Federal Judge Dismisses Suit by CU Regent Wanda James Over Censure
The court ruled that the Board of Regents acted within its authority to impose sanctions on James following her objection to a marijuana awareness campaign.
By Jillian Foster ·
A federal judge dismissed a lawsuit filed by University of Colorado Regent Wanda James, ending her legal challenge against sanctions imposed by her colleagues. U.S. District Court Judge Philip A. Brimmer issued the decision on Friday, Nov. 6, more than 16 months after the Board of Regents voted to censure James in July 2025. The ruling permanently closes the case, preventing James from refile the suit.
The censure followed a dispute over a university public health campaign regarding marijuana risks. James, who serves as a chief executive officer for a cannabis company, criticized the science behind the campaign and labeled its illustrations of Black babies and teenagers as racist. University leadership removed the specific illustrations and apologized. However, the board voted 7-1 to censure James for her call to defund the education program rather than for her comments on the artwork.
Since the vote, James has faced specific restrictions. She is barred from serving on committee assignments and holding leadership positions on the board. She also cannot attend university events on behalf of the Board of Regents. This marks the longest censure ever imposed on a regent. The previous record was held by Glen Gallegos, who faced sanctions for hostile behavior toward women in 2022. Those restrictions were lifted after 223 days, according to university records.
James characterized the sanctions as a violation of her freedom of speech when she announced the lawsuit in May. She described the punishment as a consequence for speaking honestly about racism within a public institution. James is the only Black regent currently on the board. She became the first Black woman to serve in that role in over 43 years upon her election in 2022.
In a recent LinkedIn post that has since been deleted, James alluded to the failed lawsuit. She referenced two oaths she took, one as an officer in the U.S. Navy and another as an elected regent. The post stated that she did not raise her right hand twice to spend her life lowering her voice. She wrote that she intended to honor those oaths to serve, even when doing so made people uncomfortable.
Michele Ames, a spokesperson for the Board of Regents, disputed James's characterization of the censure. Ames told Westword that the action had nothing to do with the accusation of racism or the objection to the campaign's contents. Instead, Ames said the board acted on James's fiduciary responsibility by responding to her attempt to get funding taken away.
A university-funded investigation detailed the timeline of events leading to the censure. In January 2025, James contacted Gov. Jared Polis’s office to voice concerns about the marijuana campaign. She was informed that the governor intended to request state funding cuts for unrelated reasons. James subsequently called publicly for the funding to be revoked and redirected to social equity cannabis businesses.
The Joint Budget Committee denied the governor's proposed cuts. The committee granted the full $2 million in funding to the School of Public Health for the campaign. Ames defended the original illustrations, noting that the campaign included images of white characters and photographs of models of various races. She shared images with Westword, including 15 illustrations of people. Thirteen of those illustrations depicted characters with dark brown skin, while two depicted characters with white skin.
