Clark County District Court Judge Suspended Without Pay for Misconduct

Since 2022, I have reported on Clark County District Court Judge Erika Ballou’s continued violations from the bench. In 2021, Nevada Attorney General Aaron Ford celebrated her 2020 election for Clark County District Court Judge during Black History Month.

When Ballou was a card carrying Socialist, Black Lives Matter activist, and Clark County Public Defender, she caused controversy in the courtroom for wearing a Black Lives Matter pin on her blouse. When asked by the presiding judge to remove the pin, Ballou protested and issued this statement: “If you think that Black Lives Matter is anti-police, ask yourself if police are anti-Black Lives. In a free country, I shouldn’t be afraid of the police, but I am.”

In a leaked audio provided in 2022, Judge Ballou echoed similar anti-police rhetoric when presiding over a criminal case of a black defendant, proclaiming: “[As a black woman], I don’t want to be around where cops are because I don’t know if I am going to walk away alive or not.”

In 2024, Ballou was publicly censured and required to take a course on judicial and social ethics following a series of controversial social media posts, including photos of her in a hot tub with public defenders and derogatory comments about police. The Nevada Commission on Judicial Discipline filed the order after Ballou admitted to violating several ethics rules.

Last year, the Nevada Supreme Court ordered her removed from a criminal trial, citing her failure to comply with two previous orders from the state’s high court, prompting Clark County District Attorney Steve Wolfson to file a petition requesting Ballou’s removal from all criminal cases prosecuted by his office, labeling her conduct as “egregious.” She was ultimately removed from all criminal cases.

Now Ballou will finally face justice in an order of suspension from the bench for six months without pay for defying the Nevada Supreme Court. Her suspension began on Tuesday and she will remain on probation for two years. She must also complete training “specifically customized and tailored to (her) misconduct,” the Nevada Commission on Judicial Discipline ruled on Monday.

Ballou was elected to the bench in November 2020 for a term of six years. She began her career as a Clark County public defender in 2015.

The Globe reached out to Attorney General Ford for comment, but at the time of publishing had not received a response. AG Ford, as well as Senator Catherine Cortez Masto, have remained silent during her embattled and controversial tenure.