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November 18, 2008

Less than honorable behavior

Posted: 01:36 PM ET

NEW YORK – The verdict is in. Las Vegas Judge Elizabeth Halverson has been permanently removed from the bench and told by The State Commission on Judicial Conduct that she can never take the bench again.

Elizabeth Halverson has been permanently removed from the bench

The decision had been delayed when Halverson was hospitalized with severe head injuries. Her husband apparently hit her over the head with a frying pan. I kid you not. Ed Halverson copped a plea last month. He faces 3 to 10 years in prison for the attack.

Domestic violence is a serious issue. I even feel sorry for Elizabeth Halverson. She suffers from adjustment disorder, anxiety and depression. She's obese and uses bottled oxygen to help her breathe and a motorized scooter to get around. She is a cancer survivor with congestive heart failure, sleep apnea, crohn’s disease and diabetes. But she was also a judge. One who behaved less than honorably.

She slept during hearings, made improper contact with jurors, and mistreated her staff. She was unrepentant, unprofessional, and downright disrespectful of her colleagues. She even made misleading statements to reporters covering her case.

I guess Judge Halverson didn't know what most other judges do: That a judge is not a "person" when she is wearing that black robe. The rest of us can protest the law or even break it, if we want to face the consequences. But judges cant. Their job is to execute the law. Judges are the cement to our system of justice. So, a judge who cannot behave as a judge should simply stop being one. That's why Judge Halverson had to go.

-Jami Floyd, In Session anchor

Filed under: Uncategorized


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Lee   November 18th, 2008 1:49 pm ET

Thank goodness! This "judge" was so disrespectful of the panel and attorneys during her hearing that I was disgusted. All of her physical problems do not give her a pass on civility.

It is too bad her husband attacked her. Divorce is so much easier on the rest of one's life than jail. Or, did he believe that jail would be safer for him than being in the free world with her in it too?

Carol   November 18th, 2008 2:20 pm ET

Thank Gawd! I was afraid she might have gotten a bedroom set in the courtroom to lay back and watch her trials in total comfort.
What a disgrace!

lee, Ohio   November 18th, 2008 2:20 pm ET

It was apparent from the way this Judge treated the witnesses at her hearing that she should not have been serving on the bench. This is a good decision.

Dave   November 18th, 2008 2:47 pm ET

Justice has indeed been served

Liz   November 18th, 2008 2:52 pm ET

It is nice to see JUSTICE come down on one of their own! One would think, the now former Judge, Elizabeth Halverson did not understand the boof "PUBLIC SERVANT" Perhaps she thought her position provided her with servants from the public?i! No matter what was in the mind of the former Judge, she simply became a huge libality to everyone around her. She is now she is worried about her salary and benefits? Please!!! Let her stand in the unemplment line with the rest of us! Is the position open for resume's?!

Beth Mckinley   November 18th, 2008 3:03 pm ET

Good!!! How she ever became a judge in the first place is beyond me.

Holly   November 18th, 2008 3:07 pm ET

For once you looked at the obvious facts of the case Jami. Are we turning over a new leaf ?

txkboy   November 19th, 2008 11:34 am ET

Tip of the iceberg. If the DOJ seriously took a look at some of the lower courts judges and their opinions, I believe more judges would be disbarred.

Fordo   November 19th, 2008 11:55 am ET

It was creepy watching this Ex-Judge" say "No, No, No",,, to all the questions on the stand... Her testimony was not very believable!.. Happy she is Ex-Judge!!

Ron Morris   November 20th, 2008 10:16 am ET

Nobody is above the law and certainly not a person hired to enforce the law. Period. Nuff Said!

suzanne lovett   November 22nd, 2008 12:59 pm ET

justice was served. halverson was a disgrace to all the judges who sit on the bench.i know their are some questionable judges out there. i thank cnn for covering this story. it was a great education to us laymen to see how the judicial system handles one of their own.

Teri McMinn   November 24th, 2008 5:06 pm ET

Jamie I love your daily commentaries and always stop to Listen.
You have opened my mind and am less swayed to jump to prosecutors than I used to be. You are a little dynamo!
That said, I watched this very sad woman's behavior and wondered how in the world she was ever a judge, appointed or elected.
Judge Halverson's treatment of all concerned, her staff, the jury, sheer arrogance to the court, her lies to the press, along with her erratic behavior when testifying, were proof a serious mistake had been made allowing her any power over others lives.
Gee, the frying pan bit is, well...over the top and sadly funny. I can only imagine how she treated Him.
It just proves: Truth IS stranger than fiction~

Spider   November 26th, 2008 10:32 am ET

How was she ever appointed or elected a judge?

Where have you people been? All you have to do is keep your head down and be charismatic. If you don't do anything to enflame opponents but maintain a proper demeanor with your own group, eventually you will be appointed to a high level position or your lack of baggage will con the electorate into voting for you.

Look at Barack Obama.

Now, it was after she locked in the judgeship (is that a word?), that her sense of power turned her into the people using monster that she is. We all know, power corrupts.

Kat McGuire, KS   November 28th, 2008 3:34 am ET

I watched that case with my husband. All we can say, is good......justice was served........and we wonder how she musta treated her husband!

I don't codone DV but it is a bizzare story that took on a bizzare outlook on her.

She must have been a disgrace as a wife as she was a judge.

bert dansereau   December 2nd, 2008 4:14 am ET

a month ago I was asked by a friend if gas prices would ever come back down again to which I responded "Hell no". Well here we are and gas is less than half the price it was 2 months ago. I guess I along with most others didnt take supply and demand into account, The supply chain is cranking out a lot more gas than the market requires. Who would have thought that a US recession would stem demand for petroleum so radically on a global scale. two lessons learned a: oil companies cannot keep prices artificially high contrary to popular belief. and b: when America sneezes the whole world catches a cold

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