Nevada Laws

A federal judge on Friday upheld Nevada's law requiring insurance companies to roll back auto policy premiums 15% below July, 1988, levels and freeze them there for one year. But after ruling from the bench, U.S. District Judge Bruce Thompson granted a 10-day stay, allowing insurance company attorneys to move their challenge of the law to the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco.

For years, the housing news in Nevada has been unrelentingly bleak: Nearly 3 in 5 homeowners, even the state's attorney general, are underwater on their home loans. In Las Vegas, home prices have tumbled further than in any U.S. metropolitan region. So when market researcher RealtyTrac announced a 75% drop in the number of Nevada homes entering foreclosure in October, even as those numbers surged elsewhere in the country, things seemed finally to be looking up in the Silver State.

The NCAA scored a major victory Friday in its latest court battle with former Nevada Las Vegas basketball Coach Jerry Tarkanian when a federal judge struck down a Nevada law regulating NCAA enforcement procedure. U.S. District Judge Howard McKibben ruled that the law requiring NCAA enforcement proceedings involving institutions in the state to conform to standards of legal due process is unconstitutional.

A property rights group is claiming victory in the latest conflict between ranchers and federal land managers over livestock impoundments on Nevada's public lands. But so far, the feds have shown no sign of admitting defeat. The combative ranchers are welcoming a grand jury report and a new state law that orders federal land managers, for the first time, to obtain a court order before seized cattle change hands.

A jury Friday convicted a driver in the deaths of six teenagers on a county work crew under a new Nevada law that prohibits driving with illegal drugs in one's blood--even if the driver is not impaired. Because prosecutors were unable to prove that Jessica Williams had been under the influence of drugs, the only other options for jurors were to acquit the driver or to convict her of involuntary manslaughter or reckless driving--charges carrying lighter sentences.

In what appears to be the first case of its kind, Nevada authorities have charged a top Las Vegas casino with allowing a minor to gamble in an incident in which a 19-year-old lost more than $6,200 in three hours of pre-dawn play at the blackjack tables. The incident occurred at Bally's Las Vegas, known as one of the Strip's most resolutely adult-oriented casino-hotels.

The headlines in a couple of Nevada's largest newspapers this week sent shock waves through the state's legalized brothels, and no wonder. "Ooops! Nevada Accidentally Outlaws Brothels," the Reno Gazette Journal blared Thursday. "Brothels Mistakenly Outlawed," was the Page 1 headline in Wednesday's Las Vegas Review-Journal. Its story began: "Nevada has outlawed brothels. Sort of. By mistake." George Flint, lobbyist for the Nevada Brothel Assn., was jarred out of bed by a 3 a.m.

In Nevada, Joe Conforte's business has been a vicious, 36-year joust with fluctuating state laws, rural leanings and a succession of politicians. He opened his first whorehouse, the Triangle Ranch, in 1955, when local prostitution laws were spotty and enforced largely by whim. It was an ingenious setup, with brothels in converted farm buildings and later in house trailers, at the converging borders of Washoe, Storey and Lyon counties.

Nevada and the NCAA will meet in court Dec. 4 over the NCAA's challenge of a new state law that it claims is stalling its infractions case against Nevada Las Vegas and is unfair to other schools.

The Nevada Supreme Court has ordered a study of proposed guidelines for capital murder cases sought by three high court justices who complained about inexperienced lawyers and long delays in such cases. The court said the study panel, made up of 15 lawyers and judges, will review the guidelines suggested by Justices John Mowbray, Tom Steffen and Cliff Young and report back to the Supreme Court with recommendations.

While Congress debates how to help seniors pay for prescription drugs, Anthony Weber is singing the praises of Nevada's partial solution to the crisis. Weber, 83, has enrolled in a state-funded, privately managed prescription drug insurance plan and figures on saving $2,000 a year. "I could hardly step out of the house to buy a candy bar," said Weber, a retired grocery store manager. "Now I got some money to save and to get an oil change for my car."

A jury Friday convicted a driver in the deaths of six teenagers on a county work crew under a new Nevada law that prohibits driving with illegal drugs in one's blood--even if the driver is not impaired. Because prosecutors were unable to prove that Jessica Williams had been under the influence of drugs, the only other options for jurors were to acquit the driver or to convict her of involuntary manslaughter or reckless driving--charges carrying lighter sentences.

Adults will have to tell police if they witness child abuse or they will face six months in jail under a "Sherrice Iverson" bill signed Friday by Nevada Gov. Kenny Guinn. Most family members would be exempt under the bill named for the 7-year-old California girl who was strangled in a Nevada casino restroom. The only exception would be if a parent were the abuser. Then, the other parent would be required to report it to police.

Responding to the murder of a 7-year-old girl in a Nevada casino bathroom, legislators in California and Nevada said Friday that they are considering legislation to make it a crime to keep quiet after witnessing an assault on a child. State Sen. Tom Hayden (D-Los Angeles) and Nevada Assembly Majority Leader Richard Perkins (D-Henderson) said they hope to introduce legislation soon in response to the 1997 slaying of Sherrice Iverson of South Los Angeles.

In what appears to be the first case of its kind, Nevada authorities have charged a top Las Vegas casino with allowing a minor to gamble in an incident in which a 19-year-old lost more than $6,200 in three hours of pre-dawn play at the blackjack tables. The incident occurred at Bally's Las Vegas, known as one of the Strip's most resolutely adult-oriented casino-hotels.

The headlines in a couple of Nevada's largest newspapers this week sent shock waves through the state's legalized brothels, and no wonder. "Ooops! Nevada Accidentally Outlaws Brothels," the Reno Gazette Journal blared Thursday. "Brothels Mistakenly Outlawed," was the Page 1 headline in Wednesday's Las Vegas Review-Journal. Its story began: "Nevada has outlawed brothels. Sort of. By mistake." George Flint, lobbyist for the Nevada Brothel Assn., was jarred out of bed by a 3 a.m.

Eight insurance companies doing business in Nevada, including all of the state's leading auto carriers, have filed suit in federal court to block a 15% rollback of auto liability insurance rates. The Nevada law, which is supposed to go into effect Oct. 1, would roll back rates from July 1, 1988, levels and freeze them for a year.

The NCAA scored a major victory Friday in its latest court battle with former Nevada Las Vegas basketball Coach Jerry Tarkanian when a federal judge struck down a Nevada law regulating NCAA enforcement procedure. U.S. District Judge Howard McKibben ruled that the law requiring NCAA enforcement proceedings involving institutions in the state to conform to standards of legal due process is unconstitutional.

Nevada and the NCAA will meet in court Dec. 4 over the NCAA's challenge of a new state law that it claims is stalling its infractions case against Nevada Las Vegas and is unfair to other schools.