Ralph Denton, `liberal conscience of Nevada,' dies
LAS VEGAS (AP) -- Ralph Denton, a longtime Las Vegas attorney who earned a reputation as "the liberal conscience of Nevada," has died.
Family members say he died of cancer Friday night at his Boulder City home at the age of 86.
Denton was an outspoken civil rights advocate who played a key role in the struggle to end segregation at Las Vegas Strip resorts in the 1950s.
At the time, Jim Crow-type policies had earned Nevada a nickname as "the Mississippi of the West," and he was one of the few Las Vegas attorneys who took cases for the American Civil Liberties Union.
Survivors include his wife, Sara; daughter Sally; and sons Mark and Scott.
Services for the Caliente native will be at 10 am. Friday at Guardian Angel Cathedral in Las Vegas.
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