Editorial:

Halverson must go

District judge has demonstrated she is unfit to remain on the bench

Wednesday, Jan. 9, 2008 | 2 a.m.

A special prosecutor this week filed a 14-count “formal statement of charges” against suspended District Judge Elizabeth Halverson. Lodged before the Nevada Commission on Judicial Discipline, the statement is replete with documented allegations of personal and legal misconduct.

Halverson, elected in November 2006, lasted only five months on the bench before being suspended by the commission following a preliminary investigation into complaints against her.

She challenged her suspension and it was lifted so that a hearing could be scheduled. On July 25, following the hearing that took place July 16, Halverson was suspended with pay.

This week’s development represented the end of the commission’s next step, which was to formalize the charges. Now the commission will schedule a public hearing to determine any final disciplinary ruling against Halverson.

All the charges against Halverson, arising from statements by court employees and investigations into cases over which she presided, are damning. In legal papers that preceded her suspension, the commission wrote that the charges are supported by “substantial evidence.”

The list of charges formally presented this week substantiates the findings of the commission’s preliminary investigation. In short, the commission found that Halverson, in a pattern that threatened the public’s right to justice, routinely violated judicial canons. Numerous examples are cited, most involving procedures that any recent law school graduate should know but also including observations of the judge falling asleep during trials.

Also cited are allegations of mistreating court employees, including 23 specific allegations of highly unprofessional conduct toward the bailiff assigned to her courtroom. She is also alleged to have breached courthouse security and to have been uncooperative with other judges.

The judge’s conduct falls well short of what voters expect. If Halverson doesn’t resign, which would be the correct thing to do, the commission should remove her from the bench.