Discipline panel says Las Vegas judge violated ethics codes
A Las Vegas judge who used the power of her office to do a favor for a friend has been fined $1,000 and publicly reprimanded after a disciplinary panel found “clear and convincing evidence” that she violated professional ethics codes.
The Nevada Commission on Judicial Discipline announced the sanctions in a Thursday ruling against Las Vegas Justice of the Peace Melanie Andress-Tobiasson. The ruling follows a disciplinary hearing earlier this month at which the judge tearfully admitted wrongdoing.
The punishment amounts to a slap on the wrist for the judge, who will get to keep her lucrative government job that comes with a salary of roughly $170,000 a year. It marks the end of a chapter in a three-year legal saga that began when Andress-Tobiasson improperly intervened in a Canadian divorce case on behalf of Las Vegas attorney Jennifer Bolton.
“It doesn’t seem like the type of reprimand or punishment for what took place,” said Las Vegas attorney Cal Potter, who represents Bolton’s ex-wife, Vivian Wright-Bolton.
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