District Judge Lane running for full term on bench

Jurist aims to be involved in helping community

Fifth District Judge Robert Lane has had a harrowing first term in office in the newly created second department.

On election night, he held a razor-thin, 28-vote victory, which held up during a recount requested by his challenger, felony prosecutor Kirk Vitto from Pahrump. After the mold problem surfaced at the courthouse, he arranged space in a former 99-cent store, then moved to his present, serene location in the old Calvada library, which he said, saved people from having to drive to court in Tonopah. Last year his mother died and his children were hospitalized for three weeks with E. coli bacteria.

Through it all, Judge Lane said he underwent six weeks of judicial training and never had to refer a case to another judge in what is the third busiest judicial district in the state. While he nears the end of his initial two-year term, Lane intends to run for a full six-year term in this November's election.

"Even before I took office, even before I was elected, I told people there were two types of judges. One that isn't involved and is separated from the community," Lane said. He described himself as the other type, a more activist judge. "A judge is a leader in the community and should try to make it better."

While attending a class about sentencing, Lane said he heard about drug courts, which is being started up this month. Instead of an 85 percent recidivism rate -- the rate of people returning to commit more crimes -- participants in drug court only had a 15 percent rate, Lane said. It requires judges to meet with addicts to monitor their treatment regularly instead of seeing them just at sentencing, he said.

Lane said he would like to start up the CASA program, which uses trained volunteers to deal with family problems.

"When I took office, my county didn't have any programs," the judge said. "When I attend classes with judges from around the United States I'm learning about all sorts of programs, technology and funding.

"Our county's kind of behind the times," he said. "Being young and full of vinegar I decided to bring computers into the courtroom."

Lane said he'd like to start up a pro bono program -- free legal care for the indigent -- as well as a juvenile court program. He also expressed interest in a program in Las Vegas dealing with those convicted of felony driving under the influence, which functions similar to the drug court instead of sending them to prison.

"It's another example of a judge taking an interest in the defendant and the community and not being aloof," Lane said. "I'm the supreme social worker because I'm the only person in the system that can enforce it.

"After we get the drug court we need to address domestic violence, child abuse," Lane said.

"I always make sure it doesn't interfere with the court," Lane said of the training. "The state pays for it fortunately, not the court."

Lane said he's currently working on his master's degree in judicial studies through the University of Nevada, Reno, and the National Judicial College.

"A lot of people say it takes two years just for a judge to get their feet on the ground," he said. "I have to run for re-election just when I get all my courses done."

Lane graduated from high school in Henderson in 1977. After high school graduation he served in the U.S. Navy for six years, advancing to the rank of first class petty officer and serving as chaplain's assistant. Lane obtained his bachelor's degree in political science from the University of Nevada, Las Vegas in 1989, while also working for U.S. Sen. Chic Hecht helping constituents deal with federal agencies, chairing a county political group and chairing the UNLV elections board.

Lane attended law school at the University of Utah, where he also tutored constitutional law, worked for the Legal Aid Society and was a clerk for a municipal court judge. Lane said he was one of the few people to pass the Nevada Bar exam while still in law school in 1992. After working for nine months in private practice in Las Vegas, Lane took a job as a Nye County deputy district attorney for seven years, working out of Tonopah.

After his election, Lane and fellow Fifth District Judge John Davis divided up the caseload, with Davis getting the odd numbered cases, Lane getting the even numbers. One thing the judge said he's proud of is taking care of a backlog of civil suits, which had to be deferred in favor of timely prosecution of criminal cases.

While he said he's an activist, when it comes to statutes he's a strict constitutionalist. While he may not agree with the statutes, Lane said he's not the Nevada Legislature.

Lane said his referrals from juries, which are required to be submitted to the Nevada Supreme Court after jury trials, have been "glowingly positive."

"I've been getting a lot of good responses back that I've been fair, well-prepared, punctual," he said.

"In my preparation (for cases), I'm more prepared than the attorneys," he said. Instead of one-page decisions, Lane said he often issues 15-page decisions.

He was asked by the Nevada Supreme Court to be an alternate member on the State Judicial Ethics Commission and asked to handle cases in which judges had a conflict of interest in Winnemucca and Ely.

"I want people to see I can do my effective caseload and get it done in addition to all these things I want to get done," Lane said. "I want to be one of the best judges in the state, continually."


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