Editorial: Judges now must prove themselves

Cooperation is not a word that comes to mind when thinking of District Court judges in Clark County. Ever since Nevada Supreme Court Chief Justice Bob Rose told the Nevada Legislature earlier this year that a few District Court judges weren't working as hard as they should be, a bloc of judges here has fought a strong chief judge system.

The state Supreme Court has the ultimate power to establish administrative procedures for District Court. So when the chief justice indicated the Supreme Court's preference for a strong chief judge, most assumed that the District Court judges in Clark County would get the message -- unfortunately they didn't. A majority of the judges discarded a plan that would have given the chief judge more power to require judges to take overflow cases when their workload was low, ensure that judges put in a full day's work, and limit vacations to reasonable periods.

The Supreme Court wisely rejected a weaker alternative offered by a majority of judges, instead telling the District Court to come up with an acceptable plan, including a requirement that judges with light caseloads help out those who have overflowing caseloads. Chief District Judge Lee Gates should be commended for wasting no time in responding: On Friday Gates told judges he was going forward with an overflow-trial system, which should get cases to trial sooner and help all litigants in our too-crowded courts.

As the Sun's Bill Gang reported Tuesday, unlike District Court judges in Washoe County who quickly passed rules in May giving their chief judge more power, judges here have been unable to unify behind a single plan. The question now is whether enough judges will get behind Gates' sensible arrangement (the judges who handle civil cases have unanimously endorsed Gates' proposal). While the structure of any system is important to its success, the fact remains that even the best-designed scheme won't succeed unless people work together.

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