James Hardesty
James Hardesty was a judge for Seat A of the Nevada Supreme Court. He assumed office on January 3, 2005. He left office on January 1, 2023.
Hardesty was elected by his peers to serve as chief justice of the court in 2021. His term began on January 4, 2021, and ended on January 3, 2022. This was his third nonconsecutive term in the role.[1][2]
On November 2, 2021, Hardesty announced he would not seek re-election at the end of his term.[3]
Hardesty first became a member of the court through a nonpartisan election. He was first elected to the court in 2004 to the seat vacated by Miriam Shearing.[4][5] To read more about judicial selection in Nevada, click here.
In 2020, Ballotpedia published Ballotpedia Courts: State Partisanship, a study examining the partisan affiliation of all state supreme court justices in the country. As part of this study, we assigned each justice a Confidence Score describing our confidence in the degree of partisanship exhibited by the justices' past partisan behavior, before they joined the court.[6] Hardesty received a confidence score of Mild Democrat.[7] Click here to read more about this study.
Biography
Hardesty was born in Reno, Nevada. He earned a bachelor's degree in accounting from the University of Nevada, Reno in 1970 and a J.D. from the University of the Pacific, McGeorge School of Law in 1975. Hardesty worked as a private practice attorney from 1975 to 1998.[4]
In 1998, Hardesty was elected to the Nevada Second Judicial District Court. He was selected as chief judge of the court in 2001 and 2003. In 2003, he served as president of the Nevada District Judges Association. Hardesty was elected to the Nevada Supreme Court in 2004 and served as chief justice in 2009, 2015, and 2021.[8][4] On June 22, 2020, the Nevada Supreme Court issued an order stating that its courthouse in Las Vegas, Nevada, would be named after Hardesty upon his retirement.[9]
Elections
2022
- See also: Nevada Supreme Court elections, 2022
James Hardesty did not file to run for re-election.
2016
- See also: Nevada judicial elections, 2016
Hardesty ran for re-election unopposed in 2016 and was elected to a third six-year term.[10]
General election
| Nevada Supreme Court, Seat A, 2016 | ||
|---|---|---|
| Candidate | Vote % | Votes |
 James Hardesty Incumbent (unopposed) |
71.55% | 692,769 |
| Write-in votes | 28.45% | 275,491 |
| Total Votes (100% reporting) | 968,260 | |
| Source: Nevada Secretary of State Official Results | ||
2010
- See also: Nevada judicial elections, 2010
Hardesty ran for re-election unopposed in 2010 and was elected to a second six-year term.[11]
Analysis
Ballotpedia Courts: State Partisanship (2020)
Last updated: June 15, 2020
In 2020, Ballotpedia published Ballotpedia Courts: State Partisanship, a study examining the partisan affiliation of all state supreme court justices in the country as of June 15, 2020.
The study presented Confidence Scores that represented our confidence in each justice's degree of partisan affiliation. This was not a measure of where a justice fell on an ideological spectrum, but rather a measure of how much confidence we had that a justice was or had been affiliated with a political party. The scores were based on seven factors, including but not limited to party registration.[12]
The five resulting categories of Confidence Scores were:
- Strong Democrat
- Mild Democrat
- Indeterminate[13]
- Mild Republican
- Strong Republican
This justice's Confidence Score, as well as the factors contributing to that score, is presented below. The information below was current as of June 2020.
James
Hardesty
Nevada
- Partisan Confidence Score:
Mild Democrat - Judicial Selection Method:
Elected - Key Factors:
- Was a registered Democrat
- Donated over $2,000 to Democratic candidates
- Received donations from Democrat-affiliated individuals or organizations
Partisan Profile
Details:
Hardesty was a registered Democrat as of 2020. He donated $4,735 to Democratic candidates. He received $200 from the Paradise Democratic Club and $1,000 from the Nevada State Education Association.
Other Scores:
Bonica and Woodruff campaign finance scores (2012)
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.
Hardesty received a campaign finance score of 0.05, indicating a conservative ideological leaning. This was more conservative 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.[14]
State supreme court judicial selection in Nevada
- See also: Judicial selection in Nevada
The seven justices of the Nevada Supreme Court are elected to six-year terms in nonpartisan elections. When their terms expire, justices must run for re-election if they wish to remain on the court.[15]
Qualifications
To serve on the Nevada Supreme Court, a person must:
- be at least 25 years old;
- be licensed and admitted to practice law in Nevada, and have been licensed and admitted to practice law in the United States for at least 15 years, including at least two years in Nevada;
- be a qualified elector; and
- have been a state resident for at least two years preceding the election[16]
Chief justice
The chief justice of the supreme court is chosen according to seniority. According to state law, if there are two or more eligible justices, the chief justice is determined by lot.[17] Alternatively, the internal operating procedures of the supreme court allow the possibility of an agreement between eligible justices.[18] According to the Administrative Office of the Courts in Nevada, often the eligible members of the court will agree to a lesser term as chief justice if there are multiple eligible justices in the last two years of their terms who want to serve in that capacity. Such agreements have been memorialized by a court order or other official document filed with the clerk.[19]
Vacancies
In the event of a midterm vacancy, the Nevada Commission on Judicial Selection solicits and screens applicants. The commission presents a list of three nominees to the governor, who appoints one to fill the vacancy until the next general election. If the predecessor's term is not expiring that election cycle, the appointed justice must win the election to the court to serve the remainder of the unexpired term.[20]
The map below highlights how vacancies are filled in state supreme courts across the country.
See also
External links
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Personal |
Footnotes
- ↑ Supreme Court of Nevada, "Hardesty Begins Term as Chief Justice, Herndon Joins the Nevada Supreme Court," January 13, 2021
- ↑ Nevada Business, "Parraguirre Begins Term as Chief Justice of Nevada Supreme Court," January 4, 2022
- ↑ The Nevada Independent, "Hardesty will not seek re-election to Nevada Supreme Court; plans 2022 retirement," November 2, 2021
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 Supreme Court of Nevada, "Chief Justice James W. Hardesty," accessed June 28, 2021
- ↑ The Record-Courier, "Hardesty files for Supreme Court," May 4, 2004
- ↑ We calculated confidence scores by collecting several data points such as party registration, donations, and previous political campaigns.
- ↑ The five possible confidence scores were: Strong Democrat, Mild Democrat, Indeterminate, Mild Republican, and Strong Republican.
- ↑ Supreme Court of Nevada, "Hardesty Begins Term as Chief Justice, Herndon Joins the Nevada Supreme Court,"
- ↑ State Bar of Nevada, "Order regarding naming of Las Vegas courthouse," June 22, 2020
- ↑ Nevada Secretary of State, "Silver State Election Night Results 2016," November 22, 2016
- ↑ Las Vegas Sun, "Two Nevada Supreme Court justices automatically given second terms," January 15, 2010
- ↑ The seven factors were party registration, donations made to partisan candidates, donations made to political parties, donations received from political parties or bodies with clear political affiliation, participation in political campaigns, the partisanship of the body responsible for appointing the justice, and state trifecta status when the justice joined the court.
- ↑ An Indeterminate score indicates that there is either not enough information about the justice’s partisan affiliations or that our research found conflicting partisan affiliations.
- ↑ Stanford University, "State Supreme Court Ideology and 'New Style' Judicial Campaigns," October 31, 2012
- ↑ National Center for State Courts, "Methods of Judicial Selection: Nevada | Selection of Judges," accessed August 20, 2021
- ↑ Nevada Legislature, " NRS 2.020 Qualifications," accessed August 20, 2021
- ↑ Nevada Legislature, "NRS 2.030 Election; Chief Justice," accessed August 20, 2021
- ↑ Nevada Judiciary, "Nevada Supreme Court: Internal Operating Procedures," May 20, 2021
- ↑ This information was provided to Ballotpedia in an email from the Administrative Office of the Courts in Nevada.
- ↑ Administrative Office of the Courts, "FACTS and FAQs," accessed August 20, 2021
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