Talks focus on incumbent Scotti’s record
He apologizes, explains criticized ruling
An incumbent judge with a history of publicly criticized decisions and actions from the bench apologized and tried to explain his conduct during a Las Vegas Review-journal debate with two lawyers who want to unseat him.
Deputy Public Defender Carli Kierny and criminal defense attorney Dustin Marcello are vying for the seat in Department 2, which has been held by District Judge Richard Scotti since he was elected in 2014.
In early 2018, the Nevada Supreme Court ruled that Scotti violated the First Amendment when he barred the Review-journal from reporting on the redacted autopsy report of a man killed during the mass shooting on Oct. 1, 2017.
“Ordinarily the freedom of the press will win out over many other rights,” said Scotti, who appeared to be sitting in his courtroom during the virtual debate. “In this case, there was concern I had for the rights of privacy of the (victim’s family). … I made a decision. I am proud of the system where my decision was reviewed by the Supreme Court. That’s our system. That’s the American way. I accept it. But under these circumstances there was no reason, I felt at the time, that that coroner report needed to more respectfully,” Scotti said. “I was really distraught. I’ve learned from this.”
In Kierny’s closing argument during the debate, she also addressed Scotti’s low retention score in the newspaper’s 2019 judicial performance survey. Of the attorneys who responded, 52 percent said Scotti should be retained.
“Clark County deserves a judge that has an even temper,” Kierny said. “They don’t deserve somebody who throws the Constitution.”
In primary races where no candidate captures a majority of votes cast, the top two finishers will advance to November’s general election. If a candidate wins more than 50 percent of the vote in the June primary, the candidate will win the election.
The newspaper is hosting 23 scheduled events for more than 70 candidates in judicial primary races for Family Court, District Court and the Nevada Supreme Court.
While the debates can be found on reviewjournal.com, they air Wednesday and Saturday nights on Cox Cable’s Yurview Channel 14 as part of a video partnership between the media companies.
Contact David Ferrara at dferrara@reviewjournal.com or 702-380-1039. Follow @randompoker on Twitter.