Three lawsuits still pending in political flier case

Monday, Oct. 1, 2001 | 8:42 a.m.

CARSON CITY -- Three court cases are still pending after Las Vegas political consultant Tom Skancke agreed last week to an out-of-court settlement in the dispute over an anonymous flier designed to damage the reputation of former County Commissioner Lance Malone.

Skancke agreed to pay a $3,500 fine but did not admit any wrongdoing, according to an announcement Friday by Attorney General Frankie Sue Del Papa and Secretary of State Dean Heller.

Skancke and former Station Casinos Vice President Mark Brown were fined for violating Nevada election law by distributing the anonymous flier in March 2000, just before the primary election in which Malone was defeated.

Senior Deputy Attorney General Kateri Cavin said this settles one lawsuit in which Skancke sued Del Papa and Heller over the fine. Still pending in District Court in Las Vegas is a suit filed by Station Casinos and Brown against the attorney general and the secretary of state over his fine.

In a third suit, Heller sued Brown, Station Casinos and Skancke to force payment of the $5,000 fines.

A fourth case is now before the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals on the constitutionality of the law that forbids anonymous political fliers.

Brown and Skancke both maintained it was a freedom of speech issue.

Skancke and Brown put together the flier to discredit Malone after he changed his mind and voted for a casino in Spring Valley that Station Casinos opposed.

At the time, Skancke was paid $5,000 a month by Station Casinos to handle public relations, and Brown was executive vice president of government affairs. The contract with Skancke was ended and Brown later resigned his position with the casino company.

The flier had a caricature of Malone with the headline "You Just Can't Trust Malone," and it detailed his stand on neighborhood casinos.

The state Gaming Control Board filed a complaint against Station Casinos, accusing it of failing to supervise Brown. The gaming company settled the complaint for $450,000 in October last year.