Q+A: Voters’ guide for the Nevada Supreme Court

By Ana Ley

Wednesday, Sept. 24, 2014 | 2 a.m.

Two Supreme Court justices will show up on election ballots across Nevada this fall.

Justices Mark Gibbons and Mary “Kris” Pickering are running unopposed and are virtually guaranteed of winning another six-year term. (Gibbons and Pickering declined to be interviewed for this story.)

Here’s what you should know about these elected positions.

What cases does the Supreme Court oversee?

When lawyers appeal rulings from county District Courts, the cases go to the Supreme Court, the state’s highest judiciary.

A panel of seven Supreme Court justices hears a wide range of cases, from death-penalty appeals to driver’s license revocations. Justices serve six-year terms that are stacked to avoid rapid turnover on the bench.

Why do we elect justices?

In some states, justices are appointed. But Nevadans want the right to choose. In 2010, voters turned down a ballot measure that would have moved the state to a hybrid appointment-election system.

Why are Gibbons and Pickering running unopposed?

It’s hard to challenge an incumbent Supreme Court justice, especially by those in the legal field. Lawyers typically don’t challenge judges unless they are perceived as having serious problems. Lawyers also tend not to challenge judges as a professional courtesy because it’s hard to reboot law practices. Judges typically make less money than private attorneys do.

How much did they spend on their campaigns?

Because neither candidate is facing opposition, they didn’t raise any campaign money.

Gibbons did report spending $1,056 campaigning this year. Pickering reported that she didn't spend anything.

What should I know about Pickering?

Pickering grew up in Northern Nevada. She graduated from Reno High School before graduating from Yale University with a bachelor’s degree. She then attended law school at Georgetown University and the University of California, Davis.

She began her career as a law clerk for U.S. District Judge Bruce Thompson in Reno, then entered private law practice in Reno and Las Vegas before being elected to the Supreme Court in 2008.

She and her husband, Steve Morris, own a small ranch in central Nevada, near Belmont.

Pickering has a running hobby. She's run marathons in Las Vegas and jogs regularly with her border collies.

What should I know about Gibbons?

As chief justice, he is the presiding member of the Supreme Court. Gibbons is now finishing his second six-year term.

He obtained a bachelor’s degree from the University of California, Irvine, and a law degree from Loyola Marymount University in Los Angeles before becoming an attorney specializing in real estate litigation.

Gibbons was elected to serve as chief judge of the Clark County District Court in 2001 and won a seat on the Nevada Supreme Court in 2002.

He currently chairs the court’s information technology steering committee and co-chairs the specialty court funding committee and the foreclosure mediation rules committee.