Letter: Judges need to be licensed to practice law

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Thursday, Jan. 20, 2000 | 9:45 a.m.

Fortunately, all of our pro tem judges are lawyers and experienced. But one of our regular judges, a visitor from Moapa Justice Court 60 miles out of town, a nonlawyer who runs a feed store, sits frequently as a "relief judge," the same thing pro tem judges do, and makes many major decisions involving the fortunes and liberty of our local residents.

Personally I think this is outrageous, and would hope that the Bar would insist that judges, be they pro tem or visiting, in a township of 250,000 or larger, have a formal legal education. The stakes are too high to trust the administration of justice to amateurs.

MIKE SCHAEFER Attorney