EDITORIAL: Leung should retain municipal judgeship

The 2014 general election ballot forced voters to study more than two dozen District Court and Family Court races. The 2015 municipal primary election is much less daunting, with just one contested judgeship valleywide. But it’s no less important for Las Vegas voters to cast an informed ballot April 7: One day, they could find themselves in Municipal Court, which hears misdemeanor offenses and small civil matters.

That lone race is in Department 1, where Judge Cynthia Leung faces a challenge from attorney Yvette Chevalier.

Judge Leung was appointed to the bench in February 2008, then won election to a six-year term in 2009. She was a defense attorney for two years and a city prosecutor for nine years before her judicial appointment. Judge Leung served as chief judge from 2011 to 2013 and since 2008 has overseen the Women in Need of Change Court, a specialty drug court focusing on the recovery and redirection of women convicted of prostitution and drug-related offenses.

Judge Leung says the success rate of the WIN Court appears low — 300 referrals and just 22 graduates — but some of those women have gone on to college and beyond. “When you effect change for one person, it has a ripple effect on the rest of the family.” When asked how the court might respond to the opening of Nevada’s first medical marijuana dispensaries and the potential voter approval of recreational marijuana in 2016, Judge Leung said, “I’m going to follow the law. Change is OK. Change is fine.”

Ms. Chevalier, a Las Vegas resident since 1981, graduated from UNLV’s Boyd School of Law in 2003. Prior to that, she had 18 years of public service, working as an educator, counselor and social worker on behalf of foster children and the mentally ill. She holds master’s degrees from UNLV in education and psychology. Ms. Chevalier says Municipal Court is “not a very passionate court” and that among the three judges she could have challenged, Judge Leung is the least in touch with the community.

Ms. Chevalier has tremendous life experience, including her legal work in private practice. But Judge Leung has been steady on the bench. In the Review-Journal’s 2013 judicial performance evaluation, 75 percent of responding attorneys said Judge Leung should be retained. Ms. Chevalier cannot make a compelling case to replace Judge Leung. The Review-Journal endorses Judge Cynthia Leung for Las Vegas Municipal Court, Department 1.