Las Vegas Nv Family Court - Lisa Brown, then a family court candidate, speaks to the Review-Journal editorial board on March 17, 2014. (Mark Damon/Las Vegas Review-Journal)
On April 30, 2014, Family Court Judge Mathew Harter addressed the Review-Journal editorial board. (Mark Damon/Las Vegas Review-Journal)
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On March 3, 2014, then-family court candidate Rena Hughes addressed the Review-Journal editorial board. (Mark Damon/Las Vegas Review-Journal)
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Family Court Judge William Potter addressed the Las Vegas Review-Journal Editorial Board, March 19, 2014. (Mark Damon/Las Vegas Review-Journal)
Family Court Judge Frank Sullivan presides over his courtroom on May 7, 2015 in Las Vegas. (RJ file)
Family Court Judge Sandra Pomrenze speaks to the Las Vegas Review-Journal Editorial Board on March 20, 2014. (Mark Damon/Las Vegas Review-Journal)
Clark County attorneys seek to replace six family court judges, the majority of courts in a 2019 Judicial Performance Review survey sponsored by the Las Vegas Review-Journal.
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Nineteen of the 20 Family Court judges were assessed. Rhonda Forsberg, who was appointed in April, was not included in the review.
Lawyers who voted to replace Cheryl Moss and Sandra Pomrenze -- repeating the "no-keep" list in 2013, the last time an inquiry was conducted. Pomrenz received a retention score of 28%, the lowest of the 89 judges reviewed this year.
Lisa Brown, Matthew Hart, Rainer Hughes and William Porter were the four other judge-advocate attorneys who voted to be removed.
Lawyers return polarized retention scores for family court, with judges typically scoring around 40, or between 70% and 90%.
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According to Rebecca Gill, a UNLV researcher and associate professor of political science who conducted the survey, this is in line with findings from the National Family Court Performance Review—partly, she says, because these courts are so emotionally charged, and "very few people coming out of family courts are happy".
"There are some unique features to the nature of these cases and the nature of their work, and it's not surprising that family court judges tend to have lower overall scores and higher variance in scores," Gill said.
All family court judges in Clark County are up for re-election next year. Voters can also look forward to six new seats on the ballot, bringing the number of family court judges to 26.
Of the judges who scored 50 percent or less, only Hart and Hughes agreed to be interviewed.
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Forty-eight percent of responding attorneys voted to keep Hart. On a five-point weighted scale, he received an overall score of 3.3 on individual questions about his performance.
Harter, who sat in his courtroom in late October, told the Review-Journal he was surprised to see his retention score "fall a lot" from 71 percent in the 2013 review.
The judge, who was first elected to the family court in 2008 and lost his bid for the state Supreme Court last year, has a theory: Steve Sanson, a controversial figure in Nevada politics, has launched a smear campaign against him. Early 2014
Sanson, a longtime family court critic, is the president of Veterans International Political Group, which says it "exposes corruption and immorality." Sanson also supports a page called "Clark County Family Court System Declares War on Facebook," which, among other things, posts videos of judges in court.
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Hart suspects that Sanson used his connections in Nevada politics to misjudge the scrutiny of lawyers who have never appeared before Hart or have not appeared before him recently.
In response, Sanson told the Review-Journal, "Anyone can Google Hart and find out what we found in him, but have we gone to a lawyer and said, 'Don't vote for Judge Hart?'" No we don't. t. People make their own decisions based on the evidence we provide. "
In the anonymous comments section of the review, the lawyers described Hart as a judge who "does everything in his power to avoid coming to family court every day."
"My ship is very efficient and tight, and I ask lawyers to be prepared. I follow the rules, I know the law," he said. "That's what I try to do, and not rush home."
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Like Hart, Hughes hopes to keep the seat. His first term in the Family Court is coming to an end. 42% of responding attorneys voted to keep it.
47% of lawyers believe that Hughes law is not applied accurately. Lawyers also described it as "consistent" and "unpredictable".
Hughes was publicly reprimanded by the Nevada Judicial Disciplinary Board last year. After a mother was convicted in a 2016 custody battle, the council ordered him to undergo further legal education.
During the hearing, Hughes handed temporary custody to a girl's father - an order the committee said was "not primarily in the child's best interests" - and then threatened to kill her if she refused to go with him. Will send crying girl to shelter. Father
Lynn Hughes And Amy Mastin, Candidates For Family Court Department M (las Vegas Review Journal …
In an interview with the newspaper, Hughes declined to speak specifically about the case, but said: "I usually take the commission's orders to heart."
Since then, Hughes said, she's taken as many classes as she can and hasn't put her case aside to help resolve high-conflict custody cases.
"I will not be intimidated by my focus and dedication to upholding Nevada's laws and their proper application in the best interests of the child," he said.
In 2013, Moss’ retention rate dropped from 44% to 42%. It achieved a top score of 65% in 2002, the first year it was assessed.
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Similar to the 2013 results, Moss scored lowest in punctuality this year. Fifty-eight percent of the 83 respondents said Moss had made no changes to the court's schedule.
"Sometimes you have to wait two hours or more to hear," one lawyer said. Another said he "couldn't manage his court in time if his life depended on it."
Nevada attorney records show that Moss was never disciplined, but in 2005, Randy Rumph, an attorney representing himself in the probation case, filed a complaint against Moss with the Judicial Disciplinary Board.
Renfe said the judge gave preferential treatment to lawyers who donated to his campaign, including his ex-wife's lawyer. Two of his former legal assistants signed affidavits alleging favoritism.
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The complaint was dismissed two years later, but at the time the board told Rumph it had "taken appropriate action," suggesting Moss had been privately reprimanded.
Porter, who has been on the bench for more than 13 years, saw his retention rate drop to 44 percent in 2013 from 59 percent in 2013. The drop could be attributed to the suspension of a lawyer for two months in late 2017 after he was ordered to handcuff him in court. And lashed out at his disciplinary hearing. The Judicial Disciplinary Committee also ordered him to undergo a psychiatric evaluation.
This year, 57 percent of the 88 respondents thought Porter was rude. Anonymous commenters called him a "loose cannon" and allegedly yelled at lawyers and litigants.
One lawyer expressed fear of entering his courtroom, adding that "there's no way to prepare clients for what might happen."
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Forty-seven percent of responding attorneys voted to keep Brown, while 47 percent felt Brown did not apply the law accurately.
One lawyer commented that he was "relying too much on his secretary to make decisions". According to another lawyer, "his legal assistant prepared notes for his reference".
Brown served as a family court judge from 2000 to 2008 before he lost a re-election bid and returned to family court in 2014.
After more than 10 years on the bench, lawyers still want Chief Justice Bryce Duckworth to stay on. He said in an interview that he intends to do so.
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Duckworth has the highest score in family court with a 92% retention rate and a 4.5 overall score. He also received the highest retention score of any family court judge in 2011 and 2013.
Duckworth said she takes personal time to avoid "burnout," preparing her case and walking into court knowing that everyone who shows up in front of her is having her "worst day ever." He said it helped keep him calm and reminded him that every litigant was worthy of his respect.
"I recognize that they are going through a crisis," he said. "It's not always easy to experience these emotions, and I think part of my role is trying to focus on what's really important."
That's why, he said, "even if they don't get the outcome they want, they feel like they have an opportunity to present their case."
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Eighty-seven percent of the lawyers surveyed voted to keep Frank Sullivan, who was first elected as a family court judge in 2008.
Compared to other family court judges, including Duckworth, Sullivan concluded 4.3
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