Judge eulogized as versatile man

Monday, June 19, 2000 | 11:30 a.m.

Municipal Judge Seymore Brown found himself in a tough position for a jurist -- forced to free a motorcycle gang leader he knew would kill 30 or 40 men.

Brown knew what would happen because he had read the script for the B-movie -- one of several film ventures in which he performed.

A Sun reporter, after watching the movie's cable TV premiere, passed Brown's chambers at City Hall and teased: "Hey, Judge, you couldn't see all that carnage coming when you let that creep go free?"

Brown smiled -- his eyes in a seemingly permanent twinkle -- and said: "I just read my lines. But did you know that was filmed in my courtroom? Did you see the video monitor that was used? That was an innovation started right in this courtroom for video arraignments. Let me tell you about it ..."

Brown would speak with pride of his many courtroom innovations -- and of his show business career, from low-budget movies to brief appearances on "Vega$" and other productions that came to town.

Seymore H. Brown, who retired this month from his colorful 27-year career on the bench, died Friday at Sunrise Hospital and Medical Center after a lengthy battle with a liver ailment. He was 70.

Services for the last nonlawyer to serve as a Las Vegas Municipal Court judge were scheduled for noon today at Palm Mortuary Downtown.

Las Vegas Municipal Courts were closed 10 a.m. until 3 p.m. today to allow court employees to attend. Burial was scheduled in Woodlawn Cemetery.

During a ceremony June 7 at Las Vegas City Hall honoring Brown's 41 years of service to the city -- an event he was too ill to attend -- Brown was, in effect, eulogized by friends and family who knew he had little time left.

"He was always at the cutting edge at what was best for the city -- he was a shining light," said Las Vegas Mayor Oscar Goodman, a friend of 35 years.

"His programs have been copied in the U.S. and other countries," said Municipal Judge Toy Gregory, who served with Brown for 17 years.

"My father left a legacy on the Municipal Court that will not be equaled," Gina Brown said. "He loved this place with his soul."

Brown resigned from the bench on June 1 after being on a medical leave of absence for two months because of his illness.

Although Brown was accused of several judicial improprieties during his career, he survived every allegation. Among the allegations were that Brown used city vehicles for personal purposes -- he once used a city truck to move to a new home -- fixed parking tickets and charged personal long-distance telephone calls to the city.

Even his acting hobby was criticized because he was alleged to have been performing on days he was supposed to be holding court.

Brown survived in part because his enemies could not label him a hypocrite. He boldly admitted he was a throwback to the old days of Las Vegas when such actions at City Hall, though frowned upon, were accepted as business as usual.

And he survived to a greater extent because his innovations saved taxpayers money. Voters also saw in Brown something that really mattered to them -- a fair jurist whose decisions were down the middle, especially in the city's traffic court, where many citizens often found themselves.

In addition to video arraignments, which Brown began in the late 1980s, he also started a "john" school for men caught soliciting undercover cops disguised as prostitutes.

Also, he was among the first judges nationwide to put computers to work in the courtroom.

The installation of the Burroughs A-9 computer system in Municipal Court in 1988 made it possible for judges and other court personnel to call up cases in three seconds. The prior wait time for computer functions was three to four minutes.

In 1990 Brown started Municipal Court branch offices, where offenders could pay their fines closer to their neighborhoods instead of having to go to City Hall.

Brown's alternative sentencing program, including in-house arrests, started in 1982 and during its first six years saved the city an estimated $4 million.

Brown was born Sept. 2, 1929, in Wilkes-Barre, Pa., and served in the Navy. He came to Las Vegas in 1959, the year he joined the Las Vegas Police Department, which in 1973 merged with the Clark County Sheriff's Department to become Metro Police.

Brown was first elected to the bench that year, defeating lawyers Robert "Moon" Mullin and D. Francis Horsey, for one of two available posts. Mullin finished second and got the other judgeship.

At the time, Municipal Court judges did not have to have law degrees. Brown became the presiding judge in 1978.

In 1988 Brown and his court won the National Association for Court Management's Justice Achievement Award.

In 1990 Brown was voted Judge of the Year by the Nevada Judges Association. Four years later he received recognition for excellence by a national judges association.

A civic leader, Brown was a member of Big Brothers and Big Sisters, the Shriners, Scottish Rites of Freemasonry and Masons Daylight Lodge No. 44 and was a longtime supporter of the March of Dimes.

The City Council is expected to appoint a replacement Wednesday. The judge will have to run for election next year.

In addition to his daughter Gina, of Las Vegas; Brown is survived by another daughter, Cheryl Lawrence of Las Vegas; two sons, Joseph Brummett of Lake Worth, Fla., and Steven Brown of Durango, Colo.; a sister, Leiba Ammon of Henderson; and five grandchildren.

The family asks donations in Brown's memory be made to the We Care Foundation, 2216 S. Sixth St., Las Vegas, NV 89104.