Disciplined judge defends family court seat against challenge from disciplined attorney 

Family Court Judge Mary Perry is hoping to win reelection after agreeing in 2024 to be publicly censured for her actions on the bench. She’ll face attorney Jennifer Isso, whose own discipline by the State Bar was stayed by the Nevada Supreme Court, allowing her to run for the bench.

“I’m probably in one of the best places I’ve been in in a long time,” Perry told the Current. “My discipline is behind me.” 

Perry says the behavior that resulted in her agreement to be censured by the Judicial Discipline Commission (JDC) was the result of a breast cancer medication that brought on hormonal changes. “It took about a year for it to run through the system and for me to level off and get used to it,” Perry said.  

In two court cases cited by the JDC, Perry, an Air Force veteran, displayed “a needlessly disrespectful tone of voice, obvious changes in her mood, the use of profanity, personally demeaning comments about the litigants, and generally, her overall demeanor and lack of professional decorum to all litigants…”  

Videos of Perry yelling at litigants have circulated on social media. 

Perry is a member of UNLV Boyd School of Law’s charter class. She  hears child custody and divorce cases, and was first elected in 2020. 

Of the 97 attorneys who evaluated Perry in the Las Vegas Review Journal’s Judging the Judges survey, only 35% recommended that she be retained. 

“I attribute a lot of it to my being abrupt,” she said, adding that “after eight and a half years in the military, I learned that as long as I say what I’m thinking straightforward, not try to sugarcoat it, people cannot state that they misunderstand me. You gotta make sure people understand what you say when you’re a judge.”

Of 16 cases appealed, Perry’s ruling has been found in error on 11 cases, according to Our Nevada Judges, a website that tracks the state’s judiciary.  

“I’m not afraid to make judgment calls when there’s not necessarily any guidance on it,” she said. “I’ve been appealed in those areas where there’s not necessarily guidance.”

She says her “learning curve is picking up a lot. I’ve passed the part where everything is brand new, and I’m having to learn every little thing. It’s been a pleasure to be doing what I’m doing.”

Perry raised about $101,000 through the third quarter and has just under $16,000 in the bank. Endorsements on her website include the Western States Carpenters, the Clark County Deputy Marshals Association, SEIU Nevada, Culinary Local 226, and community groups, including Hispanics in Politics and the Asian American Group.  

She is also endorsed by the Third Branch PAC, which states it’s a bipartisan organization but is funded solely by the Nevada Republican Club. Judicial races are nonpartisan.  

Isso, who obtained her law degree from UNLV’s Boyd School of Law, raised no money and is $1,938 in the hole, according to her campaign contribution and expense report for the third quarter. She has no endorsements listed on her website. 

In an automatic review earlier this year of the Nevada Bar’s recommendation that Isso be suspended, the Nevada Supreme Court approved the suspension, but stayed the discipline, allowing Isso to seek the seat in Departt. P. 

“Isso admitted to failing to demonstrate respect for the court, witnesses, opposing litigants, and opposing counsel,” the order said.

She also “admitted to making statements she knew were false or with a reckless disregard for the truth” regarding Judge Stephanie Charter, Judge Mari Parlade, and then-Judge Paul Gaudet, who is now running for the bench under the name Michel Gaudet. 

“The Court stayed her suspension for 18 months and ordered us to monitor her on probation with several conditions,” State Bar Counsel Dan Hooge said earlier this year, “If she stays out of trouble and completes her conditions, then she will not serve the suspension. If she doesn’t, then we will revoke her probation. If revoked, she would serve the suspension and have to petition for reinstatement after.” 

Isso, who did not respond to the Current’s request for an interview for the general election, is also the subject of videos on social media. 

In one undated video on YouTube, an emotional Isso is seen crying and bemoaning her appearance before the court. 

“I was visibly upset in that particular hearing,” she said before the primary election, noting the judge sanctioned her client for missing a deposition. 

“I have to protect clients, and that’s going to cause friction. I’m very direct, very honest, and I’m willing to challenge authority,” Isso said. “I’m being an advocate rather than causing controversy.”

The video, Isso said, was posted by Steve Sanson of Veterans in Politics after Isso filed her candidacy. 

Perry, who is endorsed by VIP, paid the organization more than $2,000 for advertising, and paid more than $12,000 since July to Veterans in Politics International, a consulting company owned by Sanson and Stephanie Phillips, who finished 6th in the Nevada U.S. Senate Republican primary in 2024.