Justice
Nevada unions condemn Supreme Court’s “extreme decision”
In Nevada, workers can already opt out of paying union dues and still reap the benefits of better wages and benefits and job security protections negotiated through collective bargaining. But Nevada’s “free rider” status didn’t stop labor organizations in the state from blasting the Supreme Court’s Janus decision as part of a deliberate attempt to […]
Weed legal, but can still separate families
Smoking marijuana cost Las Vegan Frederica Ballard what she says she prizes most – her two youngest children. “My children were stolen and that’s not sour grapes. It’s the absolute truth. I didn’t really believe that this kind of thing happened either until it happened to me,” she says. “I was raised a Christian in […]
Metro to decide on $500,000 settlement from 2010 Taser death
The Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department’s Fiscal Affairs Committee is expected to decide Monday whether to approve a settlement in the 2010 death of Anthony Jones. The committee’s recommendation is to approve the $500,000 settlement as a “compromise of a disputed claim.” Jones was pulled over during a traffic stop in December 2010, during which […]
Nevada ill-equipped to house youth offenders
If a teenage girl in Nevada was convicted as an adult, the options for housing her in a correctional facility would be segregation or sending her out of state. “There is nowhere in the department of corrections for them to live,” says Holly Welborn, the policy director of the ACLU of Nevada. “This is an […]
Crime victims program still reaching out to find Route 91 survivors
It seems like a straightforward enough, albeit lofty goal: Get all the survivors of the mass shooting referred to as 1 October to register with the Nevada Victims of Crime Program, which can cover up to $35,000 in medical, mental health counseling, wage losses and other costs related to being a victim of violent crime. […]
Despite defeat, Langford and supporters hopeful for reform
Robert Langford entered the race for District Attorney at the last minute, when the “progressive” candidate suddenly backed out of challenging incumbent Steve Wolfson. The uphill battle proved insurmountable. Wolfson defeated Langford handily. But Langford’s supporters said the cause isn’t lost. “Sometimes a candidate doesn’t have to win the race to make a difference,” says […]
Plea deal raises questions about ties between cops and pimps
Note: The Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department is under investigation by the FBI for allegedly protecting certain pimps at the expense of their competitors. Las Vegas Justice of the Peace Melanie Tobiasson says Metro’s failure to investigate one suspected pimp believed to be targeting the children of law enforcement forced her to turn to the […]
Daughters of police, judges lured into prostitution
Las Vegas Justice of the Peace Melanie Tobiasson says she gave Metro Police detectives a road map that may have prevented three murders involving the sex trade, but vice detectives, under investigation by the FBI for allegedly protecting pimps, failed to act. Tobiasson drew criticism from friends and foes alike when she alleged on KLAS-TV […]
DA primary reflects Democrats in transition
In the 1980s, a group of centrists, including a young governor from Arkansas named Bill Clinton, formed the Democratic Leadership Council. Its goal was to shift the party to the right, and away from a declining political left that had suffered Richard Nixon’s landslide victory over George McGovern in 1972, and then found itself no […]
Laxalt’s chief investigator pursues case against daughter’s former pimp
Before Nevada Attorney General Adam Laxalt named Roland Swanson as his Chief Investigator in 2015, Swanson, according to his bio on the AG’s website, led investigations for the FBI’s public integrity unit in Las Vegas. Now, his office is involved in the prosecution of convicted pimp Kobe Hogue, who happens to be the former boyfriend […]
State lawmaker: Metro misapplying law by refusing to supply information
An effort by the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department to deny information to journalists is a misapplication of the law, according to one state lawmaker. LVMPD recently stopped providing information to Nevada Current, citing a 2017 amendment to state law requiring that reporters be affiliated with “a newspaper, press association or commercially operated, federally licensed […]
Fines & fees sent nursing mother to jail for traffic tickets
Leslie Turner was arrested in 2016 when her son was four months old. Her crime: Failure to make a payment for a traffic ticket. In Nevada, traffic violations are treated as a criminal infraction, meaning missing a payment is seen as a failure to appear in court, rendering the person who got the ticket subject […]