Mark’s Soap Box

AP — Suspension stands — the AP gets it wrong — as usual — Hardcastle was NOT suspended; Halverson is suspended

LAS VEGAS (AP) – A Clark County district court judge who was suspended for allegedly falling asleep on the bench has lost her bid to be reinstated while her appeal is pending before the Nevada Supreme Court.

But in a partial victory for Judge Elizabeth Halverson, the high court ruled Friday that Chief District Judge Kathy Hardcastle overstepped her authority by banning Halverson from the courthouse in May.

What a crock.

“Unless faced with an emergency situation requiring immediate action, the chief judge’s remedy is with the Nevada Commission on Judicial Discipline, which has authority over formally disciplining judges, or under certain circumstances, with this court,” the Nevada Supreme Court ruled.

You mean like a Judge who barricades herself in the office with a gun toting thug whom she allowed to bypass security AND who employees fear is a danger? Sorry but that is a pretty clear “emergency” if you ask me.

Anyway the obese Judge Halverson is still suspended. At least they got that right.

Veteran lawyers say they fear this entire incident is a black eye on the local judicial system.

“Well that’s the part that disturbs us lawyers — that the public is going to lose confidence in the judicial system when you see something like this — a circus going around with accusations made from one judge to another judge and vice versa,” said Herb Sachs, who is involved in a case where a motion is pending in front of Judge Halverson.

Lawyers are worried that this will make the system “look bad” — you think? It’s not like it wasn’t already a bit shady in most people’s eyes. This is an embarrassment. The voters in her district should be ashamed.

I am not a fan of appointed Judges, especially those for life. However I am not a fan of clowns like this either. Both ways suck, I suppose. Or maybe it’s the people?

It appears that Judge Charles Thompson will take over for Halverson. Thompson has experience as a District Judge.

Previously On The Island

• Halverson Suspended
• We don’t need no stinkin security checks – not like criminals are here.
• Halverson on the offensive – claims ticket fixing
• Halverson v Hardcastle – the fight is on
• Spoor sues Halverson – fired her, now she strikes back.
• Even Drudge is catching on – nice pic!
• No wonder she went to law school her hubby is a crook.
• Traffic Referee, only in Vegas – do they get stripe shirts?

Tags: Halverson, Hardcastle, Nevada, Las+Vegas, Kathy Hardcastle, Elizabeth Halverson, Charles Thompson, ilene spoor, spoor, traffic ticket, ticket, lawsuit, nevada

A day after the clods in DC figured out that terrorists are testing the airports, we get an evacuation. Searching for details.

A suspicious package was being passed through security at Daugherty Field and caused an alarm, says an interviewee on Fox News says.

UPDATE: Security thought a “hand-held game device” was an IED. All clear in Long Beach

ABC in DC is being evacuated also. They received a letter that was suspicious and are taking precautions.

SJ Merc has story – more info

Previously On The Island

• Here we go again
• Getting to be a habit 
• So much for airport security
• Airport computers down again
• San Diego security
• Another Friday outage
• Google as terror tool
• SoCal airports down
• Flying Lawsuits

Study says most day laborers are illegal aliens – North County Times

No shock there. What is annoying, is how the North County Times attempts to invalidate the study with it’s biased (typically left wing) reporting.

NORTH COUNTY — A new study shows that day laborers on street corners and in hiring halls make up less than 1 percent of the work force, and that most are in the country illegally.

Sounds innocuous, doesn’t it; “less than 1 percent of the work force.” Just how many people is that? 139 million in workforce per Heritage Foundation by way of the Census Bureau. That makes the street-corner hucksters about 1.4 million. Day laborers account for about 40,000 workers in California.

Think about that. If we need illegal aliens so badly then why are they on the street corner? You know the excuses: no id, being hassled by police, afraid of deportation, blah blah blah. The fact that they have no right to be here seems to escape their defenders. Maybe we have a glut of illegal aliens?

BTW that number (workforce size) is the same size as in 1999. Seems odd doesn’t? We are being invaded and the size stays the same while our unemployment drops. Maybe we need those illegal aliens?

Why are the numbers the way they are? Teenagers are leaving the workforce for education — or maybe because they can’t get summer jobs anymore? –, and it’s much rarer for teens to have to support their families so they are joining the workforce later, also many women are returning to their traditional roles, and business owners — at record highs — are not counted. What about welfare recipients? They are not considered to be in the workforce. Hmm.

If we really need people to fill jobs, then lets start with the lazy bums on welfare.

Considering the North County Times and the Hispanic author, it is not surprising that they would pull a quote like this:

One of the opponents of the day labor sites questioned the study’s credibility.

“For every study you present, I can give you 10,” said Ray Carney, a Fallbrook resident and anti-illegal immigration activist. “I don’t take any credence in what some Ph.D. says. … Illegal immigration does depress wages and takes jobs from undereducated Americans. Construction is a good example.”

The problem is there were two studies mentioned. Which one was he referencing? It also seems odd that they edited the statement and took it up with the talking point to end the comment.

Feigned balance or an attempt to shut up opponents of illegal aliens? Will they quote this guy when a pro-illegal-alien study comes out? Most likely they only point out his opposition to illegal-aliens.

According to the study, 80 percent of the estimated 40,000 day laborers in California are working in the state without legal documentation, such as visas or work permits.

About 68 percent of them are from Mexico, 29 percent of them are from other parts of Latin America and about 3 percent were born in the United States.

This is the closing statement in the article.

“It’s never been about day laborers,” Smith said. “And it certainly is not a question of whether they are documented or undocumented. It is about harassing a ‘bunch of Mexicans.’ If that is what you set out to do, it makes sense to target day laborers because they are the most exposed.”

Such balanced reporting.

Word is that the National Guard is going to be removed partially from the border. Great. He just has to keep helping Mexico screw us. So sick of Bush’s empty promises on the border. Nothing but window dressing to date.

The number of National Guard troops along the Arizona-Mexico border will be trimmed in half by the end of next month.
As the presidentially mandated Operation Jumpstart mission begins its second year in support of the U.S. Border Patrol, the number of troops is being reduced as planned. It will be trimmed from 6,000 to 3,000 nationally and from 2,400 to 1,200 in Arizona, said National Guard Capt. Kristine Munn. The pullout began July 1 and is scheduled to be completed by Sept. 1.

What a crock. No doubt this is to appease the racists of La Raza, and Mel Martinez.

District Court Judge Elizabeth Halverson has been suspended by the Nevada Judicial Discipline Commission.

UPDATE: Reader Stephen alerted me to this article: Final Order of Suspension Unsealed

Judge Elizabeth Halverson poses a substantial threat of serious harm to both the public and to the administration of justice.

The question remains, why is she getting paid, and why did this take so long.

In its opinion, the commission says it is suspending the judge based on four grounds.
1. There is “substantial evidence” to believe that Judge Halverson is without sufficient legal abilities to conduct criminal trials.
2. She has failed to perform her duties in an impartial manner and has created a hostile work environment for her staff.
3. She has failed to carry out her duties by falling asleep at least once during a trial.
4. Judge Halverson has failed to cooperate with other judges and also court administrators.

Now they convene the full board and we get to pay her for sitting on her ass while waiting to get fired. Great.

More on this here:

• Nevada Panel Reviews Case – LV Sun article on Panel
• Update of Panel Reviews Case – More of same
• The biggest reason to NOT have Judges elected speaks out FOR elections. – great. She more than proved that she is a complete idiot.

Previously On The Island

• We don’t need no stinkin security checks – it’s not like criminals are here.
• Halverson on the offensive – claims ticket fixing
• Halverson v Hardcastle – the fight is on
• Spoor sues Halverson – fired her, now she strikes back.
• Even Drudge is catching on – nice pic!
• No wonder she went to law school – her hubby is a crook.
• Traffic Referee, only in Vegas – do they get stripe shirts?