Opinion ID: 1162726
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 7

Heading: The First Loretta Bowman Incident

Text: The order of contempt issued by appellant in this instance was reversed by this court in Bowman v. District Court, 102 Nev. 474, 728 P.2d 433 (1986). As that opinion relates, on September 17, 1985, appellant held Loretta Bowman, the Clerk of the Eighth Judicial District Court, in contempt of court, sentenced her to serve twenty days in the county jail, and imposed sanctions of $500. Appellant entered his order because a deputy court clerk had accepted and filed a motion to dismiss in a civil action on the day after a default had been entered in the same case. Id. at 476, 728 P.2d at 434. In Bowman, this court concluded that neither the actions of the court clerk nor the actions of her deputy constituted a contemptuous act under NRS 22.010 or NRS 199.340. Rather, because the clerk and her deputies had a ministerial duty to accept and file documents and no authority to pass upon the validity of instruments presented for filing, this court concluded that appellant held Ms. Bowman in contempt for conscientiously fulfilling her responsibilities as court clerk. Id. at 478, 728 P.2d at 435. A certified copy of this court's opinion and exemplified copies of appellant's order to show cause and order of contempt were admitted by the commission into evidence at the formal hearing. Appellant also testified at the formal hearing respecting this incident. [23] Based upon this evidence and testimony, the commission found that appellant abused the contempt power vested in him as a judge.