Discipline board wants justice to change opinion

Thursday, Dec. 18, 1997 | 9:26 a.m.

The commission says Springer mentioned matters outside the court record when he dissented in a case involving former North Las Vegas Municipal Judge Gary Davis.

The high court, on a 3-1 vote on Oct. 1, upheld the commission's decision removing Davis from office in 1995.

But in his dissent, Springer revealed the court initially had decided to reverse the commission's removal of Davis, whom the commission found guilty of nine violations of the canons of judicial conduct.

Springer also charged the final vote was held up until Justice Thomas Steffen retired from office. He also stated there were "unacceptable political overtones to this case that should be explored before the matter is finally put to place."

Justice Bob Rose, who wrote the majority opinion, said Springer's disclosure of the preliminary vote broke a long-standing rule of court confidentiality in the decision-making process. Rose said justices often change their initial votes after further consideration.

In documents filed by lawyer Frank Cremen, the Judicial Discipline Commission called for the court to amend portions of Springer's dissent that discuss matters outside the record in Davis' case. They want the changes made in the official versions of the opinion that appear in legal volumes.

Springer also referred to the commission's handling of cases involving several judges, including one he called "Judge D." He said the commission held a secret hearing in which this judge agreed voluntarily to counseling.

Rather than removing judges from office, Springer said the commission in the past gave misbehaving judges a chance to modify their behavior.

"Judge D" was mentioned frequently by Springer in recent years in rulings involving former District Judge Jerry Carr Whitehead of Washoe County.

Justices Cliff Young, Miriam Shearing and Rose engaged in a three-year dispute with Steffen and Springer over the discipline of Whitehead. Whitehead resigned from office and the dispute ended last year when the U.S. Supreme Court refused to hear the case.