When lawmakers ignore the law

With so much attention paid to the mental breakdown of North Las Vegas Assemblyman Steven Brooks and lawmakers’ efforts to keep him away from Carson City, an equally important legal issue for the Legislature’s lower chamber has slipped under the radar, almost forgotten:

Why in the world is Andrew Martin in office?

Last year, District Judge Rob Bare ruled Mr. Martin did not live in Assembly District 9 and therefore was not eligible to run for the seat. The evidence against Mr. Martin, compiled by a private investigator on behalf of Republican opponent Kelly Hurst, was convincing. Mr. Martin wasn’t sleeping at the home he claimed as his residence. His Chevrolet Volt was recharged overnight at a home outside the district.

However, Judge Bare’s ruling came on the eve of November’s election — too late to remove Mr. Martin from the ballot. He won anyway.

And that was that. Mr. Martin immediately began caucusing with majority Democrats and was sworn into an office he wasn’t eligible to hold, after voting in a district he didn’t live in. Assembly Republicans have asked that Mr. Martin’s case be examined by the special committee considering Brooks’ fitness to serve, but the Democratic leadership seems disinclined to do so. Nothing to see here, folks. Move along.

As the Reno News & Review pointed out in an editorial this week, lying on voter registration forms is a felony, but when a candidate lies on an official filing for office, it’s a gross misdemeanor. The powerful enjoy a different set of rules. Is it really too much to ask that the people who make our laws actually abide by them?

This is not some unsubstantiated allegation leveled against Mr. Martin — a court has rendered a judgment against him. Increasingly, our separate, equal branches of government assert their authority to defy the others. The Legislature, citing the state constitution, assumes it alone has the authority to decide the qualifications of its members. But that doesn’t mean the legislative branch is immune from the checks and balances of the judicial and executive, and the law itself.

Mr. Martin is a bright, accomplished man. A certified public accountant, he has served on the Economic Forum, which makes revenue projections for the state, and the Clark County School District Bond Oversight Committee. This newspaper endorsed his 2008 Assembly candidacy, when he lost to Republican Chad Christensen in District 13.

But Mr. Martin has demonstrated a flagrant disrespect for the rule of law in seeking and remaining in his office. He’s not the first state lawmaker to reside outside his district, and because his party’s leadership has joined him in ignoring Judge Bare’s decision, he probably won’t be the last. It’s important that our elected officials live among us, otherwise they can’t relate to the issues confronting our communities.

The longer Mr. Martin serves, the greater the insult to Nevadans. The longer lawmakers ignore this injustice, the bigger the black eye on them.