Media

Jonathan MacArthur was recently featured in Urban Voice.

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Jonathan MacArthur Interviewed by Steve Sanson of AllTalkRadio

Jonathan was interviewed by Steve Sanson on AllTalkRadio for Veterans in Politics on 8/23/2008. The interview was scheduled to be a debate between Jonathan MacArthur and Chris Lee. However, Mr. Lee did not attend.

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Jonathan MacArthur Featured in E RealEstateExec

Jonathan speaks with E RealEstateExec on how crime affects property values and how the judiciary can help combat that affect. He also recounts a run-in with the law from his teenage years and explains how it led him to a career defending those who need it most.

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Jonathan MacArthur Endorsed by Veterans in Politics

On 2/33/08, the four candidates for North Las Vegas Justice of the Peace, Department 3, appeared before the Veterans in Politics to present their individual cases for endorsement by the organization. The endorsement was awarded to Jonathan MacArthur.

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(In the top navigation, click on the radio tower "shows," then page through "past shows" to find the NLV Department 3 judicial race.)

Connection to D.A.’s Office a Possible Factor in MGM Kids Case

No one can forget the video of a group of young men assaulting an MGM landscaper in the hotel parking lot in April of 2006. One of the young men, Daryle Williams, fled rather than take part in the attack, but faced the same charges because he hit a security guard while trying to leave. Additionally, the attorneys representing the kids saw a disparity between their clients’ charges and the charges in a similar case, and they draw conclusions as to why based on the district attorney’s connection with the MGM.

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Access to Evidence Sparks Controversy

As part of the discovery process, it is mandated that a defense attorney have access to evidence against his client. But when that evidence is child pornography, one prosecutor threatens to have Jonathan MacArthur arrested for possessing it. The result is a heated battle with MacArthur standing on the Fourteenth Amendment for his court-appointed client and a judge giving in to pressure from prosecutors.

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Las Vegas Family Arrested Over Teen’s Alleged Illegal Skateboarding

In a bizarre series of events, Las Vegas teen Chris Hamilton is arrested for allegedly skateboarding in the street outside his home. When the parents question the arresting officer as to why their son is in handcuffs, the mother and stepfather of the teen are also arrested—the mother after being pepper-sprayed in the face. All charges against the family were eventually dismissed. And while Jonathan MacArthur, the family’s attorney, believes that the court system worked the way it should have, he says the incident still raises questions of police conduct.

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The Politics of Justice:
The Story Behind Jonathan MacArthur’s Bid for Judge
in North Las Vegas
by: Tiffany Pace

At 1:30 on a Saturday afternoon in mid-June a motley group of volunteers remains gathered in the corner of Starbucks at MLK and Cheyenne trying to hydrate themselves. It’s 106 degrees outside, and they’ve been going door-to-door in their black campaign t-shirts handing out literature supporting Jonathan MacArthur. Joseph is Jonathan’s teenage brother—21 years his junior—and he is running on three hours of sleep, as teenage boys on summer break are apt to do. Jeff Black, another volunteer, is Jonathan’s longtime colleague and friend. He tells the story of coming upon a group of kids with water balloons and encouraging the kids to pummel him with them, which they did gleefully. Jonathan and his volunteers are sticky and baked and tired, but they are all in surprisingly good spirits. They have been at it for nine weeks now, and they will do it again next Saturday morning. And the next. And every Saturday until the primary election in August.

This has been the grassroots nature of Jonathan MacArthur’s campaign for justice of the peace. Despite having an uncanny ability to raise funds for the campaign, he relies on the belief, passion, and support of the people who know him well to help him reach the thousands of people in North Las Vegas who will need to know what he stands for.

In 2005, Jonathan was encouraged to run for office in North Las Vegas by Judge Lee Gates, a mentor of his and for whom he was once a law clerk. At the time, Jonathan was unconvinced, as he was enjoying his career as an attorney. But Judge Gates revisited the subject several times over the next few years, and he continued to open Jonathan’s eyes to the possibility of being able to make a bigger difference to the community as a judge than he could as an attorney. Additionally, Jonathan saw a trend during his years as a criminal defense attorney that had become increasingly disturbing—one that he wanted to change.

“I got tired of judges being a rubber stamp for the district attorney. The D.A. gets to wear the white hat because they’re wearing the badge and going after the criminal. And whenever there’s gray area, the media is paying attention and the voters are interested in the outcome, it’s just so easy to become a rubber stamp for the legitimacy of the state. And that may have flown, at least briefly, in a post-911 world, but our individual liberties have just taken too much of a hit—locally dealing with the homeless and eminent domain, or nationally dealing with the detainees at Guantanamo Bay. We should be embarrassed, and it’s only now that the Supreme Court is starting to clean up the mess. The lower courts have been asleep at the switch, and it’s particularly bad here in Nevada because we have elected judges, so nobody wants to go against the grain. But I’m a fire-starter.”

The fact that judges in Nevada are elected rather than appointed presents a unique set of issues when it comes to how they rule, and Jonathan has seen members of the judiciary bend to popular opinion in order to preserve themselves and their longevity.

“Judges are human beings, and as any human being would, they’re going to respond to disincentives toward certain behavior. Eventually they may give in—maybe a little, maybe a lot. It’s one hell of a disincentive—especially for judges here in Nevada—to make an unpopular ruling, even if it’s what they feel they should do and what the Constitution requires. It’s a lot to ask of them because they might end up having to give up their jobs.”

Jonathan talks about the outcome of this type of behavior and how it trickles down to affect the most vulnerable of the population. And that’s when his voice gets a little quieter, his eyes start to shine with tears, and you can feel the conviction behind his words.

“It’s the opposite of democracy. When you can’t protect the weakest in your society, then what good is your liberty? I really, really believe in this. My passion is the idea of liberty, the idea of equality, the idea that the law can be administered over a large group of people in such a way that even the people who are harmed by it can leave feeling that they have been listened to.”

His own take on the prospect of a career as a judge is not based in self-preservation, but on whether he is effective and is serving the community the way he intends.

“Typically, politicians in the modern era are on a career path. The founding fathers were farmers, scientists, doctors, writers and philosophers who donated their time to a pursuit to guarantee democracy. It may have carried a lot of prestige, maybe even power, but it didn’t pay very well and you were expected to go back to your life as John Q. Citizen when you were done. That’s no longer the case. Politicians now go from one office to a higher office to a higher office. I can’t tell you how many people have asked me, ‘So how long is it going to take you to go to District Court? And then will you try to get on the Supreme Court?’ The point is, I don’t think of becoming a judge as a promotion, or merely the next step in my career path. As long as I’m a benefit to the process, I should be there. If it’s something that I don’t do very well, then I should get out of the way and let somebody who’s more qualified take over. There’s nothing in the Constitution that talks about having a right to a lifetime career as a politician.”

Jonathan’s campaign slogan, “Equality: Every Case, Every Day, Everyone” is his proud, very personal contribution to the campaign. He feels it captures the essence of what he stands for and is a goal toward which he strived during his stint as judge pro tem in 2007.

“Everyone is equal before my bench, whether you’re old or young, male or female, white or black, rich or poor, everyone has the same exact standing. That can be done in every case, every day, for every single person. It’s almost a trite concept, but it’s beautiful in its simplicity, and it hasn’t been exercised as faithfully as it should be.”

After spending several hours in the sun and then chatting for an hour, Jonathan looks as though he’s got another several hours of chat left in him. And the still-gathered volunteers appear ready to listen—with the exception of Joseph, who appears ready for a nap. It’s this devotion to Jonathan and his campaign that makes his chance for election not only possible, but probable. Even though other candidates opposing him in the August primary may have the benefit of substantial finances—which can make a big difference in a local campaign such as this—Jonathan has the invaluable ability to get people involved and motivated. And as he reminds anyone who doubts the possibility of overcoming this kind of hurdle: “Money doesn’t vote; people do.”