Editorial: A true public servant

Wednesday, Dec. 27, 2006 | 6:59 a.m.

Eighteen years of steady leadership will come to a close at the end of this month when Nevada Supreme Court Justice Robert Rose retires.

A former Nevada lieutenant governor, a former Washoe County district attorney and a former District Court judge in Clark County, Rose was first elected to the Supreme Court in 1988.

He is leaving public life as Nevada's chief justice, a position he held once before during his long tenure on the high court. He is also leaving with a reputation for having been a strong leader in modernizing the state's criminal justice system.

Rose is credited with pushing to computerize the state courts' records. This accomplishment, one of his first on the Supreme Court, allowed the public and court system to compare how cases were being handled and to track judicial trends.

He is also credited with leading the way to many other improvements in the court system, including that of raising judges' awareness of domestic violence, reforming the way jurors are selected and creating the business courts. In the past few months Rose has been outspoken in advocating reforms to the way judges are elected so that fundraising does not create the perception of favoritism.

We hope Rose's legacy of reform remains a model for judges throughout the state.