Judging the Judges: Henderson’s first female judge questions low marks

Henderson Municipal Judge Diana Hampton sat in her chambers, put on a brave face and candidly answered questions that boiled down to this harsh inquiry: Why do many of the attorneys who appear in your courtroom seem to hate you?

Sixty-two percent of the 61 lawyers who rated Hampton in the 2011 Judicial Performance Evaluation say she should not be retained when she next runs for re-election.

"That's about what I got last time," said Hampton, who just finished a year as chief judge and was re-elected in April despite dismal results in the 2010 evaluation.

Sponsored by the Review-Journal, the evaluation is a survey of lawyers practicing in Clark County.

Hampton's brave face cracks just a bit when a reporter reads a sampling of comments left by attorneys. It's difficult to blame her, for some of the anonymous comments are mean-spirited jabs meant to inflict pain, and they do.

In Hampton's case, at least, they're a far cry from the constructive criticism the Review-Journal envisioned when it began soliciting comments to explain the scores.

And according to Hampton, the comments are mostly false.

More than half of the attorneys who completed the survey on Hampton say she is discourteous, and some expounded on that opinion.

"She is quite, candidly, one of the meanest judges I've ever appeared in front of. She is perpetually in a bad mood on the bench," wrote one.

She disagrees.

"When you're a woman it can be very difficult to be assertive without coming off as bitchy," she said. "I try to be courteous. I invite anyone to come watch court. I guarantee nobody will think I'm rude."

As the first woman ever elected to a judgeship in Henderson, Hampton doesn't necessarily see herself as a trailblazer; but she concedes she just might be taking one for the team whether she wants to or not.

Survey results found no difference in her rankings by male or female attorneys.

Nearly half the evaluating attorneys say her professional conduct is not free from impropriety and the appearance of impropriety, a serious charge even in an unofficial survey.

Almost as many, 45 percent, say she is less than adequately free of bias toward parties or attorneys in court cases. The accompanying anonymous comments reveal the perceived bias is in favor of Henderson police and prosecutors.

Hampton used to be a prosecutor with the city attorney's office and is married to a captain in the Henderson Police Department, two facts she says are well known to local lawyers.

She also says those who accuse her of bias are putting two and two together and coming up with five.

"Never," she says when asked if she and her husband ever discuss her cases.

She also says his specific police assignment makes it unlikely anyone he arrests would appear before her.

"He works graveyard on the ROT (repeat offenders team). He deals with not just felons, but the worst of the worst. The last thing we want to do is rehash our day."

Hampton said she has a small circle of friends, "and they aren't police officers. I'm very careful about avoiding the appearance of impropriety."

One attorney alleged Hampton has barred certain attorneys from practicing law in her courtroom.

"I've never pre-empted anyone," she said. "Certain attorneys pre-empted me, and only one does that consistently. In the past he did something I felt was underhanded when I was a prosecutor, so I give his cases to the other judges because it makes his life easier, not mine."

Another complaint lawyers have is that Hampton is not punctual. Forty-nine percent rated her as less than adequate in that category, and on that claim she pleads guilty as charged.

"They're right about that, and I don't know what to do about it," she said. "I have two kids to get off to school. My husband works graveyard, so it's on me to do that; so yes, I am sometimes 10 to 15 minutes late for the early morning calendar, but that's the only calendar I'm late for."

What no attorney commented on is the Life of Crime program Hampton started. The educational program focuses on the choices young people make and how the bad ones can have serious consequences. Police officers and inmates from the Henderson Detention Center talk to the teenagers and young adults, and Hampton says the program, about to enter its third year, "has positively changed lives."

Hampton started the program because she knows firsthand what life is like for teenagers. She had a difficult childhood and worked her way through college and law school at a topless club, spending her first year on the job as a stripper and the next six as a bartender.

"I imagine a few comments mentioned that, too," she said. "I didn't have anyone to put me through college. I had to work my way through, and I got my GED, not a diploma. It's all out there. I never hid anything, and I worked hard to get where I'm at. Some people resent that."

Hampton said that history inspired her to start the Life of Crime program.

"When I sentence teenagers and young adults who don't have their GED, I order them to get one, because without it they will always have it rough. Nobody values education more than those of us who had to work for one."

Hampton also admits her sentences might be harsh, but only when the defendants refuse to follow her orders or are frequent fliers in the criminal justice system.

"I won't hesitate to drop the hammer," she said. "Some defense attorneys can be bratty when they don't get what they want, but when their clients don't want to be accountable for their actions, someone has to step in. I think that, more than anything is why I score so low, but I admit I can improve. There's always room for that."

Contact Doug McMurdo at dmcmurdo@reviewjournal.com or 702-224-5512.