Name: Nancy Becker* Age: 51 Occupation: Sate Supreme Court justice Name: Nancy Saitta Age: 55 Occupation: District Court judge

Nevada Supreme Court Justice Nancy Becker is basing her re-election campaign on her accomplishments on the bench since her first term in 1998. Her opponent, District Court Judge Nancy Saitta, is focusing on the obligations she says Becker failed to fulfill.

Becker said that despite some of the controversial decisions made by the state Supreme Court, she is confident voters will look at her two decades of experience as a judge.

"I'm campaigning on my 20 years as a judge, my excellent ratings as well as my community commitments and my leadership roles," she said.

Saitta, who has served as a District Court judge for 12 years, said she hopes voters realize her dedication to the law. "My commitment is real," Saitta said. "I am passionate about the law."

As the two women prepare to square off for state Supreme Court Seat G, it's Saitta who has been the most critical of her opponent's past decisions on the bench.

Saitta says Becker and five other state Supreme Court justices ignored the state constitution when in 2003 they ordered the Legislature to pass revenue-raising legislation by a majority vote.

The constitution requires a two-thirds majority vote to increase taxes.

"The constitution was dangerously ignored," Saitta said. "I think certainly my opponent is someone who represents what was not right with the court. There was a lack of fair and consistent application of the law and a lack of respect for the constitution."

When told of Saitta's opinion, Becker said: "It's just a claim. There is no truth to that. We respect the constitution, and we enforce the constitution."

State Supreme Court justices, including Becker, argued that the two-thirds provision was trumped by a mandate to fund education.

"We said, 'This is your duty under the constitution,'" Becker said. "That's not ignoring the constitution; that's interpreting the constitution."

Saitta also has attacked Becker for decisions the court has made on governmental use of eminent domain powers. Eminent domain can be used to compensate property owners for their land when the government wishes to use it for a public purpose.

Perhaps the most controversial eminent domain decision by state Supreme Court justices came in 2003. The court ruled that it was constitutional for the city of Las Vegas' Downtown Redevelopment Agency to purchase private property and use it for a parking garage. The garage is part of the Fremont Street Experience.

Becker said the parking garage served as a public purpose because it improved a blighted area of downtown.

Saitta said: "When you're messing with someone's property or property rights, I think a court needs to be extraordinarily careful. We have to see that we the people of the state don't fall prey to people in power to take it away from us."

The two both make claims to having "broad-based" experience that qualifies them for the job on the state's highest court.

Becker said she is most proud of the court's new "fast-track program," which ensures that custody battles last no longer than six months.

"We wanted to speed it up because of the impact on the children," she said, adding that she wants to extend the program to other areas of the court to reduce caseloads.

Becker also helped initiate a program to increase accessibility to the court. It standardized forms for domestic cases to allow those who want to represent themselves to navigate the system.

She also was involved in creating programs to deal with defendants with drug and alcohol problems or mentally ill defendants.

"We are saving our jail space for drug dealers, violent offenders and people who are career criminals," Becker said.

Saitta said her life experience makes her qualified to sit on the state Supreme Court and preside over a wide variety of issues.

Not only is she familiar with criminal law and construction defect law, she said, she is passionate about families and children.

Saitta said she was a single mother with two young children when she put herself through law school. She has worked at Clark County's adoption fair for a decade and has visited domestic violence shelters.

"I'm a tireless advocate for the protection of children and seniors, two groups who can least protect themselves," Saitta said. "That is from broad-based life experiences; that is a distinction between myself and my opponent."