The Denver Post: An independent investigation into the Colorado Judicial Department that laid bare significant misconduct by top administrators has added fuel to reform efforts and calls for oversight since it was made public last week.

The eight-month investigation examined the circumstances around a $2.75 million contract given to a former top Judicial Department official as she left her job, and found that the contract was an ill-advised abuse of taxpayer money, though it was not specifically designed to keep the official, then-Chief of Staff Mindy Masias, from speaking out about judges’ misconduct, as previously alleged.

Some observers have been left with lingering doubts about the investigation’s findings and skepticism of its portrayal of then-Colorado Supreme Court Chief Justice Nathan Coats’ role in the deal.

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