2024 Judicial Election #1

We’re trying something new this year by putting all the judicial election stories into a separate category so the conversation is focused and the posts are easy to find later.

  • The judicial candidate filing period closed Friday at 5 pm. None of the Supreme Court justices up for election drew opponents, but a few of the local races will be contested. You can see who filed for state judicial offices here. Meanwhile, here are the Clark County candidates who filed
  • Seven lawyers applied to be appointed to the vacancy in Department 27 left by Judge Allf’s retirement. However, only of them, Steven Morris, filed for election–and it was for Boulder City Justice Court instead of Department 27.
administrator
35 Comments
Oldest
Newest Most Voted
Inline Feedbacks
View all comments
Anonymous
Guest
Anonymous
January 16, 2024 11:16 am

There are some really poor judges that are going through uncontested. I talked with friends who had indicated interest in application/election in the past and all of them indicated that the EmergeNevada trends in the past had scared them away from judicial office. I will also state that some of the judges who have retired from EJDC have let it be known that the EJDC is not a very productive place to be right now which may have played a role in why more qualified candidates have stayed away.

anonymous
Guest
anonymous
January 16, 2024 11:51 am
Reply to  Anonymous

I am a social media follower of a few judges/judicial candidates. I’ve thought in the past about putting my name in, but no way. “I was so excited to be invited to the 7:00 a.m. Monday meeting of the Left-Handed Retired City Marshal’s Association here at Denny’s. What a thrill.” Yeah, no thanks. I realize the meet and greet nonsense is part of running a campaign, but it seems to be over the top at this point.

anonymous
Guest
anonymous
January 16, 2024 11:57 am

Why would anyone apply to be appointed to this seat without also filing to run? Am I missing something? Seriously, maybe I am.

Anonymous
Guest
Anonymous
January 16, 2024 3:45 pm
Reply to  anonymous

You get to put “the Hon. _____ (ret.)” on your resume for the rest of your life without having to ever deal with campaigning?

Anonymous
Guest
Anonymous
January 16, 2024 12:08 pm

The judicial campaigning process here in Clark County is, in a word, unseemly. It is dominated by shady people. The process unattractive to any one with even a marginally-successful law practice. One would need to completely set aside his/her self respect. And for most that’s too tall an order. That’s why we get who we get. It’s not difficult to deduce.

Владислав
Guest
Владислав
January 16, 2024 12:11 pm

Why are judges elected by the general public? They know nothing about them…I mean unless you’re regularly in front of them I do not think all lawyers even do.

There are some judges I really don’t like. I feel like we get inconsistent results from the 8JD depending on which department we are assigned. Some judges enforce the rules in such a strict manner it seems like they just want to be difficult. Other judges give parties sooooo much leeway it is impossible to get any kind of ruling even when there are abuses occuring.

This profession is frustrating.

Anonymous
Guest
Anonymous
January 16, 2024 12:46 pm

Why do we elect our judges? Because that’s how the people want it to be. Efforts to amend the Nevada Constitution have never gotten very far.

Anonymous
Guest
Anonymous
January 16, 2024 12:48 pm

25 of the 32 departments in the EJDC are occupied by women. The 22 judicial seats that changed hands in 2021 all went to women. The last man to be elected was Joe Hardy in 2015! Jacob Reynolds was appointed to fill a seat in 2023. Has the pendulum swung too far? I’ll probably get crucified for this, but I didn’t realize how lopsided it has become. (Yes, yes, I know it was basically only men for all of recorded history).

Jacob Reynolds
Joe Hardy
Eric Johnson
Jerry Wiese
Tim Williams
Ron Israel
Mark Denton

Anonymous
Guest
Anonymous
January 16, 2024 1:06 pm
Reply to  Anonymous

You want more Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion for old white dudes? Sign me up!

Anonymous
Guest
Anonymous
January 16, 2024 1:10 pm
Reply to  Anonymous

Ooooor, we could just elect qualified, smart and unbiased judges without regard to gender or anything D, E or I.

But this is Las Vegas. So we wont.

Anonymous
Guest
Anonymous
January 16, 2024 1:11 pm
Reply to  Anonymous

Its actually been very heavily slanted toward women for the last 15 years.

Anonymous
Guest
Anonymous
January 16, 2024 1:11 pm
Reply to  Anonymous

Denton and Williams gotta be retiring soon, no?

Anonymous
Guest
Anonymous
January 16, 2024 1:23 pm
Reply to  Anonymous

I’m generally of the opinion that I don’t care about the race, gender, ethnicity, etc. of the judge as long as the judge is SUPER QUALIFIED to be a judge. There are quite a few in the latest crop that I believe fall below that standard.

Anonymous
Guest
Anonymous
January 16, 2024 1:35 pm
Reply to  Anonymous

in Family Court, for the most part, the female judges are the best judges. There’s a few exceptions, for sure, such as Perry (someone should get the stats on how often she is peremptory challenged) and Cutter. But the 2020 crop of female judges + McConnell are all very solid.

Anonymous
Guest
Anonymous
January 16, 2024 2:17 pm
Reply to  Anonymous

There are some fine male judges in Family Court (and some clunkers).

Anonymous
Guest
Anonymous
January 16, 2024 2:46 pm
Reply to  Anonymous

That is absolutely false. There’s a female judge currently being investigated for having a sexual affair with a marshal that did NOT result in a child. There’s a female judge who is renowned for screaming from the bench and losing control. There’s a female judge who yells at someone (anyone will do) in every single hearing. Sorry but nope. The females judges in family court ain’t cuttin it.

Anonymous
Guest
Anonymous
January 16, 2024 3:05 pm
Reply to  Anonymous

Historically, the females were more qualified and more even handed than the males in FCt. I am not sure that is the case these days. By that I mean, absolutely no fkn way.

Anonymous
Guest
Anonymous
January 16, 2024 3:09 pm
Reply to  Anonymous

Are there stats for peremptory challenges out there? Those could be very interesting indeed.

Anonymous
Guest
Anonymous
January 16, 2024 3:12 pm
Reply to  Anonymous

Linda Marquis is an excellent judge, imho. It’s a damn shame she was relegated to juvenile delinquency crap. She deserved much better, but stepped on the wrong toes by basing her rulings on the law.

Anonymous
Guest
Anonymous
January 19, 2024 10:14 am
Reply to  Anonymous

Linda Marquis is extremely gifted and empathetic. However, Linda Marquis is also the only judge I’ve ever appeared in front of where the gender of the attorneys and parties mattered. Not just mattered, but really mattered.

Anonymous
Guest
Anonymous
January 19, 2024 3:43 pm
Reply to  Anonymous

Many of these male judges will fall to *ANY* female challenger.

Anonymous
Guest
Anonymous
January 16, 2024 3:28 pm

Dept. 27!!! What happens to those candidates that submitted applications for appointment but didn’t know that Dept 27 was also open for filing for election? Are they going to re-open the filing for that department?

Anonymous
Guest
Anonymous
January 16, 2024 4:49 pm
Reply to  Anonymous

No. If appointed, the person appointed will finish out the year and then hand over the reins to whomever wins the election. For this reason, I think Dave Clayson would be an excellent choice since he is already basically retired.

Anonymous
Guest
Anonymous
January 16, 2024 11:01 pm
Reply to  Anonymous

Could he then qualify for senior status? Not defeated in an election. Wouldn’t be a bad gig.

Anonymous
Guest
Anonymous
January 17, 2024 9:56 am
Reply to  Anonymous

I don’t think so. Needs to have served as a qualifying judge or justice for 4 consecutive years, be eligible to or has retired under applicable provisions of NRS, and not be removed or retired for cause or lost retention in office at an election. SCR 10(1)(a). https://www.leg.state.nv.us/courtrules/scr.html#SCRRule10

Anonymous
Guest
Anonymous
January 16, 2024 7:16 pm
Reply to  Anonymous

I don’t think they legally can. NRS 293.165(2) governs when filing can be re-opened to fill a vacant seat in a nonpartisan race. There are multiple contingencies under subsection 2, but the subsection requires the vacancy to be created AFTER the close of filing for all of the contingencies. In this case, the vacancy was created before the close of filing, so I don’t think the subsection is applicable.

marty
Guest
marty
January 18, 2024 11:12 pm

Off topic. I’m looking for a collection lawyer who might work on a contingency.
Friend has divorce decree in the amount of $175,000 plus $185,000 in attorneys fees, all of which has been reduced to judgment, and none of which has been paid.
Deadbeat Ex says on LinkedIn his company “Developed, launched and managed a single ownership company that provides proprietary medical device consulting services.” And he describes himself, in part as “a visionary leader who delivers business success by starting and running fast-growth high technology organizations” among other things.
He has money but is one of those men who refuses to pay his ex-wife.
A Decision and Order reducing arrears to judgment also held him in contempt, but no sanctions were imposed, for whatever benefit that may be.
If interested, please call 702-685-6111 or email emk@keachmurdock.com

Anonymous
Guest
Anonymous
January 19, 2024 7:00 am
Reply to  marty

Hate to say it, but sounds like the dude is broke. Ain’t got nothing in his wallet but more buzzwords.

marty
Guest
marty
January 19, 2024 9:55 am
Reply to  Anonymous

I don’t think he’s broke. He has made money his whole life. The four year average “reported” income from 2017-2020 was around $400,000.

Anonymous
Guest
Anonymous
January 19, 2024 10:10 am
Reply to  Anonymous

Visionary business leaders who deliver success are NEVER judgment proof!

Anonymous
Guest
Anonymous
January 19, 2024 8:11 am
Reply to  marty

Marty did not understand the assignment. “Off topic”

Anonymous
Guest
Anonymous
January 19, 2024 10:12 am
Reply to  marty

How hard is it? Take your judgment, issue Writs of Garnishment and serve them on the 10 largest banks in town.

Roll the dice. This practice has worked for me every single time I have tried it since the first time in 2004.

marty
Guest
marty
January 19, 2024 10:28 am
Reply to  Anonymous

Call me. She will agree to a generous contingency.

Anonymous
Guest
Anonymous
January 19, 2024 10:34 am
Reply to  marty

Hard pass. Why aren’t you doing it for her, Marty?

marty
Guest
marty
January 19, 2024 2:17 pm
Reply to  Anonymous

In 40 years of practice there are some things I refuse to do.
Divorce
Insurance defense
Bankruptcy
Debt collection
Tax
Securities
Patent
No offense intended to practitioners in these fields.