Tuesday, May 04, 2004
Copyright © Las Vegas Review-Journal

SUPREME COURT: Douglas sworn in to state's high court

Governor lauds first black justice in history of Nevada

Justice Michael Douglas speaks Monday during his investiture to the Nevada Supreme Court in Carson City. PHOTO by CATHLEEN ALLISON SPECIAL TO THE REVIEW-JOURNAL

CARSON CITY -- Declaring his support for justice for all people, Michael L. Douglas was sworn in Monday by Chief Justice Miriam Shearing as the first black Supreme Court justice in Nevada's 140-year history.

"I don't believe in liberty and justice for some," Douglas said at a Capitol ceremony attended by about 250 people. "Not for just the rich, not for just blacks, not for just Caucasians, but for all. The Constitution does even the playing field. It provides an opportunity for all."

Douglas, 56, was appointed by Gov. Kenny Guinn on March 26 to replace Justice Myron Leavitt, who died in January. He joins the Supreme Court after serving as a district judge in Clark County since 1996.

Six hours before he assumed his new job, Douglas visited the secretary of state's office where he filed as a candidate for election to the Supreme Court seat in November.

Under state law, he only can serve as an appointed justice until the end of the year. If he wins in November, then he will serve out the remaining two years of Leavitt's six-year term.

Guinn called Monday a "momentous day" in the history of Nevada.

"It is an enormous responsibility to be a Supreme Court justice," Guinn said. "You must be special and place political and personal ideologues aside. He is the right man at the right time. It is not just about history, but about being the best man."

"It is a long overdue time when a person of color is finally seated on our Supreme Court," added former District Judge Gene Porter, a friend of Douglas'.

Douglas praised his parents, who are living in California but could not attend the ceremony because health problems associated with age.

"I am who I am because of the love and care of my father and mother who taught me everything I needed to know."

In an interview, he mentioned his father, a high school football and baseball coach, could not stay in hotel rooms in Las Vegas when he visited in the 1950s because of segregation policies.

"He had to stay, with his team, out of downtown," he said.

Black people then typically stayed in rooming houses in West Las Vegas. Douglas added he was not the victim of overt racism, but experienced traces of it when he moved to Las Vegas. His car often was pulled over by police.

"I drive fancy cars from time to time," said Douglas, who likes to restore Porsches. "I have been stopped. It was not 'Sir you were speeding.' It was 'Do you own this car?' Fortunately I had my get-out-of-jail card, my D.A. badge or a judge's badge. I laid it on the hood and the officer got whiplash when he looked at me."

He added that not everyone can be condemned for racism, and that he achieved success through the help of others.

"The state is growing up, there is no doubt about it," he said. "It has given me opportunities I never would have gotten anyplace else. I had the good fortune to grow up with the state, so to speak."

He said Nevada's growing population and the increasing ethnicity and diversity of its people have made it a better place to live for all.

Reared in Los Angeles, Douglas received a bachelor's degree from California State University at Long Beach in 1971 and his law degree from the Hasting College of Law in San Francisco in 1974.

He moved to Las Vegas in 1982 where he first worked at a staff attorney for Nevada Legal Services. From November 1984 through December 1995, he served as a deputy district attorney in Clark County.