JUSTICE OF SUPREME COURT D

Supreme Court Chief Justice Mark Gibbons faces a challenge from Las Vegas attorney Thomas Christensen in the race for the high court in Seat D.

Gibbons, seeking his second six-year term on the court, received the highest rating among justices on the court for retention in office at 86 percent in this year's Judicial Performance Evaluation Survey published by the Review-Journal.

Gibbons said he wants to continue the court's efforts to improve public access to the court.

"One of my biggest issues is open government," he said.

The court for the first time broadcast oral arguments on several key election cases, and has made all oral arguments available via the Internet after the fact, Gibbons said.

For the first time, the court also opened up the judicial selection process, which is used to pick replacement judges, he said.

"I also want to keep up the momentum of not sealing files," Gibbons said. "We should not seal unless there is some sort of extraordinary circumstance."

Gibbons said he is also proud of legislation eliminating jury exemptions for many categories of employees, judges included.

"We got rid of them all, except for legislators during the session," he said.

Gibbons also wants to implement videoconferencing between different courtrooms, so an attorney in Reno, for example, could argue a minor motion in a Clark County case without traveling to Las Vegas. It would save taxpayer money, as well as the time and cost of hiring an attorney, he said.

One issue Gibbons has had to respond to in the race is his support of a controversial ruling in 2003.

Gibbons was new to the court when he supported a ruling, repudiated by the court three years later, in Guinn v. Legislature. The decision, which came during a stalemate over a proposal by then Gov. Kenny Guinn and some lawmakers to raise taxes, said the constitutional mandate to fund education took precedence over a constitutional provision requiring a two-thirds vote of lawmakers to raise taxes.

The Legislature ultimately did raise taxes by a two-thirds vote in each house but the court decision came in for heavy criticism. The decision contributed in part to the defeat of incumbent Supreme Court Justice Nancy Becker in 2006.

The Supreme Court in 2006 took the opportunity in another case to reverse Guinn v. Legislature, a decision Gibbons said he supported.

Christensen said his main motivation for running is the court's decision in Guinn v. Legislature and Gibbons' support of it.

Christensen said the decision to overturn the ruling "is every bit as troubling to me as the original case was, from a judicial trust point of view."

Christensen said he would also like to see the court issue more "published" decisions, which help clarify Nevada law in other legal disputes. Unpublished decisions, which do not provide that guidance, could be used as a form of favoritism because the rulings have no application to other cases, he said.

"Unpublished opinions also allow for sloppier legal reasoning," Christensen said.

More published opinions would also reduce litigation and make an intermediate court of appeals unnecessary, he said.

The Supreme Court has advocated for the creation of such a court.

Christensen also said that the court should follow the Constitution. Creating commissions to equalize pay among judges and justices, and separating out the judiciary on the question of term limits, "sends the message that the rules are good for you folks, but they don't apply to us."

Christensen has been a trial lawyer in Las Vegas since 1981 and has served as an arbitrator, short trial judge and Supreme Court settlement judge.

Before winning Seat D on the Supreme Court unopposed in 2002, Gibbons served as a judge in Clark County District Court. He first won election to the district court bench in 1996.

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