Becker faces two little-known challengers

Tuesday, Aug. 22, 2000 | 9:17 a.m.

CARSON CITY -- Lawyers Gary Backus of Ely and Day Williams of Carson City, both admitted underdogs in their race for the Nevada Supreme Court, don't think the justices are working hard enough.

But Justice Nancy Becker, seeking re-election to a second term, says the court decided nearly 2,000 cases last year, one of the highest outputs of any appellate court in the nation.

The three will meet in the Sept. 5 primary election, with the two top finishers going on to the general election.

Becker, 45, is clearly the favorite. She spent 12 years as a Municipal Court and District Court judge in Las Vegas before being elected to the Supreme Court two years ago. She has won a number of awards, including the Nevada District Judges Association's Distinguished Service Award in 1997 and the Jurist of the Year Award of the Clark County Bar Association in 1993. And she has raised an estimated $160,000 for her campaign.

Backus, 58, served as district attorney in Eureka County for less than one term and now practices civil law in White Pine County. He hasn't collected any campaign contributions and he doesn't have any of his own money to spend because he recently shelled out $50,000 on personal medical bills on what he said was wrongly diagnosed as a heart attack.

Williams, 46, practices general law in Carson City and has never run for election. He didn't start law school until he was 33 and prior to that worked in casinos and as a cabdriver in Reno. "I know what it is to be a working stiff," says Williams, who has raised $2,500 in his campaign.

Backus and Williams agree on one issue -- the Supreme Court isn't producing as many decisions as it should.

Backus says, "Over the years the Nevada Supreme Court has fallen into disrepute. My impression is the voters don't think the Supreme Court carries a fair share of the load and gets the job done. That's the impression, true or false. They don't get the work out."

Williams says, "I think they can turn out cases faster than they are now. She (Becker) has authored five opinions in a year and a half. That's not very many. She's a nice woman. But I can churn out cases faster and have a broader perspective."

But Becker says in the 18 months she has been on the court, the backlog has been reduced by 600 cases. She said she has authored six of the 34 opinions turned out by the entire court and that she has also written about 50 other orders, the same volume as the other justices. In addition, she said, she and the other justices have the responsibility of reading and checking 800 cases a year.

The court, she said, made a choice to attack the backlog by issuing the one- or two-page orders, not by writing longer opinions that take more time. The court, she said, "will only issue an opinion when there is an area of law unsettled."

And when opinions are issued, most are "per curiam," with all the justices signing it rather than showing the main author. She has produced a number of these opinions -- although she is not given individual credit.

Becker wants to continue to reduce the backlog of cases and at the same time produce quality work on the major opinions.

When it comes to judicial conduct, Becker has never been in trouble.

As for Williams, he said he received a letter of reprimand from the state bar for an "ex-parte" violation -- improper contact of a person in a case. That was on the first or second case when he started to practice law in 1993.

Backus says he's "almost constantly" in trouble with the bar association, which regulates the legal profession. "They have always got something against me, but it's usually thrown out," he said.

For instance, when Backus was district attorney, he called a person who was sponsoring a recall movement against him a "dope dealer." That brought him a rebuke from the bar association and a libel suit filed by the individual. The individual lost the libel suit.

"I was reprimanded for something that was thrown out of court," he said.

"Right now they're harassing me over the sale of a whorehouse," Backus said. He explained that he "wrote up the papers" for the sale and then also prepared papers for the other side.

Both Williams and Backus feel the court is too narrow in focus. Williams wants to see the court branch out, holding hearings in rural Nevada and Reno. At present, the court meets only in Carson City and Las Vegas. "Why not have the Supreme Court appear in White Pine, Elko and Washoe counties and not just in Clark and Carson City. Let them show their faces."

Backus complains the court is made up of members only from Las Vegas and Reno. "I don't think this gives much diversification to the court. There is not the inclusion of views and knowledge of what is going on in the rest of the state," he says.

The Supreme Court, Backus says, should also tighten the standards for law enforcement to obtain search warrants. Justices of the peace are making it too easy, he said.

Backus is a graduate of Sparks High School, the University of Nevada and the University of Idaho School of Law. He practiced law for 14 years in Reno, became district attorney in Eureka County and moved to Ely in 1993. He ran for district judge once but lost.

Williams is a graduate of Reno High School, Reed College in Portland, Ore., and the University of Arizona School of Law. He has a certificate for the New Testament Series from the Moody Bible College in Chicago and served as a law clerk for the Supreme Court for one year before he entered private practice.

Becker graduated from Clark High School in Las Vegas and gained her law degree from George Washington National Law Center in Washington, D.C. After practicing with a firm in Washington, she returned to Las Vegas in 1982 and became a Las Vegas deputy city attorney. In 1987 she was the first woman elected to the Las Vegas Municipal Court. She was appointed to the District Court in 1989 by Gov. Bob Miller.