Monica Marie Márquez (born April 20, 1969) is the chief justice of the

Colorado Supreme Court The Colorado Supreme Court is the highest court in the U.S. state of Colorado. Located in Denver, the court was established in 1876. It consists of a Chief Justice and six Associate Justices who are appointed by the Governor of Colorado from a ...

. Previously a deputy Colorado attorney general, she was appointed by Governor

Bill Ritter August William Ritter Jr. (born September 6, 1956) is an American politician and lawyer who served as the 41st Governor of Colorado from 2007 to 2011. A member of the Democratic Party, he served as the district attorney for Denver before his ele ...

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 Austin ( ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital city of the U.S. state of Texas. It is the county seat and most populous city of Travis County, Texas, Travis County, with portions extending into Hays County, Texas, Hays and W ...

, Márquez grew up in

Grand Junction, Colorado Grand Junction is a List of municipalities in Colorado#Home rule municipality, home rule municipality that is the county seat and largest city of Mesa County, Colorado, United States. Grand Junction's population was 65,560 at the 2020 United St ...

and graduated as

valedictorian Valedictorian is an academic title for the class rank, highest-performing student of a graduation, graduating class of an academic institution in the United States. The valedictorian is generally determined by an academic institution's grade poin ...

from Grand Junction High School in 1987. She earned a bachelor's degree from

Stanford University Leland Stanford Junior University, commonly referred to as Stanford University, is a Private university, private research university in Stanford, California, United States. It was founded in 1885 by railroad magnate Leland Stanford (the eighth ...

in 1991 before spending two years with the

Jesuit Volunteer Corps The Jesuit Volunteer Corps (JVC) is an organization of lay volunteers who volunteer one year or more to community service with poor communities. JVC works in inner city neighborhoods and rural communities in about 36 different cities throughou ...

, working with at-risk children in

Camden, New Jersey Camden is a City (New Jersey), city in Camden County, New Jersey, Camden County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. It is part of the Delaware Valley metropolitan region. The city was incorporated on February 13, 1828.Snyder, John P''The Story of ...

, and

Philadelphia Philadelphia ( ), colloquially referred to as Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania, most populous city in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania and the List of United States cities by population, sixth-most populous city in the Unit ...

. She then attended

Yale Law School Yale Law School (YLS) is the law school of Yale University, a Private university, private research university in New Haven, Connecticut. It was established in 1824. The 2020–21 acceptance rate was 4%, the lowest of any law school in the United ...

, earning a

Juris Doctor A Juris Doctor, Doctor of Jurisprudence, or Doctor of Law (JD) is a graduate-entry professional degree that primarily prepares individuals to practice law. In the United States and the Philippines, it is the only qualifying law degree. Other j ...

in 1997 and serving as an editor of the

Yale Law Journal ''The Yale Law Journal'' (YLJ) is a student-run law review affiliated with the Yale Law School. Published continuously since 1891, it is the most widely known of the eight law reviews published by students at Yale Law School. The journal is one ...

. She went on to clerk for two federal judges:

Michael Ponsor Michael Adrian Ponsor (born August 13, 1946) is a senior United States district judge of the United States District Court for the District of Massachusetts. He serves in the court's western region, in the city of Springfield. Education Ponsor ...

of the

United States District Court for the District of Massachusetts The United States District Court for the District of Massachusetts (in case citations, D. Mass.) is the United States district court, federal district court whose Jurisdiction (area), territorial jurisdiction is the Commonwealth (U.S. state), C ...

and David M. Ebel of the

United States Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit The United States Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit (in case citations, 10th Cir.) is a federal court with appellate jurisdiction over the district courts in the following districts: * District of Colorado * District of Kansas * Dist ...

. 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 LGBTQ people are individuals who are lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, or questioning. Many variants of the initialism are used; LGBTQIA+ people incorporates intersex, asexual, aromantic, agender, and other individuals. The gro ...

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 The Colorado Court of Appeals (Colo. App.) is the intermediate-level appellate court for the state of Colorado. It was initially established by statute in 1891 and was reestablished in its current form in 1970 by the Colorado General Assembly u ...

. 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

. On September 8, 2010, Democratic governor

announced Márquez as his choice to replace Mullarkey. The appointment won praise from her former boss, Republican

Colorado Attorney General The Attorney General of the State of Colorado is the chief legal officer for the United States, U.S. Colorado, State of Colorado and the head of the Colorado Department of Law, a principal department of the Government of Colorado, Colorado state g ...

John Suthers John William Suthers (born October 18, 1951) is an American attorney and politician who served as the mayor of Colorado Springs, Colorado, the Attorney General of Colorado, U.S. Attorney for Colorado, executive director of the Colorado Departmen ...

. She became the chief justice on July 26, 2024. Márquez is the first Latina and first

openly gay Coming out of the closet, often shortened to coming out, is a metaphor used to describe LGBTQ people's self-disclosure of their sexual orientation, romantic orientation, or gender identity. This is often framed and debated as a privacy issue, ...

person to serve on the Colorado Supreme Court. Her spouse is Sheila Barthel. As of 2021, she is the longest-serving of eleven openly LGBT state supreme court justices serving in the United States.

References

, - {{DEFAULTSORT:Marquez, Monica 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

Biography

Judicial appointment

See also

References