Activist says recall driven by more than case dismissal

Sam Skolnik

Wednesday, Aug. 2, 2006 | 7:35 a.m.

The judicial activist who filed papers that could lead to the recall of two area judges started the removal effort in part because she had a case dismissed by one of them, she now acknowledges.

Juli Star-Alexander filed notices Monday with the Nevada secretary of state and the Clark County registrar of voters to recall District Judge Nancy Saitta and Family Court Judge Cheryl Moss.

In 2002, Saitta threw out a personal injury suit of Star-Alexander's, which she didn't mention when announcing her intent to circulate recall petitions.

In that case, Juli T. Star vs. Stanley R. Gore, Star-Alexander claimed that Gore had rammed his pickup truck into her car after running a red light at Decatur Boulevard and Spring Mountain Road in 1995, and that he owed her damages for medical bills and loss of future income.

Saitta, currently a candidate for the state Supreme Court, threw out the claim on Jan. 10, 2002, saying Star-Alexander failed to appear for an earlier hearing and could not be reached.

Star-Alexander says she contacted Saitta's chambers to ask for a delay because of an illness but heard nothing back. She says she failed to mention the suit because it is a matter of public record, and that it makes her ill to even think about the episode.

She says the accident caused her a mild brain trauma and put her on disability. Still, Star-Alexander says, while Saitta "has never been high on my list," the recall petition is about much more than her relatively "minor situation" with the judge.

Las Vegas attorney Laura FitzSimmons, a supporter of Saitta's in her Supreme Court race, says she doubts Star-Alexander's motives: "The problem is that when someone cloaks themselves in the name of a watchdog group to go after a judge, when in fact they were an unhappy litigant in her court, that's totally unethical."

According to its Web site, Redress Inc. was founded by Star-Alexander in 2002 as an effort to combat corruption and assist those who have been harmed by judges. The nonprofit group engages in public education efforts through media appearances, organizes court watches and has organized protests, including one last November agitating for changes to the Clark County Family Court system.

Star-Alexander says her organization is affiliated with groups such as the Nevada Center for Public Ethics and the Southern Nevada Domestic Violence Task Force, and that she has also worked with judicial reform advocates in other states.

There are six members of her group's executive board, including Brent Howard, a Las Vegas bookkeeper running for an Assembly seat, and several other local citizens who say they have been harmed by the courts.

Star-Alexander, 47, formed a separate political action committee, the Coalition for Legal Reform, to spearhead the recall drive.

Larry Lomax, county's registrar of voters, says Star-Alexander will need to obtain signatures equal to 25 percent of the total number of people in Clark County who voted in the most recent general election in which the judges were elected - in this case, 2002. That means she needs to get 78,402 valid signatures from registered county voters within 90 days to move forward on each judge.

At that point, if the judges choose not to resign, they face an election to retain their seat. Would-be challengers would first need to gain the same number of signatures to be placed on the ballot. If none comes forward, voters would vote "yes" or "no" on whether to retain the judge.

Star-Alexander says Saitta has conflicts of interest because of substantial campaign contributions from lawyers appearing before her and that the judge has had a disproportionate number of her rulings overturned. Moss, Star-Alexander says, has handled several cases poorly, and is not temperamentally suited to be a judge.

One person assisting Star-Alexander with her effort is auto shop owner James "Buffalo Jim" Barrier. Barrier is a close associate of former Las Vegas Councilman Steve Miller, who has filed complaints about Saitta with the state's Commission on Judicial Discipline.

Although Saitta has said that connection spoke "volumes" to her, Star-Alexander says it is a "nonissue."

Barrier says he did not play a role in helping Star-Alexander plan her recall drive.

"I wasn't really a part of this," he says, "but I support it."