Tuesday, Dec. 26, 2006 | 7:09 a.m.
Retiring Nevada Supreme Court Chief Justice Robert Rose has had many accomplishments during 18 years on the bench - and few of them, interestingly, are related directly to individual court decisions he has been involved with or opinions he has written.
They instead relate to the many projects he has taken on from his perch on the court, and, according to many who have worked with him, the leadership he has shown when doing so.
Rose has played a primary role in advancing the following issues:
- Sam Skolnik
As a newly minted Washoe County Deputy DA in the early 1970s, Cal Dunlap quickly got the rundown from colleagues on his new boss, District Attorney Robert Rose.
"They called him 'The Oz,' " Dunlap says, "the great one at the end of the hall."
Rose was seen as "all-powerful and mysterious in a way, but friendly," says Dunlap.
After 18 years on the Nevada Supreme Court and another 10 in other high-profile public service posts, Rose arguably is the most powerful lawyer in the state - and without doubt, he has been one of the most important. At 67, he is stepping down at the end of the month.
By several accounts, Rose has done as much as anyone to help bring the state's criminal justice system into the modern era. His list of accomplishments is long.
In his three terms on Nevada's highest court, Rose brought the court system fully into the computerized age. He pushed hard for judicial ethics reform. He bolstered the rights of litigants who come to court without an attorney and their access to the justice system.
In a state dominated by small "l" libertarian and right-of-center political thinking, Rose has been a consistently strong advocate for the rights of the underprivileged, minorities and women - and for government's role to help ensure those rights.
"He always stood up for the little guy, but not to the point that it would distort the law," says fellow Supreme Court Justice Michael Douglas. "The court will miss him."
Like many Nevadans, Rose is originally from out of state. He grew up in New Jersey - his voice still carries a bit of East Coast cadence - and graduated from the New York University School of Law in 1964. That year, he flew to Nevada to clerk for a Supreme Court justice.
Rose, a Carson City resident, quickly rooted himself in Northern Nevada. He practiced law in Reno until 1970, when he was elected Washoe County DA, a post he held for one term.
Dunlap recalled that Rose ran his office effectively, largely by delegating authority and then monitoring the progress of his subordinates. He didn't micromanage.
Rose did make it clear, however, that prosecutors needed to apply some caution as they went about their work.
"Prosecutors wield a lot of power," Dunlap says. "He made it known that we had to be careful about how we wielded that power."
In 1974, Rose, a Democrat, became lieutenant governor after defeating Bill Raggio, who is now a state senator. He had hoped that that post would lead to the governorship, but he lost a tough battle against Republican Robert List in 1978.
In the end, the abrupt end to his political career "worked out well," Rose said in a recent interview, as it allowed him to pursue a second career as a judge. "Yeah, I was disappointed, but I dusted myself off and started practicing law again."
Rose has speculated that the loss came in no small part because of his crucial efforts the year before in the Legislature to enact the Equal Rights Amendment. As lieutenant governor, Rose cast the tie-breaking vote in favor of the amendment in an emotional session in the state Senate. The amendment failed in the Assembly five days later.
After his loss in the governor's race, Rose rejoined the world of private practice until 1986, when he was appointed a District Court judge in Las Vegas. Two years later, he ran for Supreme Court against fellow District Judge Myron Leavitt.
Rose won a bruising contest, which was repeated - with the same result - six years later. In 2000, Rose ran unopposed for his third and final six-year term. He has served as chief judge for the last year, his second stint as the court's chief.
It was on the Supreme Court where Rose - currently the Supreme Court's longest-serving member by far - believes he has made the greatest impact.
He cites two changes he spearheaded to the state's courts as those he's most proud of: creating a uniform system of judicial records, in part through computerizing each of the state's courthouses, and his work to help ensure that litigants without lawyers, called pro se litigants, are able to more easily navigate the courts.
"These are very significant accomplishments that are about as sexy as yesterday's toast," said Rose with a small chuckle.
Prior to corralling the local and rural court districts into a uniform records system, Rose says, there was simply no way to accurately gauge the courts' different caseloads, verdicts, filings or anything else.
It was the worst statewide system in the country, he said - making public accountability "a serious problem."
Rose assisted pro se litigants by taking simple steps like making sure that forms in such popular pro se venues as landlord-tenant court and family court were standardized, easy to use, and available at all of the courts' self-help centers, at District Courts and on the Internet.
"This is helping the average person of modest means," said Rose, which is especially important when lawyers are not around to guide the person. "It's a fundamental access to justice issue."
In recent years, Rose has begun pushing for various forms of judicial election reform - an issue brought into stark relief earlier this year after the Los Angeles Times published a series of articles about conflicts of interest involving various Las Vegas judges.
Rose called the Times series "overdone, overblown and overstated," but then quickly conceded that "I did think there was a kernel of truth or two there."
His actions have backed up his belief that reform was needed. Last month, he proposed that a judge who receives a contribution of more than $10,000 from a party in a case, be it the litigant or the attorney trying the case, be required to disclose that fact.
That's the maximum amount an individual or business can give in one election cycle - but supporters often "bundle" campaign contributions by having spouses, friends, or subsidiary or related businesses also give the maximum to the same candidate.
"Even though a judge may feel he or she can be fair and impartial," Rose wrote in a recent court filing, "there is the appearance of impropriety where an opposing party or attorney has made a substantial contribution to the judge."
Rose also proposed that judges be allowed to keep a maximum of $60,000 in unused campaign contributions to use for future official expenses or future campaigns. He has said the reason for the cap is simple: to discourage judges from raising more than necessary in order to discourage opposition in future elections.
Perhaps the most significant change Rose is supporting is the way in which judges are selected. A judicial candidate now has to be a great judge, fundraiser and politician in order to succeed over the long haul - and that's just not right, he said.
Ideally, Rose said, he supports the "Missouri plan," in which judicial candidates are appointed by a committee and then run unopposed in retention elections in following years.
He said he would also support an alternative called the "Nevada plan," in which a candidate is appointed, then runs once in a contested race, then, if elected, runs in retention elections thereafter.
Removing money from the judicial election process is important, Rose says. "That's the problem, the money that flows in," he said. "I'd like to reduce the influence of money and its impact on the process."
Toward that end, Rose has impaneled the Supreme Court's Article 6 Commission, which met last week in Las Vegas. The commission will be studying all aspects of the Nevada judiciary - with a goal of making recommendations to the Legislature as it convenes early next year.
At the meeting, Rose said that in addition to his ideas on campaign reform, he hopes that the commission will put forth a proposal regarding the creation of an intermediate appellate court in Nevada, to handle the rapidly growing number of appealed criminal and civil cases currently shipped directly from the state's District Courts to the Supreme Court.
As Rose readies for retirement, it's unclear what kind of role he will play with the commission as it moves forward. He said his immediate plan is a trip to Hawaii with his wife, Jolene. Later, he hopes to become a senior, part-time judge.
Court colleagues and observers say his steady presence will definitely be missed.
"He brought a tremendously well-rounded background" to the court, said former Attorney General Frankie Sue Del Papa. "Maybe it sounds corny, but I think what will be missed about him most was simply the breadth of concern he had for justice."
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