AG Wannabe Picked Her Words Carefully to Say Almost Nothing.
Let me tell you about the quietest “tough guy” in Nevada politics.
Her name is Nicole Cannizzaro. She’s the Democrat running for attorney general.
And she really, really, REALLY wants you to know she used to be a gang prosecutor.
“As a former gang prosecutor, I don’t scare easy,” she told EMILYs List.
Swell. Then this one should be easy.
The Case She Doesn’t Want to Talk About
In December 2015, Norman Smith was out on $160,000 bail. He was facing 14 counts tied to a robbery ring that preyed on Strip tourists.
Three months after he bailed out, he shot 20-year-old Tineshea Adams in the chest in a North Las Vegas parking lot.
She was five months pregnant. She and her unborn son died.
A jury convicted Smith of voluntary manslaughter. He’s doing 10 to 39 years.
This month, Smith wanted out early.
And the man who put his request in front of the Nevada Pardons Board was Attorney General Aaron Ford.
How the Pardons Board Works
A clemency application sits in a queue. Nothing happens until one of the board’s nine members sponsors it.
Ford was Smith’s only sponsor.
According to a Fox News Digital review of this year’s agendas, it was the only commutation request Ford sponsored all year.
Out of the whole pile, he picked this one.
Then he skipped the Sept. 16 hearing.
The board denied the request. And when a tracker asked him about it at the airport, Ford said, “Uhh, don’t know which one you’re talking about.”
Buddy, there was only one!
Ford’s Excuse Gets Shot Down
Ford’s campaign says sponsoring an application is just “standard operating procedure.” It’s paperwork. Doesn’t mean a thing.
The Clark County District Attorney’s Office isn’t buying it.
In a press release Wednesday, Republican attorney general nominee Adriana Guzmán Fralick pointed to what the DA’s office told 8 News Now:
“In this Office’s experience, such sponsorship has never been treated as a merely routine or ministerial step. Rather, sponsorship reflects an affirmative determination by a Board member that the inmate’s application warrants consideration by the Board.”
Read that again.
Ford’s story didn’t get torched by some MAGA operative. It got torched by the Clark County DA’s office.
You know. The office where Nicole Cannizzaro built her whole prosecutor résumé.
Fralick’s release put it this way:
“Nicole Cannizzaro, the Democrat nominee for Attorney General, worked as a prosecutor in the Clark County District Attorney’s Office before running for office. She has yet to say whether she agrees with Ford.”
Then Fralick laid down the challenge:
“The Clark County DA correctly points out that Aaron Ford’s sponsorship of Norman Smith for clemency reflects an affirmative determination. I would not have sponsored Norman Smith’s clemency case. I’m again asking Nicole Cannizzaro to stand with me and condemn Ford’s sponsorship. Who does she side with: Aaron Ford, or her former employer?”
And the kicker:
“The attorney general holds one of nine seats on the Board of Pardons. Nevada voters deserve to know how Cannizzaro would use hers.”
So Did Cannizzaro Say Anything?
Sort of.
Today, she finally gave a statement.
Not to the Review-Journal. Not to 8 News Now. Not to any Nevada reporter I could find.
She gave it to the Daily Caller. In Washington, D.C.
Here’s the whole thing:
“As a former prosecutor who took on gangs and violent crime, I disagree with the decision and would not have sponsored the clemency petition.”
That’s it. That’s the statement.
“I disagree with the decision” is what you say when the waiter brings ranch instead of blue cheese.
Now look at what she didn’t say.
She didn’t say whether Ford’s “routine paperwork” excuse is true.
Her old office says it isn’t.
She didn’t pick a side.
She didn’t condemn anything. “Disagree” isn’t “condemn.”
She didn’t say whether she still wants Ford as governor.
And she didn’t say how she’d use her own seat on the Pardons Board.
Maybe the Silence Isn’t a Shock
Look at her record.
In 2019, Cannizzaro helped push AB 236 through the Senate she leads.
It raised the amount of drugs needed to trigger felony possession and trafficking charges.
It allowed earlier parole for some offenders.
And it let some older inmates go home on house arrest.
It raised the felony theft threshold to $1,200.
Shoplifters sent their thank-you notes.
In 2020, the Las Vegas Police Protective Association got so fed up that it launched an entire PAC campaign against her.
The cops’ union accused her of siding with “criminals over law enforcement.”
So whose side is she really on?
Three Questions. Yes or No.
So here you go, Ms. Cannizzaro. No speeches required.
One. Is your old office right that Ford’s sponsorship was an “affirmative determination”? Yes or no?
Two. Do you condemn Ford for putting this case in front of the board? Yes or no?
Three. If you win, will you ever sponsor clemency for a man who killed a pregnant woman? Yes or no?
You don’t scare easy. Remember?
Tineshea Adams was 20 years old. She left behind a 2-year-old son.
Nevada doesn’t need a careful statement to a D.C. website. It needs a straight answer at home.
The opinions expressed by contributors are their own and do not necessarily represent the views of Nevada News & Views. Digital technology may have been used in the research, writing, or production of this article. Please verify information and consult additional sources as needed.
