BEFORE THE COMMISSION ON JUDICIAL DISCIPLINE
STATE OF NEVADA
In the Matter of the
HONORABLE FRANCES-ANN FINE,
District Court Judge for the County
of Clark, State of Nevada,
Respondent.
CASE NO.: 9501-222
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DISSENT TO THE MAJORITY'S
IMPOSITION OF DISCIPLINE
Commissioners Fuller and Lefebvre dissent to the majority's decision to
discipline Judge Fine by the imposition of a public reprimand and a fine. We
voted that the appropriate discipline would have been to remove Judge Fine from
office. We based our objection to the majority's decision for the imposition of
a lesser discipline upon the Judge's own testimony at the public hearing in this
matter and the record of the case.
We believe that from the testimony given by Judge Fine, she only regrets that
her misbehavior in office was detected; her testimony does not reveal any
remorse at her conduct, but only regrets having been the subject of these
proceedings.
The most important attribute of a Judge is that he or she possesses "good
judgment". Judge Fine's repeated and apparently compulsive discussions with the
other Judges sitting on the case out of which the complaint against her arose is
regrettable. The repetition of the same misbehavior does little to promote
public confidence in the integrity and impartiality of the judiciary, regardless
of the circumstances, be it this particular case or any other.
The majority of the Commission is optimistic that Judge Fine will not repeat
her misconduct in office again and that she has learned her lesson. After the
testimony adduced from the Judge herself, we are not able to share the
majority's optimism and feel compelled to dissent. We hope that Judge Fine's
behavior in the future merits the optimism of the majority of this panel and
will promote confidence by those who come before her expecting justice to be
dispensed in an impartial manner.
Dated this ___ day of November, 1995.
NEVADA COMMISSION ON JUDICIAL DISCIPLINE
BILLY JEAN "BJ" FULLER, Commissioner
ALAN J. LEFEBVRE, Commissioner
