Law on campaign fliers upheld; AG considers lawsuit

Friday, Feb. 16, 2001 | 11:35 a.m.

CARSON CITY -- Attorney General Frankie Sue Del Papa says she doesn't know yet whether she will proceed with a civil suit against Station Casinos.

If filed, the suit would name Station Casinos and two political operatives on charges they ignored the law prohibiting anonymous campaign literature. The incident occurred during last fall's general election and targeted Clark County Commissioner Lance Malone.

Del Papa's comments came Thursday after U.S. District Judge David Hagen upheld the constitutionality of the law that bars anonymous political fliers from being distributed.

"This is a great victory for all those who support honest and open election campaigning," Del Papa said.

Meanwhile, the ACLU of Nevada said it would appeal the Hagen decision to the Ninth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals. Gary Peck, executive director of the ACLU, said it would be "wrong headed" of Del Papa to proceed with her civil case in state court until the appeal process in federal court is exhausted.

Peck said it was "extremely unfortunate" that it took Hagen eight months to issue a four-page decision. He noted the case was pending during the last election campaign. And he said he was confident the ACLU would win on appeal.

Peck said his organization has no standing to ask the appeals court to stop Del Papa from going forward with her suit in state court. But he said Station Casinos, Tom Skancke and Mark Brown can ask for a stay of the case pending the outcome of the federal appeal.

Brown, a former vice president for Station Casinos, and Skancke, a political consultant, were involved in a plan to distribute anonymous campaign materials against Malone after he changed his mind and voted to support a casino project in the Spring Valley area, which Station Casinos opposed.

In Del Papa's civil suits, the court could impose fines up to $5,000 for ignoring the campaign law.