CAMPAIGN AD REALITY CHECK

Tuesday, Oct. 3, 2006 | 7:44 a.m.

NEVADA SUPREME COURT RACE

What the ad says

Announcer: Three years ago, Justice Nancy Becker threw out the protection Nevada voters put in the Constitution against tax increases. The result? Nevadans suffered the biggest tax increase in state history. The Las Vegas Review-Journal asked: "Where did the justices get the power to take away our rights with the stroke of a pen?"

With the stroke of a pen Nancy Becker ignored your vote and violated the law. If you re-elect Becker, you give her another six years with her pen to sign away your rights. On Election Day, take Nancy Becker off the Nevada Supreme Court.

What the ad's trying to do

This is one of many third-party ads that will be on the air this season. This one is from a group called Nevadans Against Judicial Activists. It has not yet had to disclose its contributors - but they likely are lawyers upset with Becker's decisions. This is the first in what surely will be a series of these ads criticizing Becker for her decisions.

What's accurate

This ad is focusing on the notorious high court decision during the 2003 Legislature. Gov. Kenny Guinn sued state lawmakers after they failed to pass a budget. The state Supreme Court ruled that the constitutional provision to fund education overrode the provision requiring two-thirds majorities to pass tax increases. The outcry was heard from Carson City to Las Vegas. Becker signed on to that decision. She also is the first justice who signed on to that ruling to face voters.

So did the decision result, as the ad says, in the biggest tax increase in history? Not exactly. Even though the court gave the Legislature the opportunity to pass the increase with only a majority vote, lawmakers took no chances. They managed to get two-thirds in each House.