Authors

Keegan Davis

Document Type

Case Summary

Publication Date

10-2-2023

Case Synopsis

Appellant Valley Health Sys., LLC, d/b/a Centennial Hills Hospital (Centennial Hills) filed an emergency objection and motion in response to Chief Justice Stiglich’s decision to assign Senior Justices Cherry and Silver to its case in place of disqualified Justices Cadish and Lee. Centennial Hills argued that the operative rule for disqualified justices grants the Governor total authority to designate a judge from a lower Nevada court to temporarily serve on the Supreme Court.2 In its motion, Centennial Hills asked the Court to vacate its senior assignments and let Governor Lombardo appoint two judges in their stead. In a 4-1 decision3, the Supreme Court ruled that the Chief Justice’s assignment of senior justices was permissible under Article 6, Section 19(1)(c) of the Nevada Constitution; more broadly, the Court ruled that the Governor and Chief Justice have complementary powers to assign replacements for disqualified justices.

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