Wednesday, April 30, 2003 | 11:12 a.m.
CARSON CITY -- Justice Miriam Shearing, the first woman elected to the Nevada Supreme Court, said today she would not run for re-election next year.
When her term is completed in January 2005, she will have served 12 years on the court. She was chief justice for two years and will serve in the same post next January for her last year in office.
She said she hopes to be a senior judge, called in on cases as needed.
"I would like a little more flexibility in my life -- more time with my family," Shearing said.
She said she intends to divide her time between her homes in Las Vegas and Incline Village, where her husband, Steven, lives and runs a medical business.
Shearing, 68, said she has made no secret that she doesn't intend to run again. Some judges and attorneys from Southern Nevada have reportedly expressed an interest in succeeding her.
She was the first woman elected District Court judge in Clark County, where she served 10 years. She was also a justice of the peace for four years and sat as an alternate judge for a number of years.
Shearing was elected to the Supreme Court after a bitter campaign against J. Charles Thompson. The Nevada Commission on Judicial Discipline said it was displeased with the tone of the campaign. Both Shearing and Thompson apologized and agreed to refrain from negative campaigning in the future.
She was unopposed in the 1998 election.
During her 11 years she has kept a relatively low profile. She rarely questions lawyers during oral arguments, as some other justices do. Instead she says she wants to allow the attorneys to have their say before the court.
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