Justice Court trailblazer makes jump from prosecutor to judge
Henderson Justice Court Judge Barbara Schifalacqua hails from Milwaukee and an Irish Catholic family with a mix of biological and foster siblings.
In the chaos and frustration of a home with many children, her mother instilled in her the idea that life wasn’t fair.
“I knew life wasn’t fair, but man, did I want it to be,” Schifalacqua said. “And I thought, I’m really tasked with making it as fair as it can be.”
Schifalacqua was sworn in last week as the first female judge in Henderson Justice Court history, officials said. She was sworn in by another woman — her friend Alicia Albritton, a Henderson Municipal Court judge.
“When you deal in systems of justice, there is no case, no cause, no person and no task that is too small for your full attention,” Schifalacqua said. “And I always believe in being 100% invested.”
Sonia Jimenez, an attorney for the U.S. Department of Justice, recounted tales of working long hours and late nights with Schifalacqua, including when Schifalacqua was pregnant.
“I know that she will treat both parties fairly,” Jimenez said. “Even though she’s been a prosecutor all these years, her heart has always been in justice and she wants the defendant to have justice as well.”
Schifalacqua worked for Illinois Legal Aid during law school at Chicago-kent College of Law, and was a legal researcher for the Nevada attorney general’s office.
She spent much of her early career prosecuting violent crime, including when she was a deputy district attorney for Clark County.
“She prosecuted thousands of cases, including prosecution of sexual assault, murder, gang-related cases, domestic violence and sex trafficking,” according to the Clark County Bar Association.
She later focused on sex trafficking within a special victims’ unit and was involved with the Southern Nevada Human Trafficking Task Force.
“I worked with law enforcement — advocates and otherwise — because as you know, in Clark County we are absolutely impacted by it,” she said. “And so I worked with ... any person that could have been trafficked in our community and prosecuted the pimps that would do just that, and the traffickers.”
Schifalacqua in January 2023 began her first full-time judicial role as domestic violence temporary protective order hearing master in Clark County. This position marked a transition, as she was “no longer an advocate” and became a neutral voice on similar types of the cases she had prosecuted.
“That transition to Justice Court has really been seamless in that way, because I had been working in running a court already,” she said.
Schifalacqua said she cannot necessarily represent all women, but there are several who inspire her. w
“We have so many successful women that have been inspirations to me, but anywhere that, of course, I see women, including myself, making strides to be in roles that have leadership decisions at hand, I think that we’re moving ... in a direction that is positive for us,” Schifalacqua said.