Nevada Separation of Powers and Media Bias
Government accountability, crony judges, and media debauchery oh my!
In today’s edition of blatant media bias and pandering, while researching the ongoing “Separations of Powers” case in Nevada I noticed something interesting. The Las Vegas Review-Journal labeled the Nevada Policy Research Institute as a “private nonprofit research organization focused on limited government and free-market policies”, which IS what they are…but hold up a second.
Look around at articles about them in the Nevada Independent, Pahrump Valley Times, City Cast Las Vegas, and many others you’ll see various labels like “libertarian watchdog group” and “libertarian-leaning think tank”.
Look, it’s clear you’re slapping the old “libertarian” label on them to downgrade or degrade the organization. Honestly, at this point, I expect nothing less from progressive-led media publications. This rigamarole is trite and honestly lacks intelligence in general…but I digress.
Side Note for clarity:
I’m not here to “fight for the libertarian’s name” …that ship has sailed for me.
NPRI is a CONSERVATIVE think-tank run by Republicans who are funded by Republicans and whose board members sit in the leadership of Republican PACs. I repeat, NPRI is NOT a libertarian organization…no matter how they try to package it to the public. That doesn’t mean I don’t like their work. I appreciate what they do, support quite a lot of it, and have been on their podcast. But let’s call a spade a spade.
Ok back to the story!
I guess my actual question here is…why? Why do we HAVE to throw shade, include bias, or have an agenda in media and news? Is it that hard to label an organization what they are vs slapping terms on them to lead the reader in a specific direction? I don’t believe we do. I believe we CAN be honest and non-bias in our reporting and journalism…we just must have to be willing to do it.
Speaking of being willing to do things, let’s talk about the case.
Since 2020 NPRI has been arguing in court that lawmakers serving on the Nevada State Legislature while also working as employees for state and local government entities violated the separation-of-powers clause of the Nevada Constitution. Article 3 Section 1 of the Nevada constitution states pretty clearly, “The powers of the Government of the State of Nevada shall be divided into three separate departments,—the Legislative,—the Executive and the Judicial; and no persons charged with the exercise of powers properly belonging to one of these departments shall exercise any functions, appertaining to either of the others, except in the cases expressly directed or permitted in this constitution”. Short story, NPRI is not wrong in their assessment based on clear language in the Constitution.
So, what’s the hullabaloo then? I’m glad you asked!
Turns out, numerous state legislators (republicans and democrats alike) think it’s totally legit to get paid twice via tax-payer dollars. An example being a state legislator also being a District Attorney or a State Assemblymember also being a teacher. Let’s set aside the fact that they are double-dipping into the state’s honeypot (aka your bank account), there are numerous conflicts of interest at play here too.
For example, in 2017 Heidi Gansert, a Nevada State Senator AND employee of the University of Nevada Reno was able to vote on whether university employees got raises. Melanie Scheible and Nicole Cannizzaro, both State Senators and District Attorneys, have both worked to kill bills that protect due process and civil rights. Brittney Miller and Selena Torres, both State Assemblymembers AND teachers, are both funded by teachers’ unions and advocates against school choice.
So basically, they’re taking your money twice AND having big effects on legislation, all while violating the state’s constitution. Why this has been allowed to happen is a whole other article, but we’re here now so let’s sum up what’s happened and where it still has to go. You can get a full timeline and rundown of the filings from the beginning, to today on this page of the NPRI website.
TL;DR:
In 2020 NPRI filed suit in District Court and Judge Jim Crockett said “nah", dismissing the case.
Even though a week earlier, District Court Judge Richard Scotti overturned a conviction citing the fact that Melanie Scheible (a State Legislator) “did not have the legal authority to prosecute” due to her serving simultaneously as a state legislator. Curious.
So of course, NPRI filed a motion for clarification on the dismissal, which was granted.
They then filed an appeal with the Nevada Supreme Court in early 2021 and were able to argue in front of the Supreme Court in late 2021.
In April 2022 the Nevada Supreme Court ruled, in a unanimous decision, that NPRI’s case had standing. Meaning, it made sense, was legitimate, and they could move forward with taking the case back down to District Court.
The Legislative Council Bureau fights back hard with their arguments, as does NPRI’s legal team in front of District Court Judge Jessica Peterson throughout the second half of 2022.
On 1/5/23 District Court Judge Jessica Peterson dismisses the entire case. LOL even after the Nevada Supreme Court grants standing AND a previous District Court Judge agreed. You can’t make this stuff up.
1/6/23: NPRI files an appeal which takes the case back to the Supreme Court where it will eventually end with a “law of the land” ruling.
That’s where we’re at as of today. I’m thankful for NPRI fighting this fight and will be following, and reporting any news on this case as it comes. It’s important we create more transparency, protect separation of powers, and hold our government accountable to the constitution.