Thursday, Aug. 27, 1998 | 11:36 a.m.
The following is a breakdown of the Clark County judicial races:
FAMILY COURT
At its inception more than six years ago, the perception of Family Court was that it was a place where divorcing couples finally could go for their day in court and justice. That perception, however, has deteriorated into an all too prevalent view that it is a place where litigants are just further victimized.
In addition to divorces, Family Court handles matters ranging from adoptions, child custody and support to juvenile crime and child neglect and abuse.
Some of its most vocal critics have been the lawyers who practice before the six original judges and two additional judges who came on board two years ago.
There have been complaints of inconsistency in decisions, unwarranted delays, biases and intemperate behavior on the bench. Legislative hearings earlier this year drew scores of protesters demanding reform but there also was testimony that there has been much improvement in the court.
While the original six judgeships are up for re-election this year for six-year terms, only three are being challenged and only two have multiple challengers that will put the races on the primary election ballot. Those not facing opposition are judges Gloria Sanchez, Steve Jones and Bob Gaston. Judge Gerald Hardcastle has only one challenger, attorney Nicholas Del Vecchio.
Department A
This spot was vacated earlier this year with the resignation of the original judge, Terrance Marren, who left under fire to take the job of city attorney in the town of Mesquite.
The seat was refilled on April 30 with the appointment of Bill Voy, who is running against four challengers to retain the seat.
* Voy, 39, who lives in North Las Vegas, has been an attorney in Nevada for nine years. He is a graduate of Lewis and Clark College in Portland, Ore., and Willamette University School of Law.
During the past few years, while working as a private attorney and before his judicial appointment, Voy served as an alternate North Las Vegas Municipal Court judge, a pro tempore Clark County justice of the peace and Clark County Mental Commitment hearing master.
Since becoming a Family Court judge, Voy instituted a Wednesday night court session and a fast-track system for trials and decisions.
* Jim Guesman, 54, has been a lawyer for 21 of the 34 years he has resided in Nevada, with much of his practice involving domestic law. He has served as an alternate referee in child support, paternity and domestic violence cases.
Guesman advocates quick decisions based on common sense rather than extensive court hearings.
* Randall Pike, 43, is a graduate of Valley High School, Brigham Young University and Pepperdine University School of Law. He is a second-generation attorney who has lived in Nevada 37 years.
He was a deputy district attorney before going into private practice 15 years ago, where he specializes in criminal and family law.
* Michael Root, 41, is a native Las Vegan who graduated from Valley High School and UNLV. He earned his law degree from California Western School of Law.
This is Root's second run for a Family Court position, having been unsuccessful in his 1992 bid. He has pledged to give every litigant a trial to present evidence.
* Charles Hoskins, 34, is a Bonanza High School graduate who earned his law degree from Northwestern School in Portland, Ore.
He practices domestic law exclusively, which he says gives him the insight and experience necessary to be an effective judge.
Department E
Judge Fran Fine, the incumbent judge, is trying to fend off three challengers in the primary election that will come just days after a scheduled disciplinary hearing before the Judicial Disciplinary Commission.
* Fine, 47, was one of the court's original judges. She also is one of the most criticized judges by lawyers and community groups associated with Family Court. She already has been disciplined once for ethical violations. A graduate of Golden Gate University School of Law, Fine said she wants to continue building programs to streamline the court process.
* Robert Lueck, 50, is a 1974 graduate of Notre Dame Law School who works as a private attorney. He advocates simplifying the court's paperwork and procedures and establishing a "gang court" to deal with street gang members who wind up in court.
* Steve Minagil, 46, is a graduate of Valley High School, UNLV and Southwestern University School of Law. Minagil, who has practiced law for 18 years, said the primary issue in the race is Fine's oft-criticized demeanor on the bench, such as rolling her eyes as she listens to litigants' stories.
* Pat Nohrden, 42, earned his law degree from the University of Akron and has been practicing primarily family law. He has been a recipient of the Clark County Pro Bono Project's "Spirit of Pro Bono" award. As part of his campaign, Nohrden said he is opposed to "unnecessary lengthy litigation that rarely accomplishes anything more than dwindling a family's resources with attorney fees."
DISTRICT COURT
Three new seats have been added by the Legislature to the District Court bench to alleviate the civil and criminal caseloads in Clark County. This will raise the number of judges in that arena to 19.
While the judges will have the authority to handle both types of cases, the district judges currently specialize in one type or the other. The three new judges will be assigned initially to civil caseloads because their makeshift courtrooms on the fourth floor of the Clark County Courthouse are not large enough or secure enough to handle criminal defendants.
New judgeships often are filled initially through appointment by the governor, but the Legislature decided to let voters make the selections for the seats that will be filled in January.
Department 17
* Michael Cherry, 53, has been a lawyer in Las Vegas for 28 years and for two years has served as Clark County's special public defender, overseeing an office that primarily defends death penalty and other murder cases. A 1969 graduate of Washington University Law School, Cherry previously was in private practice and also served as an alternate Municipal Court judge and pro tem justice of the peace. He has been the special master overseeing technical and legal issues in the MGM Grand and Hilton hotel-casino fires.
Cherry said he wants to "make sure the courthouse belongs to the people and that justice is swift."
* Jim Mahan, 54, cites his "temperament and experience" honed through 24 years as a lawyer as the reasons he should be elected. He earned his law degree from Vanderbilt University in 1973 before moving to Las Vegas and becoming a private attorney.
"I worry that judges are isolated and that our legal system in this country is failing to address the concerns of ordinary Americans," Mahan said in a news release. "I am particularly concerned that victims of crime are too often victimized again by the legal system."
Mahan is on the board and serves as lawyer for Habitat for Humanity, Las Vegas.
* Gayle Nathan, 44, earned her law degree from Touro College in Huntington, N.Y., and practiced law in Connecticut and New York before moving to Las Vegas in 1993. She has her own law office specializing in wrongful termination cases, criminal defense and family law.
Nathan said she is "fair and impartial and not entrenched in the good ol' boy network."
She is a trustee of the University United Methodist Church and on the board of a nonprofit corporation planning to present an annual international film festival in Las Vegas.
* Sandra Pomrenze, 48, has practiced law for 21 years, 12 in Las Vegas. She specializes in business and labor law. Previously she was vice president and general counsel for the Nevada Resort Association.
Pomrenze is a 1977 graduate of John Marshall Law School who serves occasionally as a settlement judge for the Nevada Supreme Court and is on the Nevada Bar Association's Southern Nevada Disciplinary Board.
She said she "can offer common sense to make the judicial system responsive to the needs of the people."
Department 18
* Las Vegas Municipal Judge Nancy Saitta, 47, is seeking to move up to the District Court after only two years on the lower court bench. An eight-year resident of Nevada, Saitta previously worked as a senior deputy attorney general and is a member of the Juvenile Justice Commission.
Saitta supports judicial specialization as a way to streamline the court system and advocates early intervention and treatment programs to combat crime.
* Stephen Webster, 48, has been a lawyer in Nevada for 22 years and served as a Las Vegas Municipal Court judge from 1985 until he was defeated in his 1993 bid for re-election. He is a 1976 graduate of Brigham Young University law school.
Webster was a deputy city attorney in North Las Vegas from 1978 to 1985 and served for two years as a part-time child support and paternity hearing master in District Court. In 1992 he authorized the legal textbook "Criminal Procedure" that is used at the Community College of Southern Nevada.
* Melodie Swanson, 41, graduated from Las Vegas High School in 1973 and Southwestern University School of Law in 1980. She has been a private attorney in Clark County since 1982 and for the past five years has been a part-time arbitrator over civil cases in District Court.
Swanson said her experience in District Court cases far exceeds that of her opponents. She said the most important attribute for a District Court judge is "the ability to read, interpret and apply the law consistently, fairly and swiftly."
Department 19
* Family Court Judge Gary Redmon, 63, who recently underwent a heart transplant operation, is seeking what amounts to a lateral transfer to the court that handles civil and criminal cases. He was elected to the Family Court bench two years ago after a 24-year career as an attorney that included a stint as a deputy district attorney.
Redmon said that in addition to domestic law, his private practice had included civil and criminal cases and he misses courtroom trial work. He said his philosophy as a judge is to be "fair and firm."
* Joe Houston, 51, is a graduate of Western High School and California Western University Law School who has practiced law in Las Vegas for 23 years. He said he has appeared in court to argue cases on almost a daily basis during that time.
Houston, who has worked as a Clark County deputy district attorney and deputy public defender, said "the real issue is that judges are needed who have extensive courtroom experience, especially in the area of criminal law where judges' decisions are critical."
* Drake DeLanoy, 70, is a graduate of the University of Nevada, Reno and the University of Denver Law School. He has practiced law in Southern Nevada since 1962 and currently is chairman of the Tahoe Regional Planning Agency.
He has been a chief deputy district attorney, assistant city attorney and a U.S. Air Force trial judge advocate.
DeLanoy said that as a judge he would work to cut costs for taxpayers and litigants by scheduling court cases so they could be decided after one court session.
* Michael Kulwin, 41, is a 1984 graduate of Gonzaga University School of Law in Spokane, Wash. He has worked as a private attorney in Las Vegas since then.
Kulwin said his diverse legal experience would "allow me to apply common sense to everyday life situations that bring the honest working people of Clark County before the District Courts."
* Lona Monson Groover, 37, who graduated in 1985 from Northern Illinois University Law School, touts her wide range of experience, primarily in civil law, as the reason she should be elected. She is past president of the Southern Nevada Association of Women Attorneys and has been active in the state and Clark County bar associations. She also is a former board member of the Shade Tree Shelter for abused women.
Groover said that as a judge she will be particularly tough on repeat offenders but "I won't hesitate to dismiss bad cases -- either criminal or civil."
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