Did you know that the Clark County Public Defenders decided to unionize? [Las Vegas Sun]
Speaking of unions, the taxi companies/drivers seem pretty nervous about Uber‘s ride-sharing service making its debut in Southern Nevada. [RJ]
A Metro officer seeking whistleblower status has asked DA Steve Wolfson to look into whether Metro violated any laws by burying his report on Metro’s air unit problems. [RJ]
Judge Kerry Earley grants sanctions against defense attorneys in the Eglet/Actos trial by, wait for it, issuing a jury instruction not to look at Plaintiff’s counsel in a negative light because of the objections. There were no monetary sanctions, only the threat of them in the future if attorneys continue to violate her orders. This is her reaction after repeated violations. Judge Earley is up for reelection this fall against Steve Smith. [RJ]
The Board of Governors recently sent out a “civility” survey. Any thoughts on that? One of the questions was how to correct incivility in our profession. Based on what you know, do you think Judge Earley’s reaction was too little, too much, or not enough? Are our colleagues really that uncivil or is it just a factor of the fact that our judges are afraid to do their job?
Is there any legitimate benefit for public defenders unionizing?