Erika Ballou, a deputy public defender in Clark County, Nev., speaks with colleagues outside of a courtroom Tuesday, Sept. 20, 2016, in Las Vegas. Ballou sparked a protest in a Las Vegas courtroom where she refused on Tuesday to remove a "Black Lives Matter" button from her blouse despite a judge's request not to demonstrate what he called "political speech." (AP Photo/John Locher)
The Associated Press
LAS VEGAS (AP) - A deputy public defender in Las Vegas gave in Thursday to a judge's request to remove a "Black Lives Matter" pin in court, after a free-form discussion about the politics of protest and free speech amid a national debate over police brutality and race relations.
In a new show of defiance that wasn't directly addressed by the judge, Deputy Public Defender Erika Ballou and several attorneys in the audience behind her wore black arm bands.
"I'm taking off the button. I will not wear it in this courtroom in the future," Ballou told Clark County District Court Judge Douglas Herndon.
Before an audience full of supporters, including several who kept wearing their "Black Lives Matter" buttons, Ballou and her boss, Clark County Public Defender Phil Kohn, acknowledged that case law wasn't on their side.
They agreed with the judge who said a courtroom is a "non-public forum" where judges can enforce "reasonable and viewpoint-neutral" restrictions on free speech.
"You've expressed the fact that you intend to be viewpoint-neutral, and so I will take it off ... and I believe we can go forward," Ballou said.
Outside court, Ballou, who is black, compared the arm band to ribbons that uniformed police and court officers wear on badges to mourn colleagues killed in the line of duty.
She said she believes those displays are also political in nature, and thinks the debate may end up before state and federal appeals courts.
"It might have to go higher up than this," she told The Associated Press.
Ballou balked Tuesday at Herndon's request that she remove the small round "Black Lives Matter" pin from her blouse while representing a white domestic battery defendant at his sentencing hearing.
Herndon sentenced the man on Thursday to five years of probation with strict in-patient substance abuse and domestic violence counseling following his conviction for attacking his wife.
Judge Douglas W. Herndon listens to Erika Ballou, a deputy public defender in Clark County, Nev., in a courtroom Tuesday, Sept. 20, 2016, in Las Vegas. Ballou sparked a protest in a Las Vegas courtroom where she refused on Tuesday to remove a "Black Lives Matter" button from her blouse despite a Herndon's request not to demonstrate what he called "political speech." (AP Photo/John Locher)
The Associated Press
RETRANSMISSION TO CORRECT LOCATION OF COURTROOM TO YOUNGSTOWN, OHIO -Attorney Andrea Burton poses for a portrait Wednesday, Sept. 21, 2016, in Las Vegas. Burton touched off a protest about race and free expression in a Youngstown, Ohio courtroom when she refused to remove a "Black Lives Matter" button (AP Photo/John Locher)
The Associated Press
Sarah Hawkins, a deputy public defender in Clark County, Nev., wears a "Black Lives Matter" pin in support of fellow public defender Erika Ballou in a courtroom Tuesday, Sept. 20, 2016, in Las Vegas. Ballou sparked a protest in a Las Vegas courtroom where she refused on Tuesday to remove a "Black Lives Matter" button from her blouse despite a judge's request not to demonstrate what he called "political speech." (AP Photo/John Locher)
The Associated Press
RETRANSMISSION TO CORRECT LOCATION OF COURTROOM TO YOUNGSTOWN, OHIO - Attorney Andrea Burton poses for a portrait Wednesday, Sept. 21, 2016, in Las Vegas. Burton touched off a protest about race and free expression in a Youngstown, Ohio courtroom when she refused to remove a "Black Lives Matter" button (AP Photo/John Locher)
The Associated Press
Erika Ballou, a deputy public defender in Clark County, Nev., stands outside of a courtroom Tuesday, Sept. 20, 2016, in Las Vegas. Ballou sparked a protest in a Las Vegas courtroom where she refused on Tuesday to remove a "Black Lives Matter" button from her blouse despite a judge's request not to demonstrate what he called "political speech." (AP Photo/John Locher)
The Associated Press