Marilyn Caston

This page was current at the end of the individual's last campaign covered by Ballotpedia. Please contact us with any updates.

Marilyn Caston

Nonpartisan

Elections and appointments

Last election

June 9, 2020

Education

Bachelor's

UNLV

Law

UNLV Boyd School of Law

Personal

Birthplace

Pomona, Calif.

Profession

Attorney

Contact

Campaign website

Campaign Instagram

Marilyn Caston ran for election for the Department U judge of the Nevada 8th Judicial District Court Family Division. She lost in the primary on June 9, 2020.

Caston completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey in 2020. Click here to read the survey answers.

Biography

Marilyn Caston was born in Pomona, California. She earned a bachelor's degree from UNLV and a J.D. from the William S. Boyd School of Law at UNLV. Caston's career experience includes working as an attorney specializing in bankruptcy and family law.

Elections

2020

See also: Municipal elections in Clark County, Nevada (2020)

General election

General election for Nevada 8th Judicial District Court Family Division Department U

Dawn Throne defeated William Gonzalez in the general election for Nevada 8th Judicial District Court Family Division Department U on November 3, 2020.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔	Submit photo	Dawn Throne (Nonpartisan)	50.3	365,800
		William Gonzalez (Nonpartisan)	49.7	361,823

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	There were no incumbents in this race. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 727,623
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey.
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Nonpartisan primary election

Nonpartisan primary for Nevada 8th Judicial District Court Family Division Department U

William Gonzalez and Dawn Throne defeated Marilyn Caston in the primary for Nevada 8th Judicial District Court Family Division Department U on June 9, 2020.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		William Gonzalez (Nonpartisan)	38.3	101,681
✔	Submit photo	Dawn Throne (Nonpartisan)	37.5	99,685
		Marilyn Caston (Nonpartisan)	24.2	64,276

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	There were no incumbents in this race. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 265,642
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey.
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team.

Campaign themes

2020

Ballotpedia survey responses

See also: Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection

Marilyn Caston completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey in 2020. The survey questions appear in bold and are followed by Caston's responses. Candidates are asked three required questions for this survey, but they may answer additional optional questions as well.

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Who are you? Tell us about yourself.

I'm a 30 year local and I graduated from a local high school, UNLV, and our Boyd school of law as well. I've been practicing law for over 11 years. I started my career in bankruptcy keeping people in their homes and cars during the last recession but I made family law a main area of focus back in 2014. I'm divorced myself and successfully coparented with an ex for over 17 years to raise my daughter. I'm remarried now and have two little boys with my current husband who are nine and six. I believe my personal experience with family law has taught me things you can't read in a book and instilled a deep sense of compassion and empathy for the families involved in my cases. it's so important that we elect compassionate and dignified attorneys to serve as their new family court judges. I feel that my personal experience uniquely qualifies me for the job and I'd really appreciate your support in this upcoming election!

Please list below 3 key messages of your campaign. What are the main points you want voters to remember about your goals for your time in office?

• 30 year Las Vegas local
• Mother of three, 19 year old, 9 year old and 6 year old
• Been through a divorce and custody matter myself

What areas of public policy are you personally passionate about?

Access to justice! I am extremely passionate about parents getting equal representation in custody proceedings in Family Court. I have worked tirelessly with the Legal Aid Center of Southern Nevada to donate my time on a pro bono basis to low income parents and even won the 2017 Louis Weiner Service to Domestic Violence Victims award.

Who do you look up to? Whose example would you like to follow, and why?

The great Ruth Bader-Ginsberg of course. Not only did she help pave the way for future female lawyers and judges like myself, but her work ethic and dedication to safeguarding people's constitutional rights is astounding. Despite several health scares, it's reported that she's never missed a day of work on the US supreme court. I could only hope to emulate someone as pioneering and dedicated to the legal field as her.

What characteristics or principles are most important for an elected official?

Integrity, dignity and compassion. In family court, judges are often seeing people on their worst days. Their businesses, their homes, and most importantly their right to be a parent is being threatened. Being able to run your quart room with dignity and decorum is of the upmost importance in these types of cases in order to make reasoned and appropriate decisions.

What legacy would you like to leave?

One thing that I have over my competition is that I am relatively young. At 38 years of age its possible for me to serve as many as four or five terms before retiring, representing 24-30 years of judicial service. That's critical in family law because there are cases where parents get divorced or start fighting over custody when children are as young as one or two years old. If you don't have consistency in those cases, then they can swing wildly back-and-forth on the legal pendulum depending on which judge is hearing the case at which point in time. That's not good for the parents, or the children. I'm happy to serve as long as the people of Las Vegas would have me.

What is your favorite book? Why?

I read way too much in order to pick one favorite book but I will say that I'm an avid Harry Potter fan, I hated the Lord of the rings trilogy, and I'm always looking for the next good book recommendation.

What was the last song that got stuck in your head?

My six-year-old son just discovered the band Gorrilaz so we've been listening to them nonstop for days.

What is something that has been a struggle in your life?

I had a child and a subsequent divorce myself at a very young age (18 and 21). I was able to finish my undergraduate degree and go to law school with the help and support of my wonderful family in order to follow my life-long dream of becoming an attorney. This difficult experience taught me compassion and empathy for those around me, particularly those going through divorce and child custody. It also taught me balance as I've been juggling family and work life since I was 21 years old.

Do you believe that empathy is an important quality for a judge?

In family law, empathy is absolutely essential. Family Court judges are handed brought discretion in custody cases and have to utilize their common sense, along with their interpretation of the law. Too often we have judges sitting on the benches who have never lived through any of the events that they are dealing with. As a result, they don't recognize the minutia of complicated issues like parental alienation or toxic coparenting, as well as the effects they have on party litigants and especially the children involved in these cases. Having lived through this process myself, I have practical knowledge that cannot be learned in a book. I'm eager to share this knowledge and experience with the Las Vegas families as a Family Court Judge.

Do you believe that Bar Association ratings are an accurate reflection of a judge’s ability?

What might be a better gauge of an attorney's experience and ability are peer reviews, client reviews and bar complaints. I have never had a bar complaint to date, but I do have many glowing client reviews, as well as peer reviews from attorneys who have been opposite me on cases who can vouch for my integrity and professionalism.

Note: Ballotpedia reserves the right to edit Candidate Connection survey responses. Any edits made by Ballotpedia will be clearly marked with [brackets] for the public. If the candidate disagrees with an edit, he or she may request the full removal of the survey response from Ballotpedia.org. Ballotpedia does not edit or correct typographical errors unless the candidate's campaign requests it.

See also

2020 Elections

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Government

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External links

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Footnotes

Nevada courts

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Federal courts:

Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals • U.S. District Court: District of Nevada • U.S. Bankruptcy Court: District of Nevada

State courts:

Nevada Supreme Court • Nevada Court of Appeals • Nevada District Courts • Nevada Justice Courts • Nevada Municipal Courts • Clark County Family Court, Nevada

State resources:

Courts in Nevada • Nevada judicial elections • Judicial selection in Nevada