Groups threatening recall of Nevada Supreme Court justices

KRNV News ^ | July 17, 03 | Associated Press

[churchillbuff]

Groups threatening recall of Nevada Supreme Court justices

A recall effort could be launched as early as today against one or more Nevada Supreme Court justices.

No official notice has been filed. But Nevadans for Tax Restraint says there'll be a rally to highlight the issue at 4:30 Thursday afternoon at the Grant Sawyer state building in Las Vegas.

Conservative groups including the Nevada Eagle Forum and the Republican Liberty Caucus say Chief Justice Deborah Agosti and five other justices were wrong to set aside a constitutional provision that state tax increases pass by a two-thirds vote of the Legislature.

Leaders of the effort say they intend to announce this morning in Las Vegas when they'll start collecting the thousands of signatures they'd need to put a recall measure before voters.

[Naspino]

The federal courts are an easy way to preserve law in this case; however if they fail then what you have is essentially a government rewriting its constitution to suit its needs without representation of the people. Therefore the people have every right to pick up arms and overthrow the government. If I were Bush I would suspend all federal spending in Nevada with an executive order until it follows its own laws.

[stevio]

Keep the ball rolling!

[ZGuy]

BTW - Did you see that State Education Superintendent Jack O'Connell is now asking the Calif Supreme Court to make the same decision that the Nevada court did and is getting hammered for?

Here’s the link :
CA: State education chief to ask Supreme Court to break budget impasse (HIGHER TAXES ALERT!!)

[B Knotts]

Torie, remember the recall of Rose Bird and a couple of other CA justices in the early 80s? Love this.

Actually, they weren't recalled. They were simply not retained.</nitpick>

[Sloth]

Therefore the people have every right duty to pick up arms and overthrow the government.

[nothingnew]

Seems a lot of "courts" are arrogant power hungry "law makers" rather than judicial "law followers". There's gonna be blood in the streets if this crap keeps up. JMHO.

FMCDH

[B Knotts]

I hope they succeed in throwing these rotten theives out of office. Our judicial systems need reform badly throughout the country.

[So Cal Rocket]

From my take on the Nevada Constitution they need to collect approximately 80,000 signatures (25% of the total votes cast for each justice vacancy)

[The Old Hoosier]

This one:

Article IV, Section. 4. The United States shall guarantee to every State in this Union a Republican Form of Government

[caisson71]

Absolutely! I wish the people of Nevada well.

[pogo101]

Recalls in Nevada are governed by article 2, section 9 of the state constitution, and related statutes. Section 9 provides that a statewide officer's recall requires a petition with signatures numbering 25% of the total votes cast for that office in the last election in which the office was voted on.

In 1965, the state supreme court itself held that, although there are 7 justices, elected in staggered terms, and a given recall may not be against all of them, nevertheless the threshold 25% is based upon the # of votes cast in the MOST RECENT election for a justiceship.

In 2002, two state justiceships were up for election. In one, just under 450,000 total votes were cast; in the other, several thousand less.

Thus, a recall petition against a sitting SCONEV justice will require a minimum of 25%-of-450,000 signatures: about 112,500 of them.

[randog]

From my take on the Nevada Constitution they need to collect approximately 80,000 signatures (25% of the total votes cast for each justice vacancy)

I live in N. Nevada and have talked to many people about our court and its recent rulings. Many people speak of the Nevada SC and the USSC in the same breath. The NVSC's trashing of the NV constitution came on the heels of the USSC sodomy ruling, and many Nevadans are willing to take their anger at the USSC out on the NVSC.

As I said earlier, the petition shouldn't take very long to fill up. Judging from the mood I've seen, folks up here in N. Nevada would swerve across 4 lanes of traffic to sign that petition.

[cc2k]

Recall efforts against the Governor and the SC justices who wrote this mess are definitely called for. The governor is slightly more important than the SC justices at this point. The SC wouldn't have done this if the governor didn't sue the legislature.

One other thing these groups need to do is to make it absolutely clear that they will not pay illegal taxes. They should make the legislature aware that the revenue estimates for these taxes are overstated because they assume that people will obey an illegal tax law. If every taxpayer of these new, illegal taxes refused to pay, the state would be tied up for years fighting to get payment and the system would break down.

The groups should also encourage businesses to stand up and say they won't collect or pay the illegal taxes, and they should picket business that don't resist the illegal taxes.

[sam_paine]

You mean "judicial Oligarchy" I think.

[William McKinley]

Amendment 14:

No state shall make or enforce any law which shall abridge the privileges or immunities of citizens of the United States; nor shall any state deprive any person of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws.

By ignoring the Constitution of the State of Nevada, the SCON was enabling the deprivation of some property (in the form of taxes) from persons without the due process of the law as specified in the state Constitution.

[wasp69]

The courts can't be allowed to override the constitution - - and when state courts do it, a federal court ought to be able to protect citizens from such abuse.

They have. A Federal Court issued an injunction against the NVSC ruling.

[randog]

One other thing these groups need to do is to make it absolutely clear that they will not pay illegal taxes.

There was an interesting development in the NV Legislature yesterday--seems that everyone wants to play nice now. The republicans announced that they will not accept a gross receipts tax (business tax); the dems announced that they will not accept a payroll tax (state income tax); and everyone announced that they will abide by the 2/3 supermajority vote on new taxes as specified by the state constitution.

So why the sudden turnaround? Our legislators aren't saying, but word on the street is that everyone from the governor to the supreme court justices to the legislators are fearing for the political careers...and rightly so. About the only politicians doing any talking these days are the non-RINO republicans--they're the ones filing federal lawsuits and organizing recall petitions.

[aristeides]

The U.S. Constitution guarantees to the states a republican form of government. If state courts can violate their own constitution, that guarantee is arguably violated.

[RobbyS]

Don't you think the governor would see the handwriting on the wall?

[pogo101]

Chief Justice (and author of the offending opinion) Agosti's term ends in 2005. Assuming she wishes to remain in office, it appears she will have to face an election regardless of whether a recall election qualifies. Same goes for Justice Shearing.

Terms of Justices Rose, Becker and Shearer end in 2007.

Term of Justice Gibbons ends in 2009.

The remaining Justice, Maupin, who was the Chief Justice until this year, did not join the others in the decision we're all talking about. His term ends in 2009.