DRUG PROGRAM FOUNDER RETIRING

Judge Praised As Caring Person Who Has Saved Countless Lives

When District Judge Jack Lehman was a little boy growing up in Germany in
the 1930s, it was an ominous time for Jews.

Many were being forced to wear yellow stars to identify their heritage, and
Lehman's father knew it was only going to get worse.

He arranged for his son's immigration to the United States and his eventual
adoption when Lehman was just 7. Lehman's welcoming would serve to motivate
him for the next six decades.

"I guess I've always figured I owe this country and my community a heck of
a lot for being welcomed," Lehman said.

His way of repaying the debt? Serving nearly 15 years on the District Court
bench in a legal career that has made Southern Nevada history.

On Monday, the founder of the county's Adult Criminal Drug Court program
confirmed he is retiring. Lehman said at age 74 he knows he has made his mark.

"It's been terrific," he said. "A great experience."

But long before he was known as an accomplished judge in Las Vegas, Lehman
made his name as a spaceman.

That's right. A spaceman.

Following military service in Korea and a professional career in radio,
Lehman used to be known as "Commander Lee."

Lehman said many longtime Las Vegans still remember him as the host of a
highly popular, space-themed children's television show in Las Vegas in the
1950s.

"I had 7,000 or so space rangers running around in Las Vegas when there
were only 50,000 people living here," he said.

Life eventually sent Lehman into politics. He was a publicity director for
former Gov. Grant Sawyer's campaign and the director of economic
development in Nevada from 1959 to 1963.

He briefly moved to Southern California to work for the U.S. Department of
Commerce while attending law school at night. He graduated from the
University of Southern California's law school in 1967.

Lehman returned to Southern Nevada and joined the prominent law firm of
Lionel, Sawyer and Collins. Twenty years as a practicing attorney in Clark
County would follow until his appointment to a District Court judgeship in
1987.

He has overseen countless criminal and civil trials, but he knows his
legacy will be the founding of the drug court program, which mandates
sobriety and advocates treatment over incarceration for those willing to
change.

Since its founding in 1992, some 2,000 participants have graduated.

Lehman said they have a demonstrated recidivism rate of about 17 percent,
compared with a recidivism rate of 80 percent for drug offenders who are
simply sent to prison.

"He has saved countless lives," Gov. Kenny Guinn said Monday. "He is a
caring person who has made our state a better place to live."

District Attorney Stewart Bell said Lehman brought up the idea of treatment
for drug addicts long before the idea was readily welcomed in the criminal
justice system.

"It is a huge success story," Bell said. "The people he has helped aren't
just staying off drugs. They aren't committing crimes, and they are
committing themselves to taking care of their children. This is something
he will be forever remembered."

Lehman glows over such accolades.

More important to him, though, is that the drug program works. He is
especially proud that 53 babies were born drug-free to drug court
participants last year.

"I don't mind if they put on my tombstone, 'I'm a drug court judge,' "
Lehman said. "I think it is doing the Lord's work."