Contempt-Happy Judge Banned From Bench

A former Las Vegas justice of the peace has been barred from the bench for life as punishment for a series of confrontations, including one that led him to order a deputy public defender handcuffed in court. Conrad Hafen was slapped with an ethics complaint by the Nevada Commission on Judicial Discipline, and on Feb. 4 agreed not to contest censure for four incidents from Dec. 2014 to May 2016. The commission said Hafen showed “a complete disregard for the law” when he handcuffed Deputy Public Defender Zohra Bakhtary and sent her client to jail for six months, and that his decision to sentence citizens who essentially had no attorney “demonstrates a callous disregard for the defense function, the dignity of defense counsel and the integrity of the criminal justice system.” Banishing a judge is rare in Nevada. Hafen’s law license in the state will be unaffected by the commission action.