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May. 19, 2007
Copyright © Las Vegas Review-Journal

Halverson returns to court

Attorney accompanies judge to work

By LISA KIM BACH
REVIEW-JOURNAL

District Court Judge Elizabeth Halverson returns to the Regional Justice Center on Friday after being banned from the county courthouse for eight days. The Nevada Supreme Court stayed the administrative order issued by Chief Judge Kathy Hardcastle, who barred Halverson after the rookie judge brought in two bodyguards without having them pass through security checkpoints.
Photo by Gary Thompson.

Five floors kept them apart on Friday morning.

On the Regional Justice Center's 11th floor, fledgling District Judge Elizabeth Halverson returned to the bench after an eight-day ban on her presence was lifted by Nevada Supreme Court justices.

"I'm happy to be here," Halverson said. "I'm happy to do what I was elected to do."

Up on the 16th floor, Chief Judge Kathy Hardcastle presided over a group of 15 attorneys arguing about a peremptory challenge of the judge assigned to their civil case. She didn't comment on the return of Halverson, who was barred from the county courthouse by Hardcastle's administrative order.

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    • The workplace conflict between the black robes erupted May 10, after Hardcastle determined that Halverson had risked courthouse security by allowing two bodyguards to bypass security checkpoints. Halverson had retained personal security after her bailiff, Johnny Jordan, was reassigned in April.

    Jordan, who has a complaint pending against Halverson with the Clark County Office of Diversity, was replaced by bailiffs on temporary duty. Halverson deemed their protections inadequate and precipitated the ban by bringing two bodyguards -- one armed with an extendable metal baton -- into areas restricted to judges and court personnel.

    On her first morning back at the Regional Justice Center, Halverson had the protection of three bailiffs in a courtroom peopled by one attorney, one newspaper reporter and a two-person television news crew.

    "We offered her whatever level of security she felt was necessary," court administrator Chuck Short said. "We just wanted to make sure that the level of security was where she wanted it to be."

    Halverson did not bring her bodyguards to work with her. It was her attorney, Bill Gamage, who accompanied Halverson and her motorized wheelchair up a courthouse ramp and through the building's southernmost public entrance.

    "We're not going to really comment," Gamage said when asked whether Halverson still had security concerns. "The judge is just going to do her job today."

    This isn't the first time Hardcastle and Halverson have found themselves in opposition. In 2004, Hardcastle fired Halverson from her position as a law clerk, citing the temporary nature of the position. Halverson then unsuccessfully ran for a Family Court judgeship held by Hardcastle's then-husband. After starting her own law firm, Halverson eventually gained her robes by winning a newly created judgeship in November.

    Her brief tenure has unfolded in controversy, including the loss of her entire first set of staff members. Hardcastle also restricted Halverson to hearing civil cases in April, following a recommendation from a panel of three veteran judges who wanted Halverson to have more time to learn rules and procedures.

    Halverson is challenging Hardcastle's authority to do so in the Nevada Supreme Court, where her attorneys are trying to obtain a hearing in which Hardcastle would have to justify her actions. Hardcastle has until Wednesday to respond.

    In the meantime, Clark County's legal business will be conducted in an environment charged with the fallout of a judicial feud. As bailiffs ushered the public through the RJC metal detectors Friday morning, one man asked the bailiffs how things were going.

    "Just another day in Camp Run-amok," one bailiff said.



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    Manolo wrote on May 28, 2007 08:26 PM: Oh...I almost forgot. Karen Crouch also sucks her thumb in public. Not kidding.


    Manolo wrote on May 28, 2007 08:25 PM: Reading about the antics perpetrated by "Judge" Halverson reminds me about a "judge" in San Antonio, Texas named Karen Crouch. The similarities are striking: 1) Slob. 2) Drama queen. 3) Egotistical. 4.) Clips toe nails while presiding over cases. 5) Dangerously incompetent. I know Halverson didn't clip her toenails on the bench, but Karen Crouch did and I thought it should go on the list anyway. SOMEONE PLEASE RUN AGAINST THESE WARTS THAT HAVE GROWN ON OUR JUDICIAL SYSTEM.


    Patrick wrote on May 28, 2007 11:21 AM: Going by all the Pro-Pig comments regarding that fat pig Halverson, the similarity of the posts and the style, it is pretty obvious who it is...

    Tell us Halverson, how do you manage to type so many comments with those fat fingers of yours?


    Jill H wrote on May 20, 2007 07:54 AM: Hey CB.. can you please site the case of when your allegation occured. I supsect if what you state is true it would have been all over the news like every other breath Judge Halverson has made. So, please, since you seem to be in the know, enlighten us taxpayers with the case name.

    Deborah... when you talking about "a decent hardworking person" were you referring to Halverson's Judical assistant, Ilene Spoor who has alledgly been fixing tickets at the court? LOL..
    150 tickets are in question. Yeah.. decent alright.

    Interesting that someone who may have caused fraud as well as steal thousands and thousands of dollars in revenue from parking ciataions from the District is still working in the court yet Hardcastle and Short do not see this as a security breach.

    Totally laughable.


    cb wrote on May 19, 2007 07:03 PM: Halverson is not only incompetent, she is dangerous. she sentenced someone without reviewing their files resulting in comments from all sources in law enforcement about her poor judgement. We need to make sure she is not re-elected.


    Brucie wrote on May 19, 2007 04:36 PM: It is great to see that Judge Halverson is back to work. She never should have been barred from doing so.

    Last night's channel 8 news gave some of the names of the people who had their tickets fixed by hard working legal assistant Spoor. Going to be fun to watch how court Administration gets her out of this one.

    An employee who may have bilked the county out of thousands and thousands of dollars is still working at the courthouse and the Judge who held on to the evidence until she could turn it over was barred.

    Talk about messed up priorities.

    Oh Bruce.. your personal feelings seem way to intense for an attorney at the RJC. Seems like you are much closer to this situation. Hey, is your last name Hardcastle?


    deborah wrote on May 19, 2007 09:47 AM: I just dont understand you people at all, if nevada is such a right to work state and you employers can take a decent hardworking person and fire them at will then why can you not get rid of this so called judge halverson?
    If you ask me she really is not up to the position she is trying to hold and further more how she got elected is dubious at best,i just dont see how this can be fair to the public either.


    bruce wrote on May 19, 2007 07:43 AM: No matter what one's opinion of Judge Hardcastle or any of the other so-called "independent judges" involved in the handling of Judge Halverson's "escapades" may be, any thinking lawyer knows that Halverson is an under-experienced self-centered individual whose goal of sitting on the bench is self-agrandizement and a pulpet from which to carry on her never-ending repatoire of personal drama that has no place in a court of law -- and after 9 years as a law clerk, there is no doubt she has a sufficient number of personal axes to grind, both real and imagined, to make sure the dispensing of justice is second to her personal agenda, if even that high on her list.

    It is hoped that a significant number of lawyers will bring an end to this escapade -- no matter how entertaining -- by pre-empting Halverson at a sufficiently high level to literally "paper" her off the bench. She is a corrosive element and needs to go somewhere where her personal problems are more important than those of the people who appear before her seeking the modicum of propriety and justice to which they are entitled. She cares only about herself and, I believe, a quick retirement to a job as a "TV Judge" where her supoposedly "colorful" style may have some value and do no real hard. I say lets help her along the way by recusing her automatically in every case in which she is assigned.