Where I Stand — Mike O’Callaghan: Continuing legal abuse of state workers must be halted

Friday, March 27, 1998 | 10:44 a.m.

THREE YEARS AGO, before a majority of Americans began to gag on the garbage put out by conspiracy theorists, a group in Elko County reached a new conspiracy low. Long of an anti-environmental mind, the group's idea of proclaiming a conspiracy in order to push government officials out of northeast Nevada was coughed up in a letter asking for a grand jury.

The writer saw a close working relationship between various environmental groups and individuals within state and federal agencies, as well as key elected officials, as a threat to the economic stability of Elko County. He wrote:

"It is becoming increasingly obvious that these relationships go far beyond the accepted, they in fact may well represent a conspiracy, a conspiracy involving those within the environmental movement and those employees within the various resource management bureaucracies. This conspiracy has, and continues to, economically impact the ranching and mining community of Elko County, the business community of Elko County and, collectively, all of its taxpaying citizens."

Well, they got their grand jury, which, as expected, found those "conspirators" they wanted to embarrass and weaken. They zeroed in on state and federal conservation employees who had become irritants when enforcing logging, grazing, mining, hunting and fishing laws and regulations. Several were declared criminals for committing crimes by insisting that a huge mining operation pay $500,000 to begin mining on 5,500 acres of public lands that contained prime winter habitat for mule deer. This money went to the state to rehabilitate nearby lands scarred by fires. Not one cent went to any individual or other agency fund.

Attorney General Frankie Sue Del Papa answered the presentment, concluding: "State wildlife agency is authorized by law to participate with federal land management agencies to determine extent of mitigation required for permitted activities which affect habitat on public land; wildlife agency properly obtained legislative approval for acceptance and use of mitigation funds from mining company for development of off-site habitat mitigation; no basis exists to support grand jury determination that officials committed crime of oppression."

The grand jury had already done its dirty duty and smeared the federal and state employees by naming them in a presentment. Fair enough, now let's go to court. Oh no, the jurors were backed off of that limb when declaring: "The grand jury has found indictable criminal activity in this investigation and would recommend prosecution but for the fact that the statute of limitations on gross misdemeanors has passed."

Despite this conclusion, the names of the government officials being charged with crimes have been made public and, according to Elko Judge J. Michael Memeo, will remain on the record. Most old-time Nevadans believed that the use of names and smearing of people targeted by grand juries had long ago been stopped. Not true in Elko County, which has a hierarchy that makes its own rules to punish those they disagree with and protect those of the same mind and/or philosophy.

After reading Judge Memeo's 11-page order denying a motion to expunge the names of the state officials, it was clear that nothing has changed in Elko County since that first letter requesting a grand jury was written three years ago. What Memeo should have done is cleaned up the original grand jury report in January 1997. District court judges have the responsibility of overseeing the conduct and reports of grand juries despite Memeo's conclusion. He knew that the accused state workers would never have their day in court to prove innocence and evidently he really doesn't care.

Judge Memeo, in his refusal to expunge the record, wrote: "The Court does not believe that public officials accused of a crime should be afforded some greater procedural protection beyond that provided for by statute, or should be afforded some special pre-filing review by the Court of a presentment lawfully returned." This may sound like music to some of the local conspiracy theorists, but most good citizens would ask if public officials deserve any less protection of their personal reputations than the rest of us.

Let's hope that Nevada's highest court proves to be a reasonable court of last resort for the men and women we elect and appoint to work for us. Attorney General Frankie Sue Del Papa will take the matter to the Supreme Court. She told SUN reporter Cy Ryan, "It is important that we pursue this course because the Elko grand jury's action can be interpreted as encouragement for additional unfair actions against state employees, frustrating the state's ability to fulfill its obligations.

"Officials have to be able to do their work in an atmosphere free of intimidation."