Judicial candidates are familiar names

The two candidates who seek the Department 2 Las Vegas Municipal Court judgeship have more than a law license in common. They both enjoy name recognition despite never before having run for public office.

Susan Roger, wife of District Attorney David Roger, received about 38 percent of the vote in April's crowded primary.

Her opponent in the June 7 general election is Sonny Bonaventure, the brother of Las Vegas Justice of the Peace Joseph Bonaventure and son of former District Judge and now Senior Judge Joe Bonaventure. Bonaventure received about 30 percent of the primary vote.

They seek to replace Chief Judge Betsy Kolkoski, who is stepping down after more than a decade on the bench. The office is nonpartisan.

Roger is a chief deputy district attorney who has prosecuted killers and other violent criminals, but her experience on the county's Special Victims Unit specializing in prosecuting domestic violence offenders might be her best qualification for Municipal Court. Domestic violence and drunken driving cases are the most serious cases a municipal judge will hear.

Bonaventure represents indigent defendants as a deputy public defender. He has won six acquittals out of the 20 trials he has handled.

Municipal Court handles misdemeanors in which the harshest punishment is a six-month stint in the city jail. Relatively small monetary fines and community service hours are part of most sentences.

Roger says she is the better candidate because in her role as a prosecutor, "I have the highest ethical obligation of any attorney. To seek justice in every case I handle."

She said Bonaventure, as a defense attorney, only has a single ethical duty, and that is to zealously defend his clients.

Bonaventure defended himself and his job, saying, "Her comments offend me. There is a long line of excellent judges in this nation who were once defense attorneys. The idea that I'm not cognizant of the impact crime has on our community is ridiculous, but it is so important for judges to be fair and impartial to both sides."

Both candidates said they will not tolerate repeat offenders, particularly in domestic violence and DUI cases.

Roger promises to expedite trials in domestic battery cases, saying offenders and their victims too often reconcile before trial and those victims either fail to testify or change their story.

Bonaventure would focus on DUI cases and would model his DUI program on one established by Kolkoski. "She runs a very efficient program in this alternate court. The goal is to monitor (DUI offenders) and help them remain alcohol-free."

The program, like all of the specialty court programs in Clark County, has been credited with cutting down on the incarceration rates of chronic but nonviolent offenders.

Roger would improve the court docket by staggering calendars. Too many witnesses, police officers, victims and defendants have to come to court on multiple occasions even though their presence might not be required, she said.

Roger said better managing court calendars would not only lessen un­necessary waiting times, but also ease the burden on court staff.

For Bonaventure, the job's challenge lies in collecting the fees and fines that are part of most sentences while determining why defendants are not meeting their obligations.

"We have to have compassion in this economy," he said. "A judge has to recognize who's ignoring their court orders and who is not paying because they are in financial peril. I can't see imprisoning someone for being indigent."

Bonaventure also said he would order more defendants to perform community service if they are unable to pay fines and fees.

Municipal judges are paid roughly $150,000 a year and serve six-year terms.

Early voting runs Saturday through June 3.

Contact reporter Doug McMurdo at dmcmurdo@reviewjournal.com or 702-224-5512.