Hickenlooper and Bennet Recommended Gallagher to the White House in April
Denver – Today, U.S. Senators John Hickenlooper and Michael Bennet celebrated President Joe Biden’s intent to nominate Judge Gordon Gallagher to serve on the U.S. District Court for the District of Colorado. Bennet and Hickenlooper recommended Gallagher to the White House for the position in April. If confirmed by the Senate, Gallagher would serve on the court once Judge William Martínez takes senior status on February 10, 2023.
“Judge Gallagher has devoted his career to Western Slope and Tribal communities and will apply this important perspective to his work,” said Hickenlooper. “He is an experienced jurist who will be a fair and compassionate addition to the U.S. District Court. We look forward to the Senate confirming his nomination.”
“For decades, Judge Gallagher has sought to achieve justice and equality under the law for Coloradans, especially those along the West Slope and in Tribal communities,” said Bennet. “With his robust experience on the federal bench and unwavering commitment to the law, he will be a terrific addition to the District Court, and I look forward to supporting his nomination during the confirmation process.”
Judge Gallagher has served as a magistrate judge for the U.S. District Court for the District of Colorado since 2012. He was unanimously re-appointed to the position in 2016 and 2020. Earlier in his career, Judge Gallagher served as a Deputy District Attorney for the 21st Judicial District (Mesa County) from 1997-2000. In 2000, he began a criminal defense practice focusing on state court litigation in western Colorado. Judge Gallagher served as a member of the Grand Valley Task Force’s criminal justice working group where he worked to address systemic bias in the community. Judge Gallagher also works to provide rehabilitative resources for the Southern Ute and Ute Mountain Ute Tribes. In addition, he has worked for over a decade to provide legal representation to indigent defendants as part of the Alternate Defense Counsel (ADC) and served as Chair of the Pro Se Working Group to “investigate and consider how [the District] court can best facilitate pro se access to the court and how pro se cases can be handled in the most efficient and economical fashion.”
Judge Gallagher now serves as Co-Chair of the Pro Se Prisoner Task Force which was constituted to find ways to support and manage pro se litigation by state and federal prisoners. He graduated from Macalester College in St. Paul, Minnesota in 1991 and obtained his J.D. at the University of Denver College of Law in 1996.
This is the fourth vacancy on the U.S. District Court for the District of Colorado that the senators are working to fill or have filled. Over the last year and a half, the senators recommended Regina Rodriguez, Charlotte Sweeney, and Nina Wang to serve on the District Court. The Senate confirmed Judge Rodriguez in June 2021, Judge Sweeney in May, and Judge Wang in July.