Fine begins fight to delay panel punishment

The first step has been taken in Family Court Judge Fran Fine's legal tug-of-war to counter the state Commission on Judicial Discipline's decision to boot her off the bench.

Formal documents were filed with the Nevada Supreme Court on Thursday, pleading with it to temporarily halt the punishment and let voters decide who will preside in Family Court.

"The case cries out for this court's intervention," Fine's attorney, William Terry, stated in the documents asking for a stay order from the high court pending a full review of the commission's decision, which was filed Wednesday.

That would make Fine a legal candidate to retain her seat in the General Election and allow her to return as judge to Family Court until a ruling is made on the validity of the commission's actions or unless she is defeated at the polls

She is being challenged by attorney Robert Lueck, who finished second to Fine in the primary.

Although the commission voted last week to remove Fine from the bench, the decision was too late for her name to be removed from the ballot.

Terry noted that without Supreme Court intervention, "Fine could win the election and not be allowed to be a judge."

Fine was disciplined in part for having private conversations with psychologists in cases before her but without attorneys for either side being present.

Terry's documents contend that Fine had the legal authority to do that and the commission overstepped its authority.

"How can local rules and statutes which allow a (judge) to review reports mandate that a judge be punished for doing just that?" Terry asked in documents.

He also chastised the commission for convicting Fine of wrongdoing for incidents that were revealed only during hearings and were not part of the formal allegations. Terry said Fine's appeal, to be filed within a few days, will challenge the legal propriety of that.

Another problem that contributed to the ethics case against Fine involved her appointment of her cousin as a mediator in a case without revealing the relationship to the participants.

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