NLV Resident wrote on July 13, 2007 10:45 PM: RE: Committee on Judicial Selection - this Committee is a constitutionally formed committee. Article 6, Section 20, paragraph 1, reads:
"1. When a vacancy occurs before the expiration of any term of office in the Supreme Court or among the district judges, the Governor shall appoint a justice or judge from among three nominees selected for such individual vacancy by the Commission on Judicial Selection."
Following paragraphs then define who sits on the committee. You can find the State Constitution on the Legislature's web site (leg.state.nv.us) under "Law Library."

FYI: You can also find the constitutional, statutory, or other authority creating any state agency/board/commission in the Legislature's Directory of State and Local Government section of the Legislative Manual. I know....I used to update this directory when I worked for the Legislative Counsel Bureau. It can be found in the Research Division's section of the LCB's web page - under Research Publications.

ToRobert wrote on July 13, 2007 07:57 PM: The constitution does not make the chief justice the chairman. The chairman of the commission is elected by the commission's members. Read the constitution. Read the commission's operating rules. Both may be obtained from the Administrative Office of the Courts, which serves as secretariat to the commission.

Robert wrote on July 13, 2007 11:52 AM: 2 comments on this topic:
To Bruce: The Commission on Judicial Selection is a commission made up jointly of persons appointed by the Governor and the State Bar. Neither the Judicial nor Legislative branches are entitled to appoint, although the Chief Justice of Supreme Court chairs the commission under the Constitution. The Nevada Constitution actually contemplates this. The Commission has 7 permanent members and 2 temporary members.

To Ms. Cadish: "I really love the law and I love analyzing legal issues," Cadish said. "I'm good at it." Ahhh humility from the Bench, that is so refreshing. Ms. Cadish, please let us be the Judge of acumen for judging.

bruce wrote on July 13, 2007 05:39 AM: Just who is the Committee on Judicial Selection? Is it a part of the judiciary, the legislature or the executive -- or some independent agancy? I ask because it seems to have a great deal of power to limit the list from which the Governor may make judicial appointments, which is an exclusive right of the executuive branch. It would seem a violation of separation of pwers and the Nevada Constitution for this Committee to be an agency of either the Judiciary (even if attenuated by being under the auspices of the Sytate Bar which itself is answerable to the Supreme Court) or the legislature.

Maybe this is one of those seemingly endless mnumber of things that Nevada has "always done this way," but unless this Committee is completely free of ties to the judicial and legislative branches of government, and even then passes muster under the Nevada Constitution, the Governor is having his power to make judicial appoinments unecessarily limited.

So if anybody out there has the answer, please let us know: Just who comprises the Nevada Committee on Judicial Selection and who selects Committee members and empowers the Committee to act?