Saturday, November 17, 2012

Editorial: Justice Delayed Can Stoke Misdeeds

Recently indicted Family Court Judge Steven Jones has been under investigation by the Nevada Judicial Discipline Commission since a complaint was first filed in 2006, according to a case unsealed Wednesday by the Nevada Supreme Court.

Some of the allegations are similar to the Oct. 24 federal indictment alleging Jones was one of six involved in a $3 million investment fraud scheme starting in 2002.

In the judicial commission's investigation, however, the allegations of fraudulent financial transactions reach back as far as 1996 and involve accusations he was the "deal closer" who solicited investors who lost a total of $2.2 million.

The Judicial Discipline Commission hasn't formally charged Jones but warned him on July 10 that it planned to go forward with a hearing, providing him with a proposed charging document and asking for his response. The commissioners still must decide whether to charge him. Normally, the proceedings would have become public at that time.

The allegations are prematurely public now because Jones's attorney, Jim Jimmerson, sued, asking the Nevada Supreme Court to dismiss the proposed charges. He argued the allegations are so old, some dating to 1996, that Jones has been deprived of due process.

The complaint is 6 years old, and the delay in any action by the judicial commission - much less any resolution - has kept voters ignorant of potential wrongdoing by a judge who has judged others for 20 years. From my viewpoint, that dillydallying seems unfair to the judge as well as to the voters.

Full Editorial and Source:
Justice Denied Can Stoke Misdeeds

2 comments:

Thelma said...

A whole bang gang with a judge in charge? Oh, my!

StandUp said...

Exactly! And this is why any judge being investigated should be suspended during that investigation.