Richard Brooke Jackson (born March 5, 1947) known professionally as R. Brooke Jackson, is a senior

United States district judge The United States district courts are the trial courts of the U.S. federal judiciary. There is one district court for each federal judicial district, which each cover one U.S. state or, in some cases, a portion of a state. Each district cou ...

serving on the

United States District Court for the District of Colorado The United States District Court for the District of Colorado (in case citations, D. Colo. or D. Col.) is a federal court in the Tenth Circuit (except for patent claims and claims against the U.S. government under the Tucker Act, which are a ...

. Jackson formerly served as a Colorado state judge.

Early life and education

Born in Bozeman, Montana, Jackson earned an Artium Baccalaureus from

Dartmouth College Dartmouth College (; ) is a private research university in Hanover, New Hampshire. Established in 1769 by Eleazar Wheelock, it is one of the nine colonial colleges chartered before the American Revolution. Although founded to educate Native ...

in 1969. He then earned a Juris Doctor in 1972 from Harvard Law School.

Career

Jackson spent 26 years with the law firm Holland & Hart, including as an associate from 1972 until 1978, and as a partner from 1978 until 1998. Jackson was appointed to the state bench in 1998, and in 2003 was named Chief Judge for Colorado's First Judicial District, which covers

Jefferson County, Colorado Jefferson County is a county located in the U.S. state of Colorado. As of the 2020 census, the population was 582,910, making it the fourth-most populous county in Colorado. The county seat is Golden, and the most populous city is Lakewood. ...

and

Gilpin County, Colorado Gilpin County is a county located in the U.S. state of Colorado, smallest in land area behind only the City and County of Broomfield. As of the 2020 census, the population was 5,808. The county seat is Central City. The county was formed in 1 ...

Federal judicial service

On September 29, 2010, President

Barack Obama Barack Hussein Obama II ( ; born August 4, 1961) is an American politician who served as the 44th president of the United States from 2009 to 2017. A member of the Democratic Party, Obama was the first African-American president of the ...

nominated Jackson to a judicial seat on the United States District Court for the District of Colorado, to fill the vacancy created by the death of Judge

Phillip S. Figa Phillip Sam Figa (July 27, 1951 – January 5, 2008) was an American attorney and jurist who served as a United States district judge of the United States District Court for the District of Colorado. Early life and education Born in Chicago, ...

. Jackson's nomination lapsed at the end of 2010. President Obama renominated him on January 5, 2011. The United States Senate confirmed him by

unanimous consent In parliamentary procedure, unanimous consent, also known as general consent, or in the case of the parliaments under the Westminster system, leave of the house (or leave of the senate), is a situation in which no member present objects to a prop ...

on August 2, 2011. He received his judicial commission on September 1, 2011. He assumed

senior status Senior status is a form of semi- retirement for United States federal judges. To qualify, a judge in the federal court system must be at least 65 years old, and the sum of the judge's age and years of service as a federal judge must be at leas ...

on September 30, 2021.

Notable rulings

On June 5, 2020, Jackson issued a temporary restraining order against the City and County of

Denver, Colorado Denver () is a consolidated city and county, the capital, and most populous city of the U.S. state of Colorado. Its population was 715,522 at the 2020 census, a 19.22% increase since 2010. It is the 19th-most populous city in the Unit ...

, and the

Denver Police Department The Denver Police Department (DPD) is the full service police department jointly for the City and County of Denver, Colorado, which provides police services to the entire county, including Denver International Airport, and may provide contractu ...

in particular, forbidding assaults against peaceful protesters who participate in demonstrations against George Floyd's murder by the Minneapolis Police Department. The order included other police officers working with the City and County of Denver. Specifically, the order forbid using

tear gas Tear gas, also known as a lachrymator agent or lachrymator (), sometimes colloquially known as "mace" after the early commercial aerosol, is a chemical weapon that stimulates the nerves of the lacrimal gland in the eye to produce tears. In ...

pepper spray Pepper spray, oleoresin capsicum spray, OC spray, capsaicin spray, or capsicum spray is a lachrymatory agent (a compound that irritates the eyes to cause a burning sensation, pain, and temporary blindness) used in policing, riot control, ...

, pepper balls and

rubber bullets Rubber bullets (also called rubber baton rounds) are a type of baton round. Despite the name, rubber bullets typically have either a metal core with a rubber coating, or are a homogeneous admixture with rubber being a minority component. Altho ...

against protesters unless a Captain is on scene, witnesses an act of violence, and gives an order to use them; and forbids the use of projectiles shot at protestors aimed at the head, back or pelvis. The rioters suffered injures such as broken bones (including facial bones), ruptured scrotums (due to aiming at the groin), and included attacks on "medics" trying to render aid to injured rioters. On November 22, 2016, Jackson ruled in favor of

Dana Zzyym Dana Alix Zzyym (born 1958) is an intersex activist and veteran of the U.S. Navy. After the culmination of a six-year legal battle, they became the first U.S. citizen to receive an official U.S. passport with an “X” sex/gender marker. Early ...

, a Navy veteran who was born

intersex Intersex people are individuals born with any of several sex characteristics including chromosome patterns, gonads, or genitals that, according to the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, "do not fit typical bin ...

and uses they/them pronouns, after Zzyym sued the U.S. State Department for a passport that would reflect a gender other than “male” or “female.” Zzyym had applied for a U.S. passport to attend the International Intersex Forum in Mexico City but was denied because they did not select “male” or “female” on their application. Jackson ruled that the State Department cannot deny a passport to a person who declines to select either “male” or “female” as their gender in their passport application.

References

External links

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R. Brooke Jackson
District of Colorado {{DEFAULTSORT:Jackson, R. Brooke 1947 births Living people 21st-century American judges Colorado state court judges Dartmouth College alumni Harvard Law School alumni Judges of the United States District Court for the District of Colorado People from Bozeman, Montana United States district court judges appointed by Barack Obama