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Monica Marie Márquez (born April 20, 1969) is the chief justice of the Colorado Supreme Court. Previously a deputy Colorado attorney general, she was appointed by Governor Bill Ritter to the Supreme Court in 2010 to fill the vacancy created by the retirement of Chief Justice Mary Mullarkey. She was sworn in on December 10, 2010.

Biography

A native of Austin, Texas, Márquez grew up in Grand Junction, Colorado and graduated as valedictorian from Grand Junction High School in 1987. She earned a bachelor's degree from Stanford University in 1991 before spending two years with the Jesuit Volunteer Corps, working with at-risk children in Camden, New Jersey, and Philadelphia. She then attended Yale Law School, earning a Juris Doctor in 1997 and serving as an editor of the Yale Law Journal. She went on to clerk for two federal judges: Michael Ponsor of the United States District Court for the District of Massachusetts and David M. Ebel of the United States Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit. She then worked as an associate at Holme Roberts & Owen before joining the Colorado Attorney General's office in 2002.

Márquez is a past president of the Colorado LGBT Bar Association and a board member of the Colorado Hispanic Bar Association. She also served as chairwoman of the Denver Mayor’s LGBT Commission. Her father, Jose D.L. Márquez, was the first Latino judge of the Colorado Court of Appeals.

On July 26, 2024 Márquez became the chief justice of the Colorado Supreme Court. She is the first Latina and first openly gay person in the state's history to serve in that position.

Judicial appointment

On August 24, 2010, the Colorado Supreme Court Nominating Commission selected Márquez as one of three candidates to replace Justice Mary Mullarkey on the Colorado Supreme Court. On September 8, 2010, Democratic governor Bill Ritter announced Márquez as his choice to replace Mullarkey. The appointment won praise from her former boss, Republican Colorado Attorney General John Suthers. She became the chief justice on July 26, 2024.

Márquez is the first Latina and first openly gay person to serve on the Colorado Supreme Court. Her long-term partner is Sheila Barthel. As of 2021, she is the longest-serving of eleven openly LGBT state supreme court justices serving in the United States.

See also

• List of LGBT jurists in the United States
• List of LGBT state supreme court justices in the United States

References

1. ^ "Ritter appoints Marquez to Colo. Supreme Court". KDVR. September 8, 2010. Archived from the original on July 17, 2011.
2. ^ Cardona, Felisa (December 11, 2010). "Newest Colorado Supreme Court justice's milestone a family affair". The Denver Post.
3. "Justice Monica M. Márquez". Colorado Supreme Court.
4. "Justice Márquez". The Daily Sentinel. September 9, 2010.
5. ^ Cardona, Felisa (September 9, 2010). "Ritter picks Monica Marquez for Colorado Supreme Court". The Denver Post.
6. ^ "Sources: Monica Marquez Is Next Supreme Court Justice". Law Week Colorado. September 8, 2010. Archived from the original on September 11, 2010. Retrieved September 9, 2010.
7. ^ "Attorney General lauds Deputy Attorney General Monica Marquez as recipient of 2009 Richard Marden Davis Award". Office of the Colorado Attorney General. January 14, 2010. Archived from the original on September 11, 2010. Retrieved September 9, 2010.
8. Zialcita ·, Paolo (July 29, 2024). "Monica M. Márquez becomes Colorado Supreme Court's first Latina, openly gay chief justice". Colorado Public Radio.
9. "3 finalists named for Colorado Supreme Court vacancy". Denver Business Journal. August 25, 2010.
10. "New Supreme Court Chief Justice Sworn In, Justice Monica Márquez becomes the First Latina Chief Justice" (Press release). Colorado Judicial Branch. July 26, 2024. Retrieved August 13, 2024.

v t e Statewide political officials of Colorado
U.S. senators	Michael Bennet John Hickenlooper
State government	Jared Polis, Governor Dianne Primavera, Lieutenant Governor Jena Griswold, Secretary of State Phil Weiser, Attorney General Dave Young, Treasurer
Senate	Steve Fenberg, President James Coleman, President pro tempore Robert Rodriguez, Majority Leader Paul Lundeen, Minority Leader
House	Julie McCluskie, Speaker Chris Kennedy, Speaker pro tempore Monica Duran, Majority Leader Rose Pugliese, Minority Leader
Supreme Court	Monica Márquez, Chief Justice Brian Boatright William W. Hood III Richard L. Gabriel Melissa Hart Carlos Samour Maria Berkenkotter, Associate Justices

• 1969 births
• Living people
• 21st-century American judges
• 21st-century American LGBTQ people
• 21st-century American women judges
• American LGBTQ lawyers
• Justices of the Colorado Supreme Court
• Hispanic and Latino American judges
• LGBTQ appointed officials in the United States
• LGBTQ Hispanic and Latino American people
• LGBTQ judges
• LGBTQ people from Texas
• LGBTQ people from Colorado
• People from Grand Junction, Colorado
• Stanford University alumni
• Yale Law School alumni
• Women chief justices of state supreme courts in the United States