Friday, Nov. 29, 1996 | 11:59 a.m.
After that much time, she sees nothing extraordinary about being a judge.
She was one of the first female justices of the peace in Nevada, a member of the first group of women to sit in district court, and is the first woman on the state Supreme Court.
In January, she'll add another first when she becomes Nevada's chief justice.
She sees it as another logical step in the career of an admitted loner who says being a judge suits her personality and goals, the Nevada Appeal reported on Friday.
Shearing said she loves the law's higher purposes, the changes it can make and the good it can do. And the best platform to do that in Nevada is as chief justice.
"I feel more comfortable making the decisions rather than just arguing for who's paying me," she said. "And I do like the opportunity to shape the law."
She discovered that 20 years ago when she sat as a referee in juvenile court in Las Vegas. She enjoyed it so much she ran the next year for justice of the peace.
She moved to District Court in 1982, joining Deborah Agosti of Reno in ending the male monopoly on Nevada's bench.
The task when she takes over in January, she said, will be to get past the court's very public internal divisions and back on the track of issuing rulings on appeals.
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