Picking a Justice of the Peace for Pahrump

There are 13 people running for Justice of the Peace Pahrump Township Department 2 this election. That is a lot of people vying for the six-year seat. Pahrump voters will have their hands full trying to figure out who is who and which one to vote for.

Tina Brisebill is the Justice of the Peace presiding over Department 1. With growth of Pahrump?s population a second court became necessary to handle the volume.

Just what is a ?Justice of the Peace? anyway? Justices of the peace are appointed or elected from the citizens of the jurisdiction in which they serve, and are usually not required to have a formal legal education in order to qualify for the office.

Justices of the Peace have been around since the year 1195. Richard I ("the Lionheart") of England commissioned certain knights to preserve the peace in unruly areas. I suppose Pahrump might be considered an ?unruly area.? They were responsible to the King for ensuring that the law was upheld, and preserved the "King's Peace", and were known as Keepers of the Peace.

A modern Justice of the Peace is a judge of a court of limited jurisdiction, a magistrate, or a quasi-judicial official with certain statutory or common law magisterial powers.

The Justice of the Peace typically presides over a court that hears misdemeanor cases, traffic violations, and other petty criminal infractions. The bulk of cases heard by a Justice of the Peace are of a criminal nature. The Justice of the Peace may also have authority over cases involving small debts, landlord and tenant disputes, or other small claims court proceedings. Proceedings before Justices of the Peace are often faster and less formal than the proceedings in other courts. In some jurisdictions a party convicted or found liable before a Justice of the Peace may have the right to a trial de novo before the judge of a higher court rather than an appeal strictly considered.

California formerly had Justice of the Peace courts staffed by lay judges, but began phasing them out after a landmark 1974 decision in which the Supreme Court of California unanimously held that it was a violation of federal due process (under the Fourteenth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution) to allow a non-lawyer to preside over a criminal trial which could result in incarceration of the defendant. The remaining justice courts (as well as municipal courts) were eliminated by the passage of Proposition 220 in June 1998, which merged all lower courts within the state judicial branch into the superior courts (the courts of general jurisdiction). Under current California law, all California judges must be licensed attorneys.

Who are the 13 people running? Alphabetically they are: Dave Abbott, Leonardo F. Blundo, Louis J. DeCanio, Linda DeMeo, Michael Foley, Frank Furcini, Kent Jasperson, Luana Miller, Michael Neu, Dorothy Oriondo, Dennis Sugg, Barry ?Bear? Waggoner, and Warren Witthoeft. Each lives in Pahrump.

How do you decide which one to pick to be your Justice of the Peace? The best way, I suspect, is to interview each one individually then decide which one you would prefer to decide whether you committed a criminal offense or not, and if so, would be fair and reasonable in the punishment prescribed.

One of the candidates has a unique situation. Linda DeMeo is the wife of Nye County Sheriff Tony DeMeo. Being the wife of the Sheriff prompted her to seek an opinion from the Standing Committee on Judicial Ethics and Election Practices. She sought a determination of whether there would be a conflict of interest for her if she wins the election. After all most, if not all, criminal cases coming before the Justice of the Peace would stem from her husband?s office.

The Standing Committee wasn?t much help. It decided conflicts would have to be determined on a case by case basis.

With respect to criminal cases a defense attorney representing a defendant will, if he/she is worth their salt, peremptorily disqualify Mrs. DeMeo from hearing their case because of her relationship with Sheriff DeMeo. The attorney owes a fiduciary obligation to his/her client to insure them a fair unbiased hearing or trial. The attorney risks legal malpractice by failing to do so. Mrs. Brisebill would continue to hear those cases, leaving Mrs. DeMeo idle while drawing her judicial salary. Or a visiting Justice would have to be called in.

Here are the candidates, their ages and political affiliations:

Dave Abbott, 71 (Republican)
Leonardo F. Blundo, 24 (Republican)
Louis J. De Canio, 60 (Democrat)
Linda DeMeo, 57 (Republican)
Michael Foley, 45 (Republican)
Frank Furcini, 63 (Non-Partisan)
Kent Jasperson, 51 (Republican)
Luanna Miller, 62 (Non-Partisan)
Michael Neu, 62 (Democrat)
Dorothy Oriondo, 62 (Republican)
Dennis Sugg, 55 (Non-Partisan)
Barry ?Bear? Waggoner, 53 (Republican)
Warren Witthoeft, 58 (Republican)

Do you know of anywhere i can go and look at what these candidates have said about themselves and why they are qualified? I know nothing about any of these people. I'm also having problems with the Pahrump Town Board and who is the most qualified person for that office. Any help would be appreciated. Thanks.

Ben, there is no single place I'm aware of to find out about the candidates. I've run Google alerts and searched the archives of the Pahrump Valley Times with meagre results. The only thing available, it appears, is to attend every candidate forum and listen to what each say about themselves.

Thanks Jack. I'll keep plugging away and see what I can find. I have a home here in Thailand, which I'm at most of the year but trying to keep on top of the elections in my home town of Pahrump. Again, thanks.