Nevada Supreme Court

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Nevada Supreme Court
Sitting Justices
Michael Cherry
Michael Douglas
Mark Gibbons
James Hardesty
Ron Parraguirre
Kris Pickering
Nancy Saitta
Notable rulings
Former justices
Nevada on Judgepedia

Contents

The Supreme Court of Nevada is the highest judicial body in the state.

Jurisdiction

Because Nevada does not have an intermediate appellate court, it is the court of last resort. The Nevada Supreme Court determines all appeals from the district courts.[1]

Case load

In fiscal year 2008, 1,842 appeals were file and 2,238 total cases were filed. Seventy-nine opinions were written.[2] The court has one of the heaviest caseloads nationwide.[3]

The court's justices

Selection of justices

Each justice of the seven justices are elected to six-year terms. In the case of a vacancy, the responsibility goes to the Governor to fill by appointment.[4]

Qualifications

To be a qualified candidate, the person must be a resident of the state for at least two years, must be at least 25 years old at the time of the election, and licensed and admitted to practice law in either Nevada or any other state in the United States for at least 15 years. Two of these years must have been spent practicing in Nevada.[5] To file with the Secretary of State to become an official candidate to the Supreme Court of Nevada, the fee is $300.[6]

Current justices

Name Elected/Appointed Term expires Appointing Governor Political Affiliation
Mark Gibbons 2002 2014 Republican
Michael Cherry 2006 2012 - Democrat
Kris Pickering 2008 2014 - Republican
Nancy Saitta 2006 2012 - Democrat
Michael Douglas 2004 2010 Governor Kenny Guinn Republican
James Hardesty 2004 2010 - Democrat
Ron Parraguirre 2004 2010 - Republican

Chief justice

The Chief Justice is chosen according to seniority, and terms are two years. In the case of two eligible justices, the Chief Justices is determined by lot. In 2009, James Hardesty became Chief Justice of the court.[7] Prior to his term, Bill Maupin and Mark Gibbons split the two year term as both were eligible. Justice Maupin retired in 2008.

History of the court

Upon statehood, the constitution of Nevada provided three justices to the Supreme Court. This was increased twice, once in 1967 from three to five justices, and again in 1997 to seven.[8]

2008 Election

In 2008, two seats on the court were up for re-election, Seats B and D. Four candidates Nancy Allf, Don Chairez, Kris Pickering and Deborah Schumacher, faced off for the B seat during the August 12, primary election. Even though the election was non-partisan, Chairez and Pickering were considered the conservative candidates, while Allf and Schumacher were perceived as liberal. After the primary, Pickering was the overall winner with 27.17% of the vote, while Schumacher edged out Chairez 25.35% to 24%. Allf was right behind with aporoximately 23.5% of the vote. Pickering and Schumacher will face each other in the November general election. Thomas Christensen is challenging Mark Gibbons for Seat D.[9] Kris Pickering and Mark Gibbons won the general election in November 2008.

External links

References

The Nevada Project on Judgepedia