Judges-to-be stay low-key as Senate OK nears

Greg Tuttle and Benjamin Grove

Wednesday, May 24, 2000 | 11:14 a.m.

U.S. Magistrate Judge Roger L. Hunt doesn't expect to make any big plans tonight.

"When it happens, it happens," a low-key Hunt said Tuesday about the U.S. Senate confirmation hearings scheduled to be held today in Washington, D.C.

Hunt and Henderson Justice of the Peace Kent J. Dawson are expected to be confirmed by the full Senate as U.S. District Court judges in Las Vegas. They will fill two new positions created last year to help ease the caseload of federal judges in Nevada.

The Senate also is expected to confirm three new U.S. District Court judges for Arizona.

If confirmed, Hunt and Dawson will bring the number of federal judges in Nevada to eight, including two senior judges who work reduced caseloads. Nevada's bench was last expanded in 1984.

President Clinton nominated Hunt and Dawson to the federal bench earlier this year on the recommendation of Sen. Harry Reid, D-Nev., the state's ranking Democrat. Reid spokesman David Cherry said Tuesday the confirmations are expected to go smoothly.

"We don't see any chance this (confirmation) is going to derail," he said.

The Senate is considering 16 nominees for lifetime federal judgeships and 48 other federal positions during eight hours of scheduled debate today, Cherry said.

If confirmed, Hunt and Dawson will next be confirmed by President Clinton and sworn to office, which could take several weeks.

Reid praised both Hunt and Dawson as valuable additions to the Nevada court.

"I am very proud of both Roger and Kent, and I know they will make an immediate role in addressing the enormous caseload already facing Nevada's U.S. District Court," he said in a statement.

The federal court in Nevada ranks among the fastest growing in the nation. The growth has resulted in the new judgeships and a new U.S. Courthouse in Las Vegas set to open in July. The $98.6 million building is located on Las Vegas Boulevard across from the Foley Federal Building.

Reid helped insert money into a spending bill last year to create the new federal judgeships in Nevada. But judicial nominations have been held up this election year in the Senate where Democrats and Republicans often have been locked in conflict.

The Senate has approved only seven judges this year. If the 16 judges are approved as expected, 36 would remain under consideration in the Senate Judiciary Committee.

Democrats, including Clinton, have blasted Senate Republicans for dragging their feet on the judicial nominations. Republicans, eyeing the November election, would regain control of nominating judges under a Republican President.

But a deal was struck Monday between party leaders on both sides and a vote was expected this afternoon. The deal was tied to an agreement to approve law professor Bradley A. Smith and the renomination of Danny Lee McDonald to the Federal Election Commission.

Smith was a Republican choice and critic of finance laws. McDonald holds a Democratic seat on the FEC.

Reid deflected criticism Wednesday that the nominations of Hunt and Dawson were the result of their membership in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Reid and Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Orrin Hatch, R-Utah, also belong to the Mormon church.

"It has nothing to do with their qualifications," Reid said. "Here are two people, two very fine trial lawyers with experience in the courtroom and having considerable time as judges. I think that's a pretty good combination."

Hunt, 58, has been a U.S. Magistrate Judge since 1992. A fourth-generation Nevadan, he got his bachelor's degree from Brigham Young University and his law degree from George Washington University.

In 1970 he served as a Clark County deputy district attorney, then worked as a senior partner in a Las Vegas law firm before being appointed a U.S. Magistrate Judge by the District Court judges of Nevada.

Hunt said he is prepared to take on his new responsibilities.

"I've had time to think and prepare," he said Tuesday.

Dawson, 55, has served on the Henderson Justice Court since 1996 and was that city's attorney from 1973-79. He was in private practice from 1979-95. Dawson, who could not be reached for comment Tuesday and Wednesday, received his law degree from the University of Utah in 1971.

Still awaiting confirmation is current U.S. District Court Judge Johnnie Rawlinson in Las Vegas, who has been nominated to the U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco.

U.S. Bankruptcy Court Judge Linda Riegle has been nominated to replace Rawlinson, but she is also awaiting confirmation.