Do We Have A Forum To Rate Judges? No...

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I know you may be saying that there IS a forum (via the Review Journal) to assess judicial performance...blah! We don't. The only participants in that survey (that hardly anyone answers) are attorneys, I believe judges, too. If we were to get the assessments from all the civil litigation & criminal attorneys that practice in front of the judges, then we might have something. We don't. That is one of the reasons that I'm pushing so hard for the Nevada Legislature to enact and provide funding for a judicial evaluation program that incorporates litigants, criminals, attorneys, staff & the judges themselves. If it were mandatory, it would be done and the public could get a rating of judicial performance.

No, this is not unique. It is done in many other jurisdictions to allow for judicial accountability to the public and to their peers. Some would argue that judicial accountability to the public is what we are trying to avoid, we want an independent judiciary that follows the law and that is it. Well, we certainly don't have that right now. I've already laid out that we should have an appointed intermediary appellate court that will ensure politics stay out of the judiciary. Even in the system currently suggested by the Nevada Legislature, they want judicial evaluations. However, they want pure appointment with judicial retention elections. How will that get rid of politics and bias in the courtroom?

In the coming weeks, I'll review some these issues relevant to judicial elections in Nevada and where we should be going. Consider this a "call for opinions" on the subject. I'd like to get more feedback, other than my daily conversations with judges, attorneys and the public.
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