imposing an eighty-four year sentence on a fifteen-year-old murderer did not violate the Constitution’s Eighth Amendment prohibition on sentencing juveniles to life without parole because the child might live through the end of his sentence.[10][11]
Gabriel was retained by voters in a 2018 retention election.[12]
References
- ^ a b c d "Richard L. Gabriel". Colorado Judicial Branch. State of Colorado. 2017. Retrieved October 6, 2017.
- ^ a b c Lewis, Keith (September 18, 2015). "The Docket Sits Down with Newly Appointed Supreme Court Justice Richard Gabriel". The Docket. Denver Bar Association. Retrieved October 6, 2017.
- ^ Goodland, Marianne (June 23, 2015). "What you should know about Colorado's new Supreme Court judge". The Colorado Independent. Denver. Retrieved October 6, 2017.
- ^ "State Court of Appeals Judge Richard L. Gabriel". Daily Camera. Boulder, Colorado. October 7, 2010. Retrieved October 6, 2017.
- ^ "Gov. Ritter Names Three to Court of Appeals" (PDF). Office of Gov. Bill Ritter. State of Colorado. May 1, 2008. Retrieved October 6, 2017.
- ^ Gessler, Scott (2010). "2010 Abstract of Votes Cast" (PDF). Office of Secretary of State. State of Colorado. Retrieved October 6, 2017.
- ^ Harden, Mark (March 20, 2015). "Colorado Supreme Court justice to retire". Denver Business Journal. Denver. Retrieved October 6, 2017.
- ^ a b Mendoza, Monica (June 24, 2015). "Judge Richard Gabriel is Hickenlooper's pick for Colorado Supreme Court". Denver Business Journal. Denver. Retrieved October 6, 2017.
- ^ Bartels, Lynn; Nussbaum, Matthew (June 23, 2015). "Gov. Hickenlooper appoints Richard Gabriel to Colorado Supreme Court". The Denver Post. Denver. Retrieved October 6, 2017.
- ^ Note, Recent Case: Colorado Supreme Court Holds that Aggregate Term-of-Years Sentences Can Never Implicate Eighth Amendment Restrictions on Juvenile Life Without Parole, 131 Harv. L. Rev. 1187 (2018)..
- ^ Lucero v. People, 394 P.3d 1128 (Colo. 2017).
- ^ "Methods of Judicial Selection: Colorado". National Center for State Courts. American Judicature Society. 2017. Retrieved October 6, 2017.