Judge disciplined for hot tub photos suspended for ignoring court orders to send woman back to prison because she did not want new mom separated from baby

['David Harris', '.Wp-Block-Co-Authors-Plus-Coauthors.Is-Layout-Flow', 'Class', 'Wp-Block-Co-Authors-Plus', 'Display Inline', '.Wp-Block-Co-Authors-Plus-Avatar', 'Where Img', 'Height Auto Max-Width', 'Vertical-Align Bottom .Wp-Block-Co-Authors-Plus-Coauthors.Is-Layout-Flow .Wp-Block-Co-Authors-Plus-Avatar', 'Vertical-Align Middle .Wp-Block-Co-Authors-Plus-Avatar Is .Alignleft .Alignright'] Law & Crime 2025-09-23 16:30:10

A Las Vegas judge who came under fire for posing for photos in a hot tub with public defenders has now been suspended for at least six months for ignoring two court orders to send a woman convicted of armed robbery back to prison. Instead of going along with the order, Ballou scheduled another hearing to allow the defendant to present additional evidence, the commission noted. Prosecutors continued to press the Supreme Court to return Christman to prison, and in an October 2023 order, the high court did just that. As Law&Crime previously reported, Ballou was hit with two charges by the Nevada Commission on Judicial Discipline in January 2024. One such post was a photo uploaded to Instagram by the judge, where she appeared in a hot tub with two public defenders.