News Summary
The Las Vegas Review-Journal is set to initiate its 14th ‘Judging the Judges’ survey, aimed at evaluating judicial performance in Clark County. This ongoing 31-year tradition will gather feedback from attorneys on 101 judges, including those from the Nevada Supreme Court and local courts. The survey, focusing on retention scores and various evaluative criteria, aims to enhance voter information regarding judicial effectiveness amid unique election processes for judges. Results will be published in the fall, highlighting both exemplary and underperforming judges.
Las Vegas – The Las Vegas Review-Journal is set to conduct its 14th “Judging the Judges” survey, continuing a 31-year tradition aimed at evaluating the performance of judges in Clark County. This initiative, which began in 1992, seeks to inform voters and potential candidates about the effectiveness and qualities of judges serving throughout the county.
This year, the survey will gather input from attorneys regarding 101 judges, encompassing Nevada Supreme Court justices, Court of Appeals judges, as well as district judges in Clark County. Additionally, it will include lower court judges from Las Vegas, North Las Vegas, and Henderson. The comprehensive evaluation will take place electronically, with invitations sent via email and postcard to all attorneys operating in Clark County.
According to the Executive Editor of the Review-Journal, there is a pressing need for voters to access better information about judicial elections. This need is amplified by the unique nature of judicial races, where sitting judges and their challengers are unable to engage in typical campaign activities common to other political positions.
Attorneys will be invited to participate on an honor-system basis, ranking judges they have personally appeared before. The primary measurement will focus on retention scores, which reflect the percentage of attorneys who favor keeping a judge on the bench. In addition to this, evaluative criteria will include aspects such as judges’ familiarity with case records, court efficiency, consistency of behavior, fairness, legal accuracy, clarity of decisions, and impartiality.
Judicial performance evaluations conducted by a news agency are considered relatively distinctive within the United States, where most states typically rely on legislative oversight for such assessments. With a goal of enhancing the sample size, the Review-Journal aims to surpass the previous evaluation’s participation of over 600 attorneys.
Each participating attorney will receive a unique code to facilitate a single response submission, ensuring the integrity of the survey’s findings. Scheduled to commence on July 8 and conclude on August 15, results are anticipated to be published in the fall. The survey aims to identify both exemplary and underperforming judges in the Clark County judiciary while refraining from providing exact rankings.
This initiative not only encourages community engagement in judicial assessments but also aims to spotlight judges who may be underperforming and could face potential challengers in upcoming elections. The last “Judging the Judges” survey was conducted in 2019, with fewer surveys being completed since judicial candidates for all District Court and Family Court positions were placed on ballots simultaneously beginning in the 2014 election cycle.
Among the array of survey questions, emphasis will be placed on identifying judges’ strengths and weaknesses, rather than solely inquiring about retention. Questions that arise regarding the survey may be directed to the research center at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas or a designated contact at the Review-Journal.
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Additional Resources
- Las Vegas Review-Journal
- News 3 Las Vegas
- Fox 5 Vegas
- KTNV Las Vegas
- Nevada Current
- Wikipedia: Judiciary of Nevada
- Google Search: Clark County judges
- Google Scholar: Clark County judicial system
- Encyclopedia Britannica: Judiciary
- Google News: Clark County judges
