Nancy Saitta
Nancy M. Saitta was a justice on the Nevada Supreme Court. She was elected to the position on November 7, 2006.[1] She served as chief justice from September 5, 2011, until May 6, 2012.[2][3] Saitta was retained in 2012 to a term that would have expired on January 7, 2019.[1]
Justice Saitta retired from the bench effective August 8, 2016.[4]
Education
Saitta received her undergraduate degree in 1983 and her J.D. in 1986, both from Wayne State University.[5]
Career
After law school, Saitta served as a criminal defense attorney in Detroit, Michigan. After moving to Las Vegas, she spent some time in private practice. From there she became a senior deputy attorney general and children's advocate for the state of Nevada. She became a judge on the Las Vegas Municipal Court in 1996. She served in this capacity for two years, when she was elected judge on the Nevada Eighth Judicial District Court. She remained on this court until her election to the Nevada Supreme Court in 2006.[6]
Awards and associations
Awards
- 2012: Woman of Achievement, awarded by the Nevada Women’s Fund
- 2005: One of the Top 500 Judges in America, Law Dragon publication
- 2001: Child Advocate of the Year
- 2000: Angels in Adoption Award, U.S. Congress
- "For the Children" Award, Office of the Nevada Attorney General
- District Attorney Outstanding Service Award[7]
Associations
- Former member, Nevada State Juvenile Justice Commission[6]
Elections
2012
Saitta was re-elected to the Nevada Supreme Court after running unopposed in the general election on November 6, winning 73.32 percent of the vote.[8]
- See also: Nevada judicial elections, 2012
2006
| Candidate | Incumbent | Seat | Primary % | Election % |  |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Nancy Saitta  |
No | Seat G | 12.1% | 46.5% | |
| Nancy Becker | No | Seat G | 35% | 37.8% | |
| None of these candidates | Seat G | 12.1% | 15.6% | ||
| Thomas Christensen | No | Seat G | 13% | ||
| Nicholas Anthony Del Vecchio | No | Seat G | 13.5% |
Election results are from the Nevada Secretary of State for the primary election and general election.
Evaluations
2013 judicial performance evaluation
In 2013, the Las Vegas Review-Journal sponsored a survey of 902 lawyers who rated Nevada Supreme Court justices and judges located in Clark County. 59 percent of respondents voted in favor of keeping Saitta on the bench. The average vote in favor of retention for all 88 judges evaluated was 71 percent.[9]
2010 performance evaluation
The Las Vegas Review Journal conducted a judicial performance evaluation in 2010. The survey asked state attorneys to rate judges on a variety of criteria. Of the 796 respondents, 50 percent recommended Judge Saitta for retention, and 50 percent recommended she not be retained. Hers was the lowest rating of any Nevada Supreme Court justice in 2010.[10][11]
2008 performance evaluation
Saitta received a significantly lower retention rating than any of her peers in the 2008 Judicial Performance Evaluation survey, winning the approval of only 45 percent of respondents. The next lowest retention rating belonged to Justice James W. Hardesty, who scored 26 points higher than Saitta. All the justices but Saitta got retention scores in the 70s and 80s. The average retention score for the seven justices, including Saitta, was 74 percent. Lawyers were asked to rate justices "more than adequate," "adequate," or "less than adequate" on nine job-related attributes ranging from application of the law to courteousness. For every justice except Saitta, the lawyers' ratings averaged more than 50 percent "more than adequate." But in Saitta's case, the average score was only 32 percent "more than adequate," and 33 percent "less than adequate."
Saitta saw a decline in her results compared to two years ago, when she was a Clark County district judge. In 2006, 70 percent of respondents favored retaining her. Later that year, she won a six-year term to the supreme court, ousting then-Chief Justice Nancy Becker. Of more than 300 attorneys who evaluated Saitta, the largest number rated her most deficient in the area of properly applying the law. Five out of seven justices got their lowest marks in this category, while two were criticized most often for having a perceived bias toward parties or attorneys in a case. Saitta was scolded by some attorneys for recent extra-judicial missteps. In written comments, several attorneys chastised Saitta for inflating her academic credentials on an election web site. Saitta listed herself as having been an associate professor in political science at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas when, in reality, she was a part-time instructor at the university. "When her résumé is stripped of falsehoods, there is nothing left but her robe," one lawyer wrote. Some lawyers questioned Saitta's legal competence, but none cited specific rulings that bothered them.[12]
Political ideology
In October 2012, political science professors Adam Bonica and Michael Woodruff of Stanford University attempted to determine the partisan ideology of state supreme court justices. They created a scoring system in which a score above 0 indicated a more conservative-leaning ideology, while scores below 0 were more liberal.
Saitta received a campaign finance score of -0.49, indicating a liberal ideological leaning. This was more liberal than the average score of -0.22 that justices received in Nevada.
The study was based on data from campaign contributions by the judges themselves, the partisan leaning of those who contributed to the judges' campaigns, or, in the absence of elections, the ideology of the appointing body (governor or legislature). This study was not a definitive label of a justice, but an academic summary of various relevant factors.[13]
Recent news
The link below is to the most recent stories in a Google news search for the terms Nevada Justice Nancy Saitta. These results are automatically generated from Google. Ballotpedia does not curate or endorse these articles.
See also
- Courts in Nevada
- News: Incumbent Nevada Supreme Court judges face no opposition in coming election, January 31, 2012
- News: Appeal of death row inmate denied, February 25, 2011
External links
- Supreme Court of Nevada, "Justice Nancy M. Saitta"
- Project Vote Smart, "Justice Nancy M. Saitta (NV)"
- Follow the Money, "Nancy M. Saitta"
- Los Angeles Times, "Money talker, but to the wrong guy," May 17, 2008
Footnotes
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 Nevada Judiciary, "Dates of Office," accessed March 30, 2015
- ↑ Las Vegas Review Journal, "Justice Nancy Saitta named chief judge of state's top court," September 10, 2011
- ↑ The Nevada Judiciary, "Nancy Saitta becomes the new Chief Justice Of the Nevada Supreme Court," September 9, 2011
- ↑ Elko Daily Free Press, "Nevada Supreme Court Justice Nancy Saitta to retire," June 27, 2016
- ↑ Project Vote Smart, "Justice Nancy M. Saitta (NV)," accessed April 6, 2015
- ↑ 6.0 6.1 Supreme Court of Nevada, "Justice Nancy M. Saitta," accessed April 6, 2015
- ↑ Supreme Court of Nevada: Press Release, "Justice Saitta Honored as Woman of Achievement," May 31, 2012
- ↑ RGJ.com, "3 Nev. Supreme Court Justices run unopposed," January 23, 2012
- ↑ Las Vegas Review Journal, "2013 Judicial Performance Evaluation," accessed September 23, 2014
- ↑ Las Vegas Review Journal, "Judicial Performance Evaluation: Results"
- ↑ Las Vegas Review Journal, "Judicial Performance Evaluation: Methodology"
- ↑ Las Vegas Review Journal, "Saitta nets a low tally on judge survey," May 19, 2008
- ↑ Stanford University, "State Supreme Court Ideology and 'New Style' Judicial Campaigns," October 31, 2012
Federal courts:
Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals • U.S. District Court: District of Nevada • U.S. Bankruptcy Court: District of Nevada
State courts:
Nevada Supreme Court • Nevada Court of Appeals • Nevada District Courts • Nevada Justice Courts • Nevada Municipal Courts • Clark County Family Court, Nevada
State resources:
Courts in Nevada • Nevada judicial elections • Judicial selection in Nevada