Searchlight Justice of the Peace

One said, “I always found [Cooper] to be honorable, extraordinarily intelligent about cases, willing to listen, even if we disagreed about certain prosecutions.” Another: “I think he’s going to be great.” Bottom line: Clear nod to Cooper

North Las Vegas Justice Court Dept 2

<ul>
 	<li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1">
<ul>
 	<li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1">Clark County District Attorney’s Office
<ul>
 	<li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="2">Role: Deputy District Attorney, promoted to Chief Deputy District Attorney</li>
 	<li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="2">Responsibilities: Prosecuted elder abuse cases, ensuring the protection of vulnerable citizens</li>
</ul>
</li>
 	<li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1">Clark County Public Defender’s Office
<ul>
 	<li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="2">Role: Public Defender</li>
 	<li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="2">Responsibilities: Defended the rights of the accused, ensuring fair and equal treatment</li>
</ul>
</li>
 	<li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1">Eighth Judicial District Court
<ul>
 	<li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="2">Role: Hearing Master</li>
</ul>
</li>
</ul>
Responsibilities: Presides over domestic violence cases, issues protective orders</li>
</ul>

Said one, “I think Terry would be a very good judge, based on his many, many years of experience, and I know him well, and he's got a good temperament.” Another: “.I think (Coffing would) be a good judge. He certainly had a lot of experience as a civil practitioner.” Another: “(Mendoza)  seemed willing to work hard and understood that she had a learning curve when it came to the civil aspect of things that she needed to do. You know, that much extra to be prepared and sort of indicated to me that that's what she had been doing. And some of the comments I've gotten from people in front of her and then other judges, is that they've been impressed with her thus far.” Another: “I did some research on Ms. Mendoza because I'm familiar with her reputation, which, as a district attorney, is awful, absolutely awful. And I wanted to talk to people who had specifically worked with her and against her. And I talked … eight or nine people, and the comments that I can share from my notes that don't have swear words include no redeeming qualities. She's an actual bad person. People who work with her … found her to be misleading. The words unethical were thrown out, hiding evidence, misrepresenting things, making personal, ad hoc attacks against people. I mean, the whole gamut of bad behavior is what she displayed as a district attorney. According to everybody who had cases with her or against her that I talked to, I didn't get one good comment about her work as a DA. Another: “McLeod is more progressive.” Bottom line: A little mixed, but mostly for Coffing because of experience.

District Court Dept 27

<ul>
 	<li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="4">Chief Deputy District Attorney - Clark County District Attorney’s Office - Gun Crimes Unit</li>
 	<li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="4">Deputy District Attorney 
<ul>
 	<li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="5">Murder, sexual abuse, crimes against children, drug crimes, domestic violence and financial crimes</li>
</ul>
</li>
</ul>

<ul>
 	<li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="4">Trial Attorney - Nettles Morris</li>
 	<li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="4">Trial Attorney - AIG Staff Counsel</li>
 	<li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="4">Senior Associate - Thorndal Armstrong, PC</li>
 	<li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="2">Is currently Of Counsel at Wilson Elser Moskowitz Edelman, and Dicker LLP</li>
</ul>

<ul>
 	<li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="3">Shareholder at Marquis Aurbach -  President and Managing Partner </li>
 	<li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="2">Is currently Chief Legal Officer at Face Tec.</li>
</ul>

One said, “Alan has certainly pretty much disqualified himself over the last 10 years with some really indefensible positions that he's taken and certainly in interviews with the RJ that are now in print, he continues to take some really indefensible positions about society, about women, about people of color, it's about people who are gay.” Another: “(Talim) has shown some bad judgment as a district attorney in a lot of ways, and has been responsible for a lot of very hard overcharge and stacking situations, but she is competent …she's a very intelligent person, and probably will grow into the ropes. I don't see her going on any kind of power trips anytime soon. So with some hesitancy, a career prosecutor gets my vote.” Another: “I found (Talim) to be even handed, and I think that she's going to be contemplative, and she was going to listen to both sides on the bench. I think that as prosecutors who become judges go, I think she's going to be one of the better ones, and she's an obvious choice in this case.” Others agreed. Bottom line: Clear choice Talim

District Court Dept 14

Laughlin Justice of the Peace

One said, “Amy Ferreira has been a very difficult hearing master on the civil side. She's been doing evictions all day, every day. I'm not sure if she does anything else, if she has any other dockets as a hearing master, but throughout the whole pandemic and up until she started running, she was doing a full docket of evictions, and she was giggling while evicting people. So I have a real issue with her temperament that has changed since she started running for office, but going into that courtroom was a very unpleasant experience for the public.” Another: “I think that the reason why I would choose Bernstein has to do with the makeup of the court and what I consider to be a deficit in qualified civil practitioners on the court. You know, I've talked to a lot of district court judges and a lot of civil practitioners, and everyone agrees that there's kind of a lack of expertise right now, and I think Bernstein brings that expertise, and it's badly needed.” Bottom line: Nod to Bernstein

Las Vegas Justice Court Dept 8

One commented that “Dustin-Cruz is vastly more experienced. It's not even close.” The panelist also mentioned that Cole put the name “Leavitt” on her signs to take advantage of the storied Vegas family name. Another on Dustin-Cruz: “She's been the best chief that I've worked with there, where she's willing to hear our concerns and try to address them.” Another pointed to <a href="https://nevadacurrent.com/2024/09/30/judicial-candidate-defends-partisan-mailer-adopts-moms-maiden-name-for-campaign/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">this story</a> on Cole. Bottom line: Clear choice was Dustin-Cruz.

Las Vegas Justice Court Dept 5

One panelist summed it up this way: “I have never felt comfortable that I was being heard or that the decisions that were being made as a pro tem judge were thoughtful in that particular courtroom. She's got a decent enough demeanor, unless you challenge the decision making that's happening, and then it turns very nasty very quickly. I think hands away for me, the standout here is Jessica Smith-Peterson, without a doubt, I don't think any of the other candidates, ... really come close. And I think that Susan Baucum’s attempt to return to the to the bench after being rejected by voters before, after getting significant low retention scores in the old RJ readers poll, and making a lot of really bad decisions as it comes towards bail, many of which were overturned in the District Court, is pretty disqualifying for her return under these circumstances.” Another: “I think Smith-Peterson is a clear choice … She's incredibly thoughtful and she's insightful. She reads the law, she knows the law, and she is an incredibly hard worker. She's heads above everybody else here.” Others made similar comments. The bottom line: Clear choice is Smith-Peterson

Las Vegas Justice Court Dept 4

<ul>
 	<li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1">Managing Partner, Las Vegas Office of a Reno law firm</li>
 	<li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1">Insurance Defense Attorney</li>
 	<li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1">Justice of the Peace, pro tempore</li>
 	<li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1">Administrative Appeal Hearing Officer for Clark County</li>
</ul>

One member said, “Clearly, he's the more experienced, both legally and on the bench ... As far as judicial candidates, who we want on the bench, think it leans towards experience here, unless there's some reason they don't need to stay on the bench, and I didn't uncover any of that.” Another: “I think Joe is a throwback to the kind of old guard, but in a good way. He's accessible. He's fair to all the parties. He's a problem solver when called upon. Sometimes, I think he's grown a little conservative, for my personal taste, but by the same token, I think he has done as good a job on the bench as any JP maybe ever has in the Las Vegas justice bench, especially with his efforts to at least single-handedly do some reform.” Another: “I think Crystal could be a very good Justice Court judge. I wish she had chosen a different department … Santo is not one of the Justice Court judges who needs to be replaced at all. He's pretty evenhanded.” Bottom line: Clear nod to Sciscento

Las Vegas Justice Court Dept 2

<ul>
 	<li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="4">Clark County Public Defender’s Office </li>
 	<li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="4">Attorney at the Law Office of Kristal Bradford</li>
</ul>

<ul>
 	<li>Law Clerk - Clark County District Attorney’s Office </li>
</ul>

Said one, “I would say that I would think that Sandy DiGiacomo, singularly for her role in the <a href="https://innocenceproject.org/cases/kirstin-blaise-lobato/">Kristen Lobato debacle</a>, is disqualifying to be a judge.” Another: “(DiGiacomo)  has no, no business being on the bench. She's like the Babe Ruth of prosecutorial misconduct …  it's like it never happened. And it's kind of frustrating how bad the reporting has been about it.” And on Renteria: “She's a super hard worker … She really wants to get it right. She always supports the people on her team and the rest of the office, and never says no one you ask her to do something. And as a public defender, you get asked to do stuff all the time, so I think she's a great candidate.” Much agreement. The bottom line: Clear nod to Renteria

Henderson Justice Court Dept 1

<ul>
 	<li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="3">Team Unit Chief Deputy Public Defender, Clark County Public Defender's Office</li>
 	<li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="3">Attorney Advisor, U.S. Department of Justice, Executive Office for Immigration Review</li>
 	<li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="3">Law Clerk, Federal Public Defender's Office, District of Nevada</li>
 	<li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="3">Professional Development Program Fellow, Snell &amp; Wilmer, LLP</li>
 	<li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="3">Legal Assistant/Office Manager, Kreitlein and Walker, Ltd.</li>
</ul>

<ul>
 	<li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="3">Prior Job Titles: Assistant City Attorney III for Henderson</li>
</ul>

One said, “(Gaudet’s) been particularly bad on all range of LGBTQ issues, and I think will continue to be drastically appealed on those …cases for mothers who are victims of domestic violence, where he's separating siblings in different states permanently, and some of the language he's used has been incredible on the record.” Another: “I think Carrie would be better for all populations. Frankly, I've known Carrie for quite a while. She worked for the public defender's office in the juvenile division, which is sorely needed in family court because there is a dearth of experience and knowledge when it comes to a combination of criminal matters and dealing with juvenile justice.” Others were impressed by Maxey. Bottom line: Clear nod to Maxey

District Court Dept N

Staff Attorney in the Minor Guardianship Advocacy Program (2020-Present), Chief Deputy Public Defender – Juvenile Division 2005-2019)

Attorney/Owner, Paul M. Gaudet Law Practice (1992-2023)
<ul>
 	<li>Focused on family law, including divorce, child custody, and other domestic matters, alongside personal injury, juvenile, and criminal law.</li>
</ul>

Election 2024

Searchlight Justice of the Peace

Chris Jeter

Kyle Myers