Pioneering federal judge adjusts to high-profile nature of position

Bill Gang

Monday, Nov. 9, 1998 | 10:58 a.m.

As the Clark County assistant district attorney overseeing the office's civil division, Johnnie Rawlinson embraced a low-key, get-the-job-done approach. No flash. No grandstanding.

So when she was appointed earlier this year as the first woman and first black federal judge in Nevada, she approached the new post with that same low-profile professionalism despite her eagerness for the new challenge.

She is one of only six federal judges in Nevada, and Rawlinson didn't expect the job to bring her new celebrity.

"Now I'm recognized in stores and movie theatres," Rawlinson said, showing a hint of embarrassment. "I've had several requests for autographs. I don't know what these people are thinking."

She was highly regarded by county management and the Clark County Commission but something of question mark around the crime-oriented courthouse. Attorneys knew her name and that she headed the civil division, but not much more.

Now she is a hot property for events and functions throughout Clark County, receiving what she called "a rash of invitations" that had not been in her mailbox when she was in the district attorney's office.

At the same time, she said there is a certain isolation factor inherent in the federal judicial position driven, in part, by a mountain of paperwork that keep judges buried in their offices.

There also is the apparent need of once-friendly colleagues to maintain a respectful distance so there is no issue of conflict when they appear in Rawlinson's courtroom.

She laments that she is no longer "one of them" and noted that somewhere along the line she seems to have lost her first name.

"They call me judge," Rawlinson said. "I understand the majesty of the office, but it would be nice to be called by my first name."

That also has been the complaint of some judges in the state court system, but as time goes by the title becomes the moniker, and they just accept it.

Rawlinson probably will have no choice because the "majesty of the office" is much more evident in federal court than in the easily accessible state court system.

Rawlinson, and the other federal judges, are perched high on their benches, lording over their massive walnut-paneled courtrooms. Voices of the judges echo with authority, and lawyers typically don't even consider using some of the informal approaches evident in state court.

Now on the bench six months, Rawlinson talks of having to adjust to being an impartial decision-maker rather than an advocate and of struggling when it is time to sentence a criminal.

She said she simply tries to be the type of judge she wanted to appear before when she was a lawyer.

As could be expected for an attorney who specialized in civil law, Rawlinson has found criminal sentencing to be the most difficult part of the job.

"I think about protection to society and doing justice for the defendant. I agonize about sentences," she said. "It is a sobering experience that so many lives are affected by my decisions."

The other sobering reality was the workload she faced the first day on the job.

"I was a little overwhelmed by the sheer amount of paper that flows through the court system. As an attorney I didn't have a sense of the reading and analysis and decision-making that goes into being a judge."

When she took the bench, she inherited 600 cases, and many of those had pending motions awaiting decisions.

Legal experts say the average caseload for a federal judge should be 250 cases, but the average caseload in Nevada is 720.

"That's very high, extremely high," she said.

In some states federal judges have caseloads as small as 75 or 100.

Under federal guidelines, she said, Nevada is entitled to three more judges, although none has been funded.

On the bench, Rawlinson said she knows that part of the learning experience involves being tested by the lawyers who appear before her.

"There have been some motions filed in my court that wouldn't be filed elsewhere, and I understand that," she said. "Attorneys feel it may be a time to get rulings on issues in the gray areas, to see if I fall for arguments others wouldn't."

"I don't think I have," she smiled.

By the time she has served a year on the bench and worked through her rookie learning curve, she hopes to have established a positive reputation.

"I would like the attorneys to say I ruled within a reasonable time, was well prepared and fair," she said.