Appellate Issues

The Rocky Mountain Children’s Law Center strives to advance legal issues that affect the rights of children of Colorado and the United States. To this end, the Children’s Law Center is participating as amicus curiae (“friends of the court”) in two cases before the Colorado Supreme Court that were argued by two Children’s Law Center attorneys Jeff Koy and Betsy Fordyce in September. Additionally, Tim Eirich recently argued as the attorney for foster parents in the Colorado Court of Appeals.

Below are the legal issues that will be addressed by the Colorado Court of Appeals and the Colorado Supreme Court in the coming months and links to oral argument.

10CA522 In the Interest of A.M. Colorado Court of Appeals
ISSUE: Whether the trial court erred in allowing the intervenor foster parent’s to fully participate in the termination of parental rights hearing and advocate for the termination.

CHILDREN’S LAW CENTER POSITION: We believe that foster parents have the right to advocate for the best interests of the child they care for in their home. As intervening parties to a foster child’s case, foster parents should be able to provide evidence, call and cross-examine witnesses. Often foster parents have invaluable information that if provided to the court could save a child’s life. Link to our argument provided by Tim Eirich, Esq., Children's Law Center Deputy Director.

08SC945 People v. Gabriesheski Colorado Supreme Court
ISSUE(S): In a complex case with multiple issues, the Children’s Law Center addresses: Whether the court of appeals erred in concluding that conversations between a child and her guardian ad litem (“GAL”) in a dependency and neglect case are confidential communications protected by attorney-client privilege.

CHILDREN’S LAW CENTER POSITION: We believe that an abused and neglected child deserves a GAL who is an attorney bound by attorney-client privilege and confidentiality. A child should be able to trust his or her GAL enough to share intimate information that otherwise may not come to light without attorney-client privilege. Link to oral argument for the amicus curiae brief by Jeff Koy , Esq., Children’s Law Center Director of Litigation.

09SC483, In the Matter of D.I.S., and Petitioners, Sidman v. Sidman Colorado Supreme Court
ISSUE(S): Whether a parent relinquishes his or her fundamental liberty interest in the care, custody, and control of his or her child by consenting to guardianship. Whether it was error to place the burden upon parents to prove, by a preponderance of the evidence, that termination of non-parents’ guardianship would be in the best interests of minor child, where parents originally consented to the guardianship.

CHILDREN’S LAW CENTER POSITION: We believe that children have a due process interest in established family and family-like relationships. In termination of guardianship proceedings, courts should consider this interest in determining what procedural safeguards are owed to parents. After a guardianship is created, if a parent fails to maintain a relationship with his/her child, the parent should have the burden of proving that termination of the guardianship is in the child’s best interest. Link to oral argument for the amicus curiae brief by Betsy Fordyce, Esq., Children’s Law Center staff attorney.