The Nevada Supreme Court first heard cases in 1865 in the former Great Basin Hotel, which had been converted to a state and county office building and stood on the corner of Carson and Musser Streets in Carson City. In 1871, the Court moved across the street to the newly built State Capitol, where it continued to sit until 1937.
These ten cases, decided by the Court during the period from 1865-1937, were selected by former Legislative Counsel and legal historian Russell W. McDonald, either for their legal importance or for the novel nature of their facts. The exhibit was installed in 1996 by the Nevada Judicial Historical Society. Each of the ten cases was narrated by prominent Nevadans including Senator Richard H. Bryan, Attorney General Frankie Sue Del Papa, former Senator Paul Laxalt, Secretary of State Cheryl Lau, former Governor Robert List, Governor Bob Miller, Norm Nielson, Advertising Manager for Nevada Bell, State Senator William Raggio, former Governor Grant Sawyer, and attorney Gordon Rice, who argued cases before the Court in its Capitol chambers. The exhibit was upgraded and modernized with a grant from the NV150 Foundation in 2017. The YouTube videos were created by archivist Susan Searcy and webmaster Cheryl Mathwig of the Nevada State Library and Archives. They include:
Case 1: “The Posse.” Smith v. State 38 Nev. 477 (1915). Narrated by Grant Sawyer, Governor of Nevada (1959-1967)
Case 2. “Gambling on Trial.” Anderson v. McGill Club 51 Nev. 16 (1928). Narrated by Cheryl A. Lau, Nevada's Secretary of State (1991-94)
Case 3. “The Leaving Tax.” Ex Parte Crandall 1 Nev. 294 (1865), Narrated by Governor Bob Miller (1989-1999)
Case 4. “Murder in Chinatown.” State v. Ah Chuey 14 Nev. 79(1879). Narrated by Gordon W. Rice was the longest practicing attorney in Nevada.
Case 5. “The Execution of Mrs. Potts.” State v. Potts 20 Nev. 389 (1889). Narrated by William J. Raggio, Nevada State Senator (1973 to 1995)
Case 6. “The Murder of Julia Bullette.” State v. Millain 3 Nev. 409 (1867). Narrated by Frankie Sue Del Papa, Secretary of State (1987-90) and Attorney General (1991-1997)
Case 7: “The Last Stage Robbery.” State v. Kuhl 42 Nev. 185 (1918). Narrated by Norm Nielson, Advertising Manager for Nevada Bell.
Case 8. “Education on Trial.” State ex rel. Stoutmeyer v. Duffy 7 Nev. 342 (1872). Narrated by Paul Dominique Laxalt, Lieutenant Governor of Nevada in 1963 and Governor in 1966. In 1974 he was elected to the United States Senate.
Case 9. “Greenbacks or Gold?” State ex rel. H. O. Beatie v. Rhodes 3 Nev. 240 (1867). Narrated by Robert F. List, Nevada Attorney General (1971-1978) and Governor (1979-1982)
Case 10."Chairs for the Supreme Court.” State v. Davis 26 Nev. 373 (1902). Narrated by Richard Bryan, Governor (1983-1989) and U. S. Senator (1989-2000)
Silver medallions commemorating the sites of the Nevada Supreme Court, 1865 - present. A four medallion series, .999 pure silver, which bear the State Seal of Nevada on the reverse side, were minted on the historic Carson City Mint Press #1, and limited to an edition of 1,000 or fewer of each medallion. Please contact NJHS to purchase (Price = $35 each).
A snapshot view of the Nevada's justices of the peace in the early 1990s. Illustrated. 175 pages, softcover.
$14.95 (including postage) or free with $25 annual membership in the Society.
Bound, illustrated books. Please contact the University of Nevada, Reno, Oral History Program for purchase information.
A video presentation of the famous case about the last stagecoach robbery in America.
Bound, illustrated books. Please contact the University of Nevada, Reno, Oral History Program for purchase information.
The University of Nevada, Reno Oral Histories are now hosted on the Internet Archives:
Charlotte Hunter Arley. Interviewed and published in 2001. Ms. Arley was one of three female divorce attorneys in Reno during the 1940s, and shares the story of her first trial, the "Petticoat Trial," which was the first time in Reno's history where two female attorneys represented both parties. Ms. Arley remembers begin discriminated against for being female and Jewish, but never let those acts daunt her.
Hon. John Barrett. Interviewed 2004. Published 2005. Judge Barrett helped bring the National Judicial College to Reno and was a pioneer in allowing television cameras in the courtroom.
Hon. Cameron M. Batjer, Interviewed 2002. Published 2013. Justice Batjer talks in his oral history about rural life in the 1920s, the Great Depression, and World War II.
Hon. Peter I. Breen, Interviewed 2003. Published 2013. Thirty-four years old when appointed to the bench in 1973 by Governor Mike O’Callaghan, Judge Breen is one of Nevada’s longest serving jurists.
Harry Claiborne Interviewed 2002-2003. Published 2013. The life of Harry Eugene Claiborne, born July 2, 1917, had many chapters, from a rural childhood in McRae, Arkansas, to the neon lights of Las Vegas, Nevada; it was a varied life that would eventually put him in the crosshairs of a federal Strike Force investigating and prosecuting organized crime.
Frank W. Daykin Interviewed 2004. Published 2013. While waiting to take the Nevada Bar, Frank Daykin's was hired by the Nevada Legislative Counsel Bureau (LCB). In a twenty-year span at LCB, Daykin became a Nevada institution. Known for his scholarship and exacting standards to language and the law, he became synonymous with the difference between “shall” and “should,” and known for Daykinisms. As a member of the National Conference of Commissioners of Uniform State Laws, Daykin always tried to improve the language of Nevada’s statutes.
Hon. E. M. "Al" Gunderson Interviewed 2002. Published 2013. Justice Gunderson’s eighteen-year tenure on the Nevada Supreme Court was not without controversy, and he does not shy away from that controversy in his oral history.
Hon. Proctor R. Hug, Jr. Interviewed 1995-1996, 2008. Published 2013. Judge Hug has been an “agent of change.” His accomplishments include drafting the framework for Nevada’s present-day Gaming Control Act, and, as a Nevada Regent, working to establish the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, the UNR School of Medicine, and the National Judicial College.
Herbert M. Jones Interviewed 2004. Published 2013. After graduating from law school in 1947, Jones started his career in Las Vegas—first as a deputy district attorney, followed by private practice with his brother Clifford. Jones tells stories about traditional law as well as notorious cases, including “British war brides,” and the Krupp Diamond theft. His life reveals much about the history of Nevada gaming and its growth from a local business to a global corporate interest.
Hon. Howard D. McKibben Interviewed 2005-2006, 2008. Published 2013. Judge McKibben transitioned from private practice to serving as a deputy district attorney for Douglas County. In 1971, he was elected district attorney and served until 1977. When he was asked to run for election to the state court, he was elected and served from 1977 to 1984. Judge McKibben’s experiences as a district attorney and a state court judge honed his philosophy and opinions about jury and trial procedure.
Hon. Bruce R. Thompson Interviewed 1988. Published 2013. The Honorable Bruce R. Thompson, born July 31,1911, is a native Nevadan. In his oral history, he describes growing up in Reno on one acre on the Truckee River with cows, chickens, and a vegetable garden.
Hon. Cliff Young, Chief Justice, Nevada Supreme Court. Interviewd: 1999. Published: 2002. Justice Young's oral history covers in detail his work to influence court reform and addresses issues such as death-penalty cases, bench memos, overcrowding in prisons, and fast track settlements.