Former La Plata County Judge Anne Woods shared some thoughts about her two years on the bench after La Plata County voters declined to retain her in November.
In a wide-ranging interview with The Durango Herald, she addressed a number of topics, including judicial authority, bias against women on the bench, mistakes she made and the role bail plays in deterring crime. And in one of her biggest pet peeves, she complained about news coverage during her time on the bench.
By topic, here are some of Woodsâ takeaways:
Woods said Herald stories during her time on the bench focused on certain aspects of cases she adjudicated without providing a full picture of why decisions were made, and in one particular instance lacked objectivity.
She cites one story about her removal from setting felony bails, which she said contained unsubstantiated information She was referring to a story in which Chief District Judge Jeffrey Wilson issued an administrative order that assigned other judges to oversee felony-level advisement hearings â something Woods used to be able to do.
Woods at the time had garnered attention for granting low bail amounts in some criminal cases. But a district administrator said Wilsonâs decision was based on other factors. Woods said the story insinuated she was removed from felony advisement hearings because of her past bail-setting decisions.
âIt was just like, âHereâs what we are thinking,ââ Woods said of the article. âSo that was problematic.â
The story also mentioned a case in which a woman suspected of setting a barn on fire was released by Woods without bail. The woman was arrested a week later for committing more crimes. The district attorneyâs office had requested bail be set at $50,000.
About this series
This is the second of a two-part series about former La Plata County Judge Anne Woods, who lost a retention vote Nov. 8. Part one appeared online and in print editions Sunday.
âIn almost all the cases in which I was called out for releasing someone who went on to reoffend, the prosecutors agreed to the personâs release,â Woods said, but the newspaper focused on cases where the prosecution disagreed.
An example of that collaboration, where she felt she alone was held accountable in the newspaper, involved a man who molested a horse.
âI was very skeptical about releasing him even though he didnât have a criminal history because I was concerned about his ability to follow court orders and stay out of trouble,â Woods said. âBut the parties (DA and defense lawyer) agreed that a recognizance bond was appropriate. So I said âOK.ââ
She also faulted the Herald for failing to mention the strict requirements placed on defendants as part of their bail conditions.
There is a lot of misunderstanding about the justice system and the constitutional limits to a judgeâs authority, Woods said. While some circumstances require a judge to exercise independent judgment, judges generally stick âto calling balls and strikes,â she said.
âSo when both sides agree, judges donât get in the wayâ unless justice demands it, Woods said.
Woods wanted to clarify the role of conditions she placed on certain peopleâs release that she was later excoriated for by the public.
The judiciary refers to it as âconditions of bondâ that might include required substance abuse and mental health treatment, drug and alcohol tests multiple times a week, relinquishing firearms, restricted movement in the community and staying away from victims and witnesses.
âAnd if they didnât follow the rules of their release, they were back in jail,â she said. âAnd again, in many situations, the judge has to rely on the prosecutors to ask for a personâs bond to be revoked. There are only limited situations when a judge can send someone to jail without a request by law enforcement or the DA.â
Female judges do face bias on the bench based solely on gender, Woods said when asked if it was an issue.
âIf I were older or male, I believe more people would inherently trust that I knew what I was doing in the position I am in, that I had earned it, rather than assuming I didnât,â she said.
Woods shied away from touting her accomplishments when she arrived on the bench, which left the public not knowing much about her beyond the five years she served as a public defender.
âI never wanted to make a big deal out of those things, but itâs almost like I would have had to in order to have any credibility,â she said.
Colleagues had to âcontinuouslyâ remind Woods not to downplay her accomplishments or concede on experience, because experience does not always translate to wisdom.
Woods was an experienced trial attorney who litigated novel and complex issues before her arrival on the bench, she said. She won numerous appeals, and her legal arguments won in higher courts, including the Colorado Supreme Court, she said.
âBut because of who I am, most people didnât trust me to make tough decisions and know the law,â she said. âThey assumed I wasnât up to the task instead of assuming I was worthy of the job.â
Many other women in positions of authority have felt the same way, that trust isnât inherently given, that women must earn it in some way or feel like theyâre bragging, or having to explain why they are in that position, Woods said.
âBecause people donât want to give you the same automatic credit as a male,â she said.
Woods, however, does not blame gender for her struggles on the bench.
âI was too loud about my goals,â she said. âMy declarations undermined what I was actually doing day to day in my courtroom. I didnât really play my cards right to make meaningful change, because I didnât garner enough trust. Thatâs on me.â
From the moment Woods put on the black robes of the judiciary, she said there was a sustained effort to paint her as inexperienced and a danger to public safety. She has said that she âendured vitriol, misinformation, bias, misunderstanding and pushback from the power structures within the system.â
Some on social media called her a âwicked witch,â a âdisgrace,â a âjokeâ and a âfailure,â she wrote in an op-ed piece published in The Colorado Sun. And the La Plata County Republican Party openly opposed her on social media and campaigned against her retention in its 2022 voter pamphlet.
âWoods is a far-left activist Judge, with an abysmal track record,â read the pamphlet. She showed a âblatant disregardâ for public safety and the rule of law, it said, and pointed to the Rupert Chee case as an example of her failure.
Chee was free on a personal recognizance bond, meaning he didnât pay any bail, when he was involved in a fatal rollover crash.
A departing shot on the GOPâs Facebook page called her a âpartisan hackâ who had no business on the bench in the first place.
La Plata County GOP Chairman David Peters also happens to be a member of the judicial performance commission responsible for evaluating Woodsâ performance. The commission voted 6-3 that she met standards.
Peters said it was ânewsâ to him that there was a campaign against Woods on Facebook, and denied any bias on his part in carrying out his duties on the judicial review commission.
âThere were an awful lot of people in this county that were displeased with the judgeâs performance,â he said. âI know that. There were multiple articles in the Herald that highlighted her problems. So while I would like to take credit for the campaigning effort, I think itâs more likely that the victims of Judge Woods were probably more vocal than the rest of us were.â
Peters said there was no need to recuse himself of his duties on the commission because the commission is split between Republicans and Democrats and is held to a strict criteria for evaluating performance.
âWeâve got training we go to every year, and we evaluate judges on the various components of what we are given by the state,â he said. âIâm pretty proud of it. Itâs a very thorough, comprehensive system that we have in place to evaluate judges. I think everything was fair and clear and she had more than ample opportunity to respond to our evaluations â which we listen to.â
Setting high bails and locking people away in jails and prisons does âvery, very littleâ in reducing crime, Woods said.
âThatâs the constant battle Iâve been having,â she said. âIt didnât work in California where we tried it for 30-plus years. Do you remember the Three Strikes rule, all those things? I donât know where society thinks we are going by repeating these policies that didnât work.â
Tools like drug courts and intensive supervision programs have led to some of the overall lowest crime rates in the U.S. in recent history, Woods said.
âBut for some reason our country doesnât want to accept that, we donât accept data and statistics,â she said. âWe work on human emotion. We want to punish people who do wrong. And Iâm one of them. It would be easier to remove criminals from society for awhile, but itâs been tried and it doesnât work.â
High bail insures people (who can afford it) will show up for trial, but it does not deter crime, she said, and neither does locking people away in prison.
Woods learned during her time on the bench that there are a lot of misunderstandings about the legal system, and that being a young female with different ideas is a tough road to hoe.
âAnd I learned about what not to do,â she said. âI made a lot of mistakes, like I said. I own those and those are on me. It was difficult.â
Not gaining the trust of the community was Woodsâ biggest mistake, she said.
âAt the end of the day I failed at this job,â she said. âI created a lot of anger. I created hate, even from those who appeared in front of me from time to time. And I was just too loud about my goals, undermining my work and alienating a lot of people by pronouncing I had these goals.â
Woods wished she had been given more time on the bench, and decried the lies told about her, but said at the end of the day âmy approach was unsatisfactory and not what the community wanted. And I just wholly failed at garnering the trust that I wanted to garner with our community.â
Incoming judges can look to her experience and avoid the mistakes she made, which is one silver lining, Woods said. And though she doesnât take the credit, crime in La Plata County did decrease during her time on the bench, she said.
âBut this approach, my approach, is working, or at least it isnât not working,â she said. âI think Iâve laid the groundwork for future judges to continue that work but avoid the decisions Iâve made.â
Her advice to incoming judges is to do the right thing, even when itâs at odds with public sentiment and perception.
âThe right thing is rarely the easy thing,â she said. âBut do it anyway.â
âI think she did what she thought was right,â said 6th Judicial District Attorney Christian Champagne. âAnd there were a lot of times I disagreed with her. But she did what she thought was right and thatâs what she was there to do, so itâs not something you can really criticize too much.â
âI have no idea,â she said. âTo be honest, Iâm feeling a little bit lost.â
gjaros@durangoherald.com