Plenty of Sin in Sin City Justice

Las Vegas will be talking about the Los Angeles Times this morning. The paper has offered a devastating portrait of Nevada's judiciary:

"These state judges often dispense a style of wide-open, frontier justice that veers out of control across ethical, if not legal, boundaries. The consequences reach beyond Nevada, affecting people in other states, especially California."

The report goes on to show how the juice network (which transforms local connections, friendships and obligations into influence) works. Out of state lawyers, like those from California, of course, have no juice.

Nothing in the story will surprise locals, though it is safe to say no local newspaper has ever attempted to document and explore the relationship between judges, casinos and local lawyers so thoroughly. Once before on the Buffet, I mentioned a small aspect of this issue: friends and family days set aside by the local court to allow the juiced to come get special treatment in traffic citation matters.

But this L.A. Times story has a far more elaborate and detailed look at much larger issues focusing on conflicts of interest, campaign contributions and the impact these appear to be having on Nevada judges. Best of all, this is the first of a three part series on Nevada judges. I bet there are some folks trembling under their robes this morning at the courthouse.

Update: Jon Ralston is the most influential and feared commentator on Vegas politics. He does a television show, "Face to Face With Jon Ralston," and he has column in the Las Vegas Sun. For the elites he also does the subscription-based Ralston Report, which sends out regular e-mail notes, called Flashes, on important Vegas events. Every player in the political arena in Vegas gets them. I receive these too, because Ralston is employed as part of the parent company that owns Las Vegas Weekly where I am on staff. So far this morning Ralston has sent out no less than three e-mails to his influential list of subscribers on this L.A. Times story. In one Ralston writes:

"You must read this piece. The amount of time the newspaper's reporters spent looking into what it calls a 'stacked judicial deck' is obvious and shows why some of us have said for years that judges should not run for office." Ralston also predicts that this story will bring on a Federal law enforcement investigation into some of the judges and practices described.

(Photo: Sam Morris / Las Vegas Sun)