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District Court Department 24

Ballou v. Gilliam

By: Dana Gentry - October 5, 2020 5:00 am

Erika Ballou, a deputy public defender, may be best known for sparking a protest in 2016 when she was told by Judge Herndon to remove a small “Black Lives Matter” pin from her clothing during the sentencing of a client. Herndon said the pin amounted to political speech.

Ballou has raised no money and has no campaign expenses, according to her filing with the Secretary of State. She did not respond to requests for an interview.

Her opponent, Dan Gilliam has worked for the Clark County Public Defender, as a prosecutor for the City of Henderson, and most recently in private practice as a criminal defense attorney, according to his website. He’s raised $157,180 and has $17,508 on hand as of October 15.

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Dana Gentry

Dana Gentry is a native Las Vegan and award-winning investigative journalist. She is a graduate of Bishop Gorman High School and holds a Bachelor's degree in Communications from the University of Nevada, Las Vegas. Gentry began her career in broadcasting as an intern at Channel 8, KLAS-TV. She later became a reporter at Channel 8, working with Las Vegas TV news legends Bob Stoldal and the late Ned Day. Gentry left her reporting job in 1985 to focus on motherhood. She returned to TV news in 2001 to launch "Face to Face with Jon Ralston" and the weekly business programs In Business Las Vegas and Vegas Inc, which she co-anchored with Jeff Gillan. Dana has four adult children, two grandsons, three dogs, three cats and a cockatoo named Casper.