Judge Banned From Sitting On The Bench Ever Again

Almost a year ago, we reported on the egregious oversteps of Judge Conrad Hefen, the Las Vegas justice of the peace who handcuffed a public defender for having the audacity to advocate on the defendant’s behalf when the judge was all lathered up for some sentencin’! Hefen’s overreaction to the respectful entreaties of public defender Zohra Bakhtary didn’t play well with the local electorate who kicked him off the bench in a resounding defeat back in June.^[1]

And now he’s never going to get back on there.

This week, the Nevada Supreme Court posted a censure order barring Hefen from serving as a judge again after he agreed not to contest the Nevada Commission on Judicial Discipline’s punishment recommendation.

Technically, this order only applies to the Nevada courts, so Hafen, who now lives in Utah, could make a go of it there. Stay tuned.

Dominic Gentile, who represented Bakhtary in her contempt case, had this to say about Judge Hafen:

“I think it’s unfortunate, because he’s a good lawyer and he was a really good advocate,” Gentile said of Hafen, with and against whom Gentile worked. “But he pretty clearly had difficulty in the role of a judge.”

Hey, it’s not a job for everybody.

[1] Rereading that piece I noticed that I had lodged criticism of Clinton for running a lackluster campaign based solely on the theory that Trump would self-immolate. In June. Pats on the back are in order.

Ex-judge banned from Nevada bench for handcuffing of lawyer [Seattle Times]

Earlier: When Filing An Ethics Complaint Against A Judge Is The Right Call
Judge Who Handcuffed Lawyer Loses Job

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Joe Patrice is an editor at Above the Law and co-host of Thinking Like A Lawyer. Feel free to email any tips, questions, or comments. Follow him on Twitter if you’re interested in law, politics, and a healthy dose of college sports news.