Two candidates discuss high court

Tuesday, Aug. 3, 2004 | 11:16 a.m.

Only two of four Nevada Supreme Court Seat A candidates showed up for a forum Monday night at the Sahara Library, but valley citizens who turned out had plenty of questions for them.

Probate Commissioner Don Ashworth and Family Court Judge Cynthia Dianne Steel fielded questions from 10 people for almost two hours.

The audience wondered about recent Supreme Court decisions and how the candidates felt about upholding the Nevada Constitution.

Both candidates vowed to abide by the constitution and said they disagreed with the Nevada Supreme Court's decision last year to take up whether the Legislature could pass a state budget without the two-thirds majority vote required by the constitution.

They said they would have rejected the plea by Gov. Kenny Guinn to settle the matter.

"I would have said, respectfully, that we were not going to get involved," Steel said.

Ashworth, a 60-year resident of Nevada who served in the Nevada Senate, said that it was the first time the school appropriations bill had been pushed to the end of a legislative session.

"All matters that raised taxes should have been done first," Ashworth said. "If you did that, you wouldn't have a problem."

Steel said the court should have sent the question back to the Legislature.