EDITORIAL: What happened to injured judge?

The holidays brought the terrible news that Las Vegas Justice of the Peace Eric Goodman, son of current Las Vegas Mayor Carolyn Goodman and former Mayor Oscar Goodman, had been found in a park restroom with a serious head injury.

Just as troubling was the fact that it took almost two weeks for the news to be made public. An elected official, a judge who has a critical role in the criminal justice system, was discovered unconscious and injured Dec. 15, and the information was guarded for almost two weeks?

Las Vegas police held a media briefing Monday to say there was no evidence Judge Goodman was attacked or robbed, and that he can’t recall what happened that day after he went jogging. Police never informed marshals or other judges at the Regional Justice Center because detectives couldn’t determine whether a crime had been commited, Deputy Chief Al Salinas said.

If the judge, 42, suffered some sort of medical episode, no one is saying. In a statement released Saturday, Judge Goodman’s parents said he is in a rehabilitation center. “The family asks that our privacy is respected through his recovery.”

Public life doesn’t work that way. If there is the slightest chance an elected official was targeted and deliberately harmed, and if he will not be able to carry out the duties of his office for any period of time, the public — and other public officials — deserve to know.

Best wishes to Judge Goodman for a speedy recovery.