Legal News

Meet America's Worst Judge

By Glen Ashman

LAS VEGAS (AP) - Elizabeth Halverson is a judge. But the way courthouse staffers see it, she expects to be treated like a queen.   Her former bailiff, for example, says Halverson made him feel like a "houseboy." He says the judge — who is obese and uses a motorized scooter to get around — made him put her shoes on her feet, massage her back, cover her with a blanket for naps and make sure her oxygen tank was filled. He says she asked him, "Do you want to worship me from near or afar?"  Halverson also surrounded herself with her own hired guards, saying she did not trust the courthouse security force to protect her. Another time, she allegedly had her husband sworn in so that she could ask him under oath if he had completed chores at home.   Since then, the 50-year-old Nevada district judge has been locked out of her Las Vegas courtroom, suspended from the bench and brought up on judicial-misconduct charges that include not only misusing her position and treating her staff like personal valets, but also tainting juries and falling asleep on the bench.Nevada's judicial discipline commission is preparing for a week of open hearings next month that could put an end to Halverson's career.

Full post as published by It's (Barely) Legal on May 10, 2008 (boomark / email).