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Arthur L. Fine

Trial Court · Denver · Denver

Meets Standards(Retain)2 cycles on record

Evaluation history

  • 1998 retention cycle
    Trial Court · Denver · Denver
    Meets Standards(Retain)
    Retention Year: 1998 Recommendation: Retain The Second Judicial District Commission on Judicial Performance recommends that Judge Arthur L. Fine BE RETAINED. Judge Fine, a Denver native, completed an undergraduate degree at Harvard College in 1954. He graduated from Harvard Law School in 1959 and was admitted into the Colorado bar that year. Before his appointment as a county court judge in 1988, Judge Fine clerked for a Colorado Supreme Court Justice, was an assistant U.S. Attorney, and was in private practice after 1964. Judge Fine currently hears civil cases involving money damages. Judge Fine is interested in improving resource management in the courts, including the possibility of establishing satellite courts outside of the downtown location, to promote more economical and cost-effective access to court services. The Commission found that Judge Fine is a competent, fair, concerned and courteous judge. He spends much of his personal time working on projects such as a Colorado Bar Association's committee on the Availability of Legal Services, and with the Anti-Defamation League's juvenile diversion program to help young persons. Attorneys surveyed voted 61% to retain Judge Fine, 28% to not retain him, and 11% had no opinion. Court employees voted 72% to retain, 17% not to retain, and 11% had no opinion.
  • 1994 retention cycle
    Trial Court · Denver · Denver
    Meets Standards(Retain)
    Retention Year: 1994 Recommendation: Retain Judge Fine graduated Harvard University Law School and was appointed to the county court bench in February 1988. Prior to his appointment, he was an attorney in private practice, including complex litigation. In the past two years his work load has been approximately 60% criminal and 40% juvenile. Judge Fine serves on the board of the Metropolitan Mediation Center and has initiated the use of mediation in cases involving juveniles, zoning and neighbor disputes. Because of the high volume of cases in Denver County Court, Judge Fine is working on increasing the efficiency of court procedures. Judge Fine has required early scheduling of cases for trial and does not allow automatic postponement of trials. Among the other judges of the general sessions division of the Denver County Court, Judge Fine participated in obtaining additional staff for both the city attorney and public defender’s office to increase efficiency. Greater utilization of mediation and diversion will increase efficiency according to Judge Fine, and he favors exploring alternative to traditional sentencing, in part because of the overcrowding at the county jail. In the juvenile division, Judge Fine recruited volunteers to provide hundreds of hours of useful public service to such entities as Share Colorado, The Women’s Bean Project, and Denver Opportunity. Judge Fine would like to see a satellite court established at a convenient location with hours more convenient to the public. Survey results received by the Commission rate Judge Fine far above average in most categories, and about average with respect to maintaining punctual proceedings. The Commission has received official transcripts of sentencing proceedings and found that Judge Fine sentence convicted defendants within the boundaries of judicial discretion. The official transcripts revealed appropriate sensitivity to the victims and a balanced attitude toward punishing the offender. Judge Fine considers domestic violence a major community problem. He requires completion of a 36 week counselling program as a primary tool in sentencing domestic violence offenders, and does not hesitate to send violent persons to jail in proper cases. The Second Judicial District Commission on Judicial Performance recommends that Judge Fine BE RETAINED.

Surveys & reports

No survey reports on record for this judge.

Sources