NCJW opposes Judge Daniel Domenico. Here’s why:
Judge Daniel Domenico has repeatedly demonstrated an ideological approach to the law that favors powerful interests over individual rights and undermines equal justice. His record reflects hostility toward reproductive freedom, LGBTQ+ equality, immigrant rights, and protections for workers and consumers, while consistently expanding religious exemptions in ways that permit discrimination. A lifetime appointment to the federal appeals court would further entrench an extreme judicial philosophy that threatens fundamental rights and the impartial administration of justice.
Judge Daniel Domenico’s stance on important issues:
Immigration
In a series of immigration-related cases, Judge Domenico rejected efforts by detained immigrants to get procedural protections and relief from prolonged detention, instead granting ICE power to detain people indefinitely.
Religious Freedom
Judge Domenico has consistently sided with religious institutions, advancing an extreme view of the First Amendment’s Free Exercise Clause. He granted a preliminary injunction in a case involving a Christian preschool that, although it was receiving state funds, feared it would be forced to comply with state laws regarding LGBTQ+ protections against discrimination in the future. He granted a preliminary injunction on behalf of a Catholic health care clinic that wanted to be exempt from a Colorado law that regulated so-called “abortion-pill reversal” treatments. Judge Domenico also granted a preliminary injunction in a case involving COVID-era policies, giving churches exemption from mask and distancing requirements.
Education and Career Highlights:
Judge Domenico attended Georgetown University from 1992 to 1995 and graduated with a BA in 1995. He received a JD in 2000 from the University of Virginia School of Law. After law school he was in private practice before clerking for Judge Timothy Tymkovich on the Tenth Circuit. For a short time, he worked on Sen. John Thune’s (R-SD) campaign after which he worked at the Dept of Interior as Special Assistant to the Solicitor of the department. In 2006, he became Solicitor General of Colorado. He also served as the Attorney General’s designee to the Colorado Title Setting Board, which reviews proposed citizen initiatives and drafts the language describing the initiatives appearing on official ballots. In 2015 he founded Kittredge LLC, where he worked until his confirmation as judge to the District Court for the District of Colorado in 2019.