Las Vegas judge, Erika Ballou, under fire for hot tub social media post with public defenders

A Las Vegas judge, who ran for office with the support of the Democratic Socialists of America, is under fire for her social media posts, where she sat alongside two public defenders in a hot tub and complained she had to work early following a Billie Eilish concert.

Clark County District Court Judge Erika Ballou was handed a formal statement of charges by the Nevada Commission of Judicial Discipline for two separate social media posts that jeopardized the public’s confidence in her judicial judgment as part of an ethics violation probe.

Ballou, who was sworn in on January 4, 2021, faces two counts of violating the “Revised Nevada Code of Judicial Conduct,” according to the formal charges viewed by The Post.

The judge had attended the “Life is Beautiful” music festival on September 19, 2021 and made an “inappropriate statement about her judicial duties on social media,” at 10:46 p.m., according to the formal charges viewed by The Post.

“Life is STILL beautiful, despite the fact that Bille Eilish doesn’t START for 30 minutes and I have an 8:30 calendar tomorrow,” Ballou allegedly posted on Instagram, along with the hashtags “VacateTheS–tOuttaOutofCustodyCases” and “WherelnTheWorldIsCarmenSanDiego.”

The Commission found Ballou’s post violated three of the four “Canons” in the judicial conduct code including Canon 1, Rule 1.1: “A judge shall uphold and promote the independence, integrity, and impartiality of the judiciary and shall avoid impropriety and the appearance of impropriety.”

The judicial code also requires that “the duties of judicial office, as prescribed by law, shall take precedence over all of a judge’s personal and extrajudicial activities.”

The post also violated the requirement that a judge’s private life take a back seat to judicial activities.

“A judge shall conduct the judge’s personal and extrajudicial activities to minimize the risk of conflict with the obligations of judicial office,” according to Canon

A judge may engage in extrajudicial activities, except as prohibited by law or this Code. However, when engaging in extrajudicial activities, a judge shall not participate in activities that will interfere with the proper performance of the judge’s judicial duties;

Ballou’s second count refers to a Facebook post the judge made along with two individuals, identified by the Commission as public defenders, in April 2022.

The post captured a bikini-clad Ballou with her arm around a shirtless Robson Hauers as another woman, Shauna Browers, stands beside them in a hot tub.

“Robson is surrounded by great tit,” the post is captioned.

Hauser is a Deputy Public Defender with the Clark County Public Defender’s Office, while Brouwers serves as an Attorney with the same office, according to their LinkedIn profiles.

Ballou is charged with violating parts of the first three “Canons,” including Canon 2, Rule 2.4 (C) which states “A judge shall not convey or permit others to convey the impression that any person or organization is in a position to influence the judge.”

Previous remarks from Ballou have created scrutiny because of anti-cop advice she made in the courtroom which led to calls for resignation from the Las Vegas Police Protective Association, the union representing Metro police officers.

“You’re the one making the decisions not to walk away from cops. You’re a Black man in America.  You know you don’t want to be nowhere where cops are,” Ballou said in July 2022. “You know you don’t want to be nowhere where cops are cause I know I don’t, and I’m a middle-aged, middle-class Black woman. I don’t want to be around where the cops are because I don’t know if I’m going to walk away alive or not.”

“Hey, Judge, you are a disgrace to the bench,” the police union tweeted at the time. “You have dishonored the robe you wear. You need to resign immediately.”

Before her judicial career, Ballou was a public defender and social justice organizer as well as a member of the Democratic Socialists of America, according to the outlet.

As a public defender, Ballou had a form of protest in 2016 after she defied the orders of a judge who asked her to remove her “Black Lives Matter” button from her shirt, as political or opinion protest statements aren’t allowed in the courtroom.

A public hearing for Ballou’s ethics case has yet to be set.