Snitch-hunt at the Justice Center

Judges at the Regional Justice Center -- Clark County's high-rise downtown courthouse -- are upset following a July 6 Review-Journal report that trees and shrubs around the building block surveillance cameras from some angles, creating "blind spots" that could compromise building security.

But while a series of courthouse e-mails obtained by the newspaper this week show the judges are up in arms, what appears absent from their correspondence are any suggestions that the foliage be trimmed or cameras re-positioned -- in short, that the problem be fixed.

Instead, judges appear far more concerned about "bad press" and who revealed the security lapses to the press and public, with one judge coming under fire from her colleagues for even discussing the problems with the Review-Journal.

The fault-finding began before publication of the report.

In a July 2 e-mail, Chief District Judge T. Arthur Ritchie Jr. chastised District Judge Susan Johnson, who chairs the courthouse security committee, for talking to a Review-Journal reporter and taking him into the building's control room.

"I assume you meant well, but you were specifically told that you were not authorized to address this issue for the court," wrote Judge Ritchie, appearing to stop just short of telling Judge Johnson she was grounded.

Judge Johnson replied: "You never informed me I was not authorized to address this issue for the court. Your response was ... that you would 'handle this,' which you did not do," adding that the chief judge has "no authority to instruct me or any district judge that he or she cannot speak to the media without your consent."

"While you may take a 'no comment' approach, I will not," Judge Johnson continued. "I believe it best for the court to answer reporters' questions and diffuse any perception we are trying to hide something, which we are not."

Unfortunately, that attitude does not appear to be widely held at the courthouse, where many judges take the position that such problems are better dealt with in secret -- and, interestingly enough, that security problems are a concern not because of risks to witnesses or prosecutors or anyone else, but primarily to the extent they threaten "us."

District Judge Doug Smith advised Judge Ritchie this week, "In the future, please do not disclose our safety to the newspapers. ... This is in regards to the ... bad press we received."

District Judge Elissa Cadish agreed: "I too was extremely disturbed to read in the paper about exactly what cameras around the courthouse don't have the view they should have. ... I do think it can easily put us at risk. ... I'm just concerned about who those anonymous sources might be."

Really? The big problem is who talked? And revealing the problems so they can be fixed is more dangerous than keeping them secret and just hoping no one ever notices?

At least Chief Justice of the Peace Ann Zimmerman, while also criticizing Judge Johnson, did acknowledge that courthouse security is supposed to protect people in addition to those in black robes, e-mailing "I believe that your interview further compromised security at the RJC by exposing potential weaknesses to those who may wish to do harm to our judges and/or the public. ..."

Court Executive Officer Steve Grierson last week denied the security camera angles were ever obstructed, and otherwise would not elaborate.

As of late Thursday, none of the blocking trees or shrubs appeared to have been trimmed.