Nathan B. Coats is an American lawyer and jurist who served as the 46th chief justice of the Colorado Supreme Court from 2018 to 2020.
[8][9] He was considered "a fairly consistent conservative vote on the court" by Richard Collins, a professor from the University of Colorado Boulder.
[15][16] Former Chief Justice Coats agreed on May 3, 2023 to a public censure by the Colorado Commission on Judicial Discipline.
[17] The censure agreement followed an investigation of Coats' role in failing to supervise the behavior of the Office of State Courts Administrator.
According to the entity that conducted the investigation, Coats "displayed a lack of attention to the dysfunctional and toxic operations of the State Court Administrator’s Office and made no effort to intervene.
"[18] The events that led to Coats' censure included the improper award of a contract to a former chief of staff of the State Court Administrator's Office and sexual harassment by employees and judges of the Colorado state judiciary.