"The Robing Room: CA State Judges

Hon. Colleen M. Nichols	See Rating Details
Judge Superior Court
Placer County	See Comments

Attorney Average Rating: 1.3 - 10 rating(s) Non-Attorney Average Rating: 3.0 - 4 rating(s)	Please send me alerts on this judge E-mail Address:

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Only items marked with (*) are averaged into the displayed overall rating.

General Rating Criteria

* Temperament		(1=Awful,10=Excellent)
* Scholarship		(1=Awful,10=Excellent)
* Industriousness		(1=Not at all industrious,10=Highly industrious)
* Ability to Handle Complex Litigation		(1=Awful,10=Excellent)
* Punctuality		(1=Chronically Late,10=Always on Time)
* General Ability to Handle Pre-Trial Matters		(1=Not all Able, 10=Extremely Able)
* General Ability as a Trial Judge		(1=Not all Able, 10=Extremely Able)
Flexibility In Scheduling		(1=Completely Inflexible,10=Very Flexible)

Criminal Rating Criteria (if applicable)

* Evenhandedness in Criminal Litigation		(1=Demonstrates Bias,10=Entirely Evenhanded)
General Inclination Regarding Bail		(1=Pro-Defense,10=Pro-Government)
Involvement in Plea Discussions		(1=Not at all Involved, 10=Very Involved)
General Inclination in Criminal Cases Pretrial Stage		(1=Pro-prosecution,10=Pro-defense)
General Inclination in Criminal Cases Trial Stage		(1=Pro-prosecution,10=Pro-defense)
General Inclination in Criminal Cases Sentencing Stage		(1=Pro-prosecution,10=Pro-defense)

Civil Rating Criteria (if applicable)

* Evenhandedness in Civil Litigation		(1=Not at all Evenhanded,10=Entirely Evenhanded)
Involvement in Settlement Discussions		(1=Not at all Involved,10=Very Involved)
General Inclination		(1=Pro-defendant, 10=Pro-plaintiff)

Comments

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What others have said about Hon. Colleen M. Nichols

Comments

Criminal Defense Lawyer

Comment #: CA55079
Rating:1.0

Comments:
Ding Dong the Witch is Gone. The Most Hated Judge in Placer County. She ruined so many lives. She’s a POS Judge who lies, makes fun of people and shows no empathy. I wish nothing but the worst for her. She made so many people cry and was so rude and hurtful. I can’t believe she’s no longer a judge. Makes my year the Best year ever. I heard she was forced to retire or they would have went after her on charges. Also heard she was too sick. Doesn’t matter which one, just as long as she’s gone and can’t ruin peoples life in family court. She ruined so many families for not doing her job and being the devil. Satan will be waiting for her 100 percent. Good bye Evil Witch

Criminal Defense Lawyer

Comment #: CA49314
Rating:1.3

Comments:
~

Civil Litigation - Private

Comment #: CA48976
Rating:Not Rated
Comments:
She is evil, mean, and condescending. Her knowledge of the law is limited. She is arrogant. I find a lot of her antics to be reprehensible and abhorrent.
I agree with all of the negative sentiment about her. It is all true. She is not one of the worst judges in Placer County. She is THE WORST.

Other

Comment #: CA48921
Rating:Not Rated
Comments:
The worst judge in Placer County.

Court Staff

Comment #: CA45266
Rating:Not Rated
Comments:
She is a horrible judge! Nothing she does is buy the book she makes up her own Laws. [Redacted]

Criminal Defense Lawyer

Comment #: CA39463
Rating:1.0

Comments:
She is by far the worse judge I’ve ever met and know of. Not one person can say anything kind or Even nice about her. She’s evil and mean and needs to step down or get fired. All these reviews do not lie. That’s her

Other

Comment #: CA39462
Rating:1.0

Comments:
Judge Colleen Nichols should retire or be fired. She is a bias. Prejudice, mean, evil judge with no patience. I’ve see her laugh, joke and make fun of parents. She needs to retire. Even her coworkers and staff hate working with her. No one will ever say a nice thing about her, if there was something left good she paid for it.

Criminal Defense Lawyer

Comment #: CA39311
Rating:1.3

Comments:
She does not fully understand basic criminal law concepts and the evidence code. One of the worst in Placer County. She does not like people who strongly advocate on behalf of their clients. It is very annoying to hear her talk. She has an ego the size of the Rock of Gibraltar. She thinks she is the smartest person in the courtroom and everyone else is beneath her. Her motto "Accept your consequences with dignity" This is such a joke. She needs to have a conversation with herself before she tells someone else about dignity. She does not know the definition of the word dignity. She acts like she is the anointed one. Another Joke.

Criminal Defense Lawyer

Comment #: CA39304
Rating:Not Rated
Comments:
I am not very impressed with her. I do not like litigating cases in front of her. She is very arrogant. She is very weak in her knowledge of the law. She does not understand the legal issues presented to her very well. She does not give much thought and analysis when issuing her rulings. I have no confidence in her being a fair and impartial judge.

Civil Litigation - Private

Comment #: CA33094
Rating:1.0

Comments:
Placer county will be a better place and families will be safer once she's off the bench. Nichols and the county council along with the department act as if this is a popularity contest. Targeting poor family's at a disadvantage. She a bully and a disgrace to oath she took. May she be struck by lightning.

Litigant

Comment #: CA19186
Rating:1.0

Comments:
Horrible!!! Horrible!!! Given the opportunity to put zero Or even a negative number I would have done so. Upon first meeting at the judgmental B she accused my daughter of being involved in sex trafficking because she had a tongue ring and was holding 2 cell phones. Her old one had a video on it we needed for court. Then then told me I’m a horrible mother who should have my children removed because I allowed her to pierce her tongue and that meant I allowed her to sexually pleasure boys/girls. She refused to allow evidence to prove my daughters innocence which included a video that had audio as well Also hospital records and witness accounts. She kicked me out of the quart room when after she stepped up the podium to take a five-minute break I asked if we were going to be showing pictures and she said I wasn’t allowed in the room anymore. We came back for sentencing and she had informed my daughter previously that she would be finding her guilty of something today she found her guilty of all charges. My daughter is a straight A student, she’s received on a roll throughout her whole grade school and junior high never been in trouble before. She was charged with assaulting a school official and a police officer during an altercation where the police officer was putting me in a chokehold for no reason. The police body cam footage wTheas shown The police officers body cam, however there is no video just audio. Hey old

Civil Litigation - Private

Comment #: CA11632
Rating:1.4

Comments:
I would bet money that the only 10 star rating Nichols received was from the Deputy County Counsel in the dependency court where Nichols only knows how to go along with the department. Of course county counsel thinks Nichols is wonderful since she always sides with them. Nichols is NOT a judge. She's up there collecting tax payers money to do the bidding of the prosecutors and county counsel. She seems to have a sweet spot for Tom Leupp so my advice is if you are in front of her hire Tom Leupp because he's got something on her she doesn't want out there.

Civil Litigation - Private

Comment #: CA6322
Rating:1.6

Comments:
Judge Nichols is not the least bit honorable. She "gamed" our trial to leave out all our substantial, compelling documented evidence that clearly proved our case. These documents were clearly admissible and were properly submitted. Nichols was biased; she also made up definitions and ignored laws. We read that she became a judge after many years as a court commissioner; and was appointed as commissioner by a former Placer judge who was a family friend (she was his children's former babysitter). Placer residents deserve far better than judges like Judge Nichols. Placer has grown too much in recent years to continue to tolerate cronyism on the bench. There surely are more scholarly and qualified judge candidates in Placer County that can take Nichols place on the bench in order to restore public confidence in the judicial process.

Other

Comment #: CA6100
Rating:10.0

Comments:
I have witnessed Judge Nichols in multiple settings; drug court, family court and criminal court. In all environments Judge Nichols hold true to the meaning of justice, if a defendant is doing well she encourages them and proceeds with grace. If a defendant is not doing well Judge Nichols will not "co" their behavior yet still encourages. What impressed me most about her in the court room is her expectation of respect, if someone falls short she will not tolerate it. I have immense respect for her as a judge and a person. I am so confident in Judge Nichols that I have to believe that the negative feedback posted by others must be due to a failed attempt to manipulate their circumstances. I know Judge Nichols would not prevent reunification between a parent and their child unless she had solid evidence that the reunification would not be in the best interest of all concerned.

Litigant

Comment #: CA4202
Rating:1.0

Comments:
Judge Nichols's actions from the bench are a disgrace to the office she holds, and an unfortunate disservice to the people she should be representing.Her performance from the bench in dependency court is an egregious example of a kangaroo court. She seems to be there only to support local CPS, regardless of the best interests of the child. She openly refused to allow testimony and evidence, and clearly does not support due process. It is a shame because she seems intelligent enough to do the job well, but somewhere along the way she forgot how to do the right thing even if it means holding her local colleagues accountable. Unfortunately she seems to be eager to punish parents without just cause, based solely on reports by case workers who are unqualified to perform any forensic investigating. Case workers often report based on their emotional feelings which the court accepts as fact. Judge Nichols does not want to hear evidence that local case workers have abused the process.

Civil Litigation - Private

Comment #: CA3805
Rating:2.3

Comments:
Years ago I used to appear before her when she was a commissioner in juvenile dependency cases, where I represented the parents who had their children taken away by CPS. After losing about my 10th straight trial in front of her, I spoke with one of the staff members and asked her what I was doing wrong. She told me I wasn't doing anything wrong. She had been there three years and had never seen a parent win a contested hearing before Commissioner Nichols. At first I really liked her, but as time went on I could see her becoming more and more jaded and biased, like "she'd heard it all before" when someone was crying their eyes out because CPS snatched their kids away from them in the middle of the night. It's too bad that she ended up like this. She could have been much better. Somewhere along the line she lost her heart, I guess.

Criminal Defense Lawyer

Comment #: CA3589
Rating:Not Rated
Comments:
The really frightening thing is this judge is not the worst judge in the county! She is the former baby-sitter of an older judge with connections to the governor's office. The same graybeard earlier got his paramour, Frances Kearney on the bench.

Criminal Defense Lawyer

Comment #: CA3136
Rating:1.0

Comments:
This judge is a terrifying combination of Mary Poppins and Pontius Pilate. She sends people to prison with a smile on her face and possesses the most irritating "positive attitude" on the bench. She is nothing more than a glorified secretary whose only skill is setting the next court date. She has a patronizing and sanctimonious attitude towards defendants and defense attorneys. Her favorite line: "We all make choices and those choices have consequences!" Maybe if she had a backbone and stood up to the DA once and a while, she might find out what she's supposed to be doing up there.