Former judge barred from bench under ethics settlement

RENO -- A former Douglas County justice of the peace will be permanently barred from the bench under a settlement reached with the Nevada Commission on Judicial Ethics.

The agreement signed by former East Fork Justice of the Peace Jim EnEarl states he violated judicial canons by repeatedly engaging in "extremely inappropriate and offensive" comments and actions with his court staff, the Nevada Appeal of Carson City reported.

The settlement further states he continued to do so after being advised by court staff that his conduct was "unacceptable and offensive."

The complaints were filed by court employees last year. But exactly what EnEarl did is sealed by statute because he settled the case rather than take it to a public hearing before the commission.

EnEarl resigned in August 2010 after 15 years on the bench. He was publicly reprimanded in 2003 for not allowing Joseph Manoukian an attorney before revoking his probation. Manoukian later killed himself in his cell.

EnEarl's lawyer, Scott Freeman, said during a hearing Thursday at the State Bar offices in Reno that the former judge's desire to avoid embarrassment was one reason the case was resolved "extremely early" and why he decided to retire from the bench.

But Freeman defended EnEarl's reputation as a judge, saying the activity in question "occurred not on the bench but in other areas."

Under the settlement, EnEarl pleaded guilty to the allegations by court staff and accepted that those findings "have been established by clear and convincing evidence."