Robert Archie

Robert Archie rose from a poor three-room home on Madison Avenue in West Las Vegas to become a prominent civil leader and defense attorney. He fought the civil rights battles of the 1950s and 1960s, worked for Sen. Howard Cannon, and attended law school before returning to Las Vegas as a decorated Vietnam veteran. He was admitted to the State Bar in 1967.

Archie's skills and reputation blossomed at the Clark County public defender's office in the late 1960s and early 1970s, alongside such figures as future U.S. Sen. Richard Bryan, former Rep. James Santini, and the late District Judge Robert Legakes. In 1971, Gov. Mike O'Callaghan appointed him director of the Nevada Employment Security Department, making him the highest-ranking black official in state government. He later left for private practice, declining offers of appointment to a District Court seat on more than one occasion.

At the courthouse Archie was renowned for the unyielding defense of his clients and his soft baritone voice. After a period of adversity in the 1980s, he regained his law license in 1991 and resumed his career, later helping other suspended black attorneys regain their own licenses. Among his notable representations was that of Andrew Dersch, and in 1994 he ran for North Las Vegas justice of the peace. He died of cancer at his home on September 11, 1996, at the age of 55.