On October 11, 2011, the Colorado Supreme Court returned the lawsuit Riddle v Ritter to the U.S. District Court, which had sent it to the State Supreme Court over a year ago. The lawsuit concerns Colorado’s law that says individuals can donate up to $4,000 to legislative candidates who are nominated via primary, but only $2,000 to legislative candidates who are nominated via convention or petition.

The case is Riddle v Ritter, 10-cv-1857 in U.S. District Court, and 11-sa-12 in the Colorado Supreme Court. The lead plaintiff is Joelle Riddle, who wanted to give more than $200 to Kathleen Curry, an independent candidate for the Colorado legislature in 2010. Riddle filed in U.S. District Court, but the U.S. District Court had sent the case to the Colorado Supreme Court, to see if the Colorado Supreme Court might rule that the discriminatory limit violates the Colorado Constitution. But now the Colorado Supreme Court has declined to get involved, so the issue is back before the federal court.