Becker wins full term on court

Both of the justices who won two-year terms when the Nevada Supreme Court expanded in 1998 claimed full six-year positions Tuesday night.

Myron Leavitt and Nancy Becker both ran contested races two years ago for the truncated expansion slots on the court. Leavitt was unopposed this time, while Becker had only nominal competition from former White Pine County District Attorney Gary Backus.

With more than 75 percent of the vote counted, Becker had 61 percent of the total compared to 24 percent for Backus. The remaining 15 percent went to the "none of the above" category.

They were joined by Chief Justice Robert Rose, who won his third six-year term on the high court. Unlike his last race - a hard-fought contest in which he beat Leavitt - Rose was unopposed this year.

Since the court's membership was restructured and expanded from five to seven in 1998, all of the members have applauded their progress in expanding fast tracking, setting up a system for hearing minor cases in panels and other innovations.

The innovations - including expansion to seven members - are designed to help the court process what they say is one of the nation's highest per-justice caseloads in the nation.

But Rose and other members of the court have also said they believe the ultimate solution is creation of an appellate court between the state's roughly 60 district courts and the Supreme Court.