Certain charges dismissed

CARSON CITY -- The Judicial Discipline Commission on Monday struck certain charges from a complaint filed against a Clark County district judge alleging improper use of campaign contributions.

Removed from the original Nov. 2 complaint were charges that Judge Lee Gates publicly endorsed the candidacies of Las Vegas Justice of the Peace Karen Bennett-Haron and Supreme Court Justice Michael Douglas by making $5,000 contributions to each of the two jurists in violation of the Code of Judicial Conduct.

Gates still faces questions about whether he failed to report the two contributions in a timely manner, and whether it was appropriate for him to use leftover campaign funds to make the contributions.

But the public endorsement question is no longer at issue.

Both Bennett-Haron and Douglas were up for election in 2004, and both won their seats.

An advisory opinion issued by the Standing Committee on Judicial Ethics and Election Practices cited in the original complaint said that contributions over $100, which require public disclosure of the name of the donor on the campaign reports of the judicial candidates, were prohibited. The advisory opinion said a donation large enough to require the disclosure of a fellow jurist's name would constitute a public endorsement prohibited by the Code of Judicial Conduct.

The order striking those portions of the complaint against Gates, signed by DaVeen Nave, vice-chairwoman of the Judicial Discipline Commission, noted that the Nevada Supreme Court just a year ago amended the rule regarding campaign contributions by members of the judiciary to allow donations in excess of $100.

The Supreme Court questioned whether contributions by judges in an amount that are subject to public disclosure rules constitute an endorsement of the candidate, adding: "And any limit on the amount that a judge or judicial candidate may contribute to a political candidate beyond those campaign-contribution limits generally applicable to individuals violates the judge or judicial candidate's right under the First Amendment to the United States Constitution."

Gates still faces other issues raised in the original complaint, and he has until Friday to respond.

Those issues are whether Gates failed to report each of the $5,000 contributions on his own contribution and expense reports in 2004, and whether the contributions were an appropriate use of leftover campaign funds.

Gates, who won re-election unopposed in 2002, had leftover campaign funds that he used to make the donations.

The Code of Judicial Conduct limited the use of unspent campaign funds to specific purposes, and did not include among those uses contributions to other candidates.

Gates did not report the contributions until filing an amended campaign report in 2007, after an investigation had already begun by the commission into the contributions.

The complaint also alleges that Gates misrepresented to the discipline commission the facts of the contribution to Bennett-Haron. The complaint says Gates at one point maintained it was made at the direction of his wife, former Clark County Commissioner Yvonne Atkinson Gates, and at another time said it was made at his own discretion.

A range of penalties are available, including an apology, fine or suspension from office, if the commission finds clear and convincing evidence of a violation.

Both Bennett-Haron and Douglas reported receiving the contributions from Gates on their campaign reports.

Gates had been on paid leave from the bench earlier this year, but is back in court. He had no comment on the complaint.

His attorney, Tom Pitaro, could not be reached for comment on the new order.

Chief Judge Kathy Hardcastle said in late November that Gates informed her that he would be gone for 30 days.

"He's indicated it was a personal matter, a personal family matter," she said on Nov. 28, adding that judges are not required to provide a reason for leave.

Gates' six-year term in district court will expire next year. The filing period for district court judges and judicial candidates to announce their election plans is next month.

Gates has not announced yet if he will run for another term.

Another candidate has announced his plans to run for the Department 8 seat, however. Douglas Smith, currently the chief judge of the Las Vegas Township Justice Court, said in an announcement Monday that he will file for the seat.

Contact reporter Sean Whaley at swhaley@reviewjournal.com or (775) 687-3900.