Judicial selection

The state judicial establishment this week took another vital step toward accountability and transparency.

On Tuesday, the Nevada Commission on Judicial Selection voted unanimously to open its screening process to the public. This comes just weeks before the Nevada Supreme Court is expected to approve new rules limiting the power of judges to seal cases.

While in most cases Nevadans elect their judges, the selection committee is charged with filling vacancies that occur midterm. Until now, the entire process had been confidential, but Tuesday’s decision paves the way for interviews, deliberations and most backup material to be made available to taxpayers. (Letters of recommendation will remain secret to ensure the authors feel comfortable disclosing opinions freely.)

The new rules are expected to be finalized early next year.

“The commission believes in the quality of the process and firmly believes the public should see it,” said Chief Justice Bill Maupin, who also chairs the selection committee. “This is an experiment in open government we know will succeed.”

It’s also an experiment that many other state and local public bodies should emulate when they conduct searches to fill positions of importance. And it’s a giant leap forward.

The Nevada court system has taken its share of hits lately — including a prominent mention just this week in a national group’s listing of “judicial hellholes.” But imposing more openness on the judiciary will go a long way toward breaking down the good-old-boy, business-as-usual default setting that many critics perceive as characterizing justice in the Silver State.

Chief Justice Maupin and his colleagues on the selection panel — Ruthe Agee, Ann Bersi, Rose Dominguez, David Grundy, Michael Pennington and Thomas L. Stockard — deserve high praise for putting the interests of the state and the public above that of the status quo.