It’s easy to judge whether courthouse romances pass ethics test

For the clearest indication of the ethical shoddiness displayed by Family Court Judge Steven Jones and his former prosecution playmate Lisa Willardson, you needn't interview an Ivy League law professor or read the Nevada Revised Statutes end to end.

Instead, search no farther than the wilds of Eureka County, population 2,500, for an example of what ethical behavior looks like when it comes to courthouse romance.

It's there we find the story of Melissa Faber and Kelly Brown. Faber was a state deputy public defender. Brown was a deputy district attorney for Eureka County. They began dating while both worked for the public defender's office and continued their relationship after Brown joined Eureka County.

In his new duty, Brown had no involvement with cases represented by the state public defender. But to avoid even the slightest appearance of impropriety, Faber assigned another deputy to handle cases from Eureka County. And Faber and Brown took the added step of soliciting opinions from their employers, the State Bar and the judges in their district to ensure their private relationship had no impact on their working duties.

Imagine that. To protect their personal credibility and the legal system in which they toiled, two small-town, cow-county lawyers went to great lengths to disclose and discuss their private relationship. They contacted the Nevada Commission on Ethics and submitted a request for a confidential opinion.

The opinion was published on Oct. 13, 2010. It was available to the public because Faber and Brown waived their rights to keep it confidential.

Public employees with nothing to hide: Refreshing, don't you think?

Juxtapose that with the case of Jones and Willardson, who left a trail of incriminating email on her office computer.

Although both have denied wrongdoing, there's ample evidence that the judge and prosecutor were seeing each other while he was trying cases in Family Court.

Before he resigned , District Attorney David Roger called for a grand jury to weigh evidence in the affair.

It's not the first time Jones has courted controversy and flirted with disaster. A boozy girlfriend once accused Jones of battery, but that charge didn't stand up any straighter than she did. A former brother-in-law used him as a shill to con investors, a scheme that sullied the judge's robes but didn't prevent voters from returning him to the bench.

That's the walking contradiction of Judge Jones: Unlike some of his black-robed colleagues, it's not the duties of the bench that baffle him. He enjoys a good reputation as a Family Court judge. It's all that messy relationship stuff that trips him up.

Back in 2010, ethics commissioners weighed the facts submitted and noted in detail the importance of public employees Faber and Brown taking pains to avoid a conflict of interest and the appearance of impropriety -- as opposed to some public employees, who don't think twice about flouting the law and spraying graffiti on the walls of the legal system.

The ethics commission noted that Nevada law is clear. Above all else, "A public office is a public trust and shall be held for the sole benefit of the people. ... A public officer or employee must commit himself or herself to avoid conflicts between the private interests of the public officer or employee and those of the general public whom the public officer or employee serves."

In legal conclusion, "A romantic relationship between two public employees in adverse public positions, by itself, does not violate the code of ethical standards."

But Faber and Brown were advised to "consider all future conflicts of interest or appearances of impropriety resulting from their private relationship. Specifically, Faber and Brown should not work on the same cases, exchange information related to any cases or discuss internal matters ... which could influence them to depart from their public responsibilities or unwittingly create unwarranted benefits for one another."

It was all in the public record if Jones and Willardson had stopped making moon eyes long enough to read it.

John L. Smith's column appears Sunday, Tuesday, Wednesday and Friday. Email him at Smith@reviewjournal.com or call 702-383-0295. He also blogs at lvrj.com/blogs/smith.