Amy Berman Jackson
Senior Judge of the United States District Court for the District of Columbia
Assumed office
May 1, 2023
Judge of the United States District Court for the District of Columbia
In office
March 18, 2011 – May 1, 2023
Appointed byBarack Obama
Preceded byGladys Kessler
Succeeded byLoren AliKhan
Personal details
Born
Amy Sauber Berman[1]

(1954-07-22) July 22, 1954
Baltimore, Maryland, U.S.
Spouse
Darryl Jackson
​
​
(m. 1989; div. 2013)​
[2]
Children2, including Matt[2]
EducationHarvard University (AB, JD)

Amy Sauber Berman Jackson (born July 22, 1954) is an American attorney and jurist serving as a senior United States district judge of the United States District Court for the District of Columbia.

Early life and education

Amy Berman was born on July 22, 1954, in Baltimore, Maryland,[3] She is the daughter of Mildred (Sauber) and Barnett Berman, a physician at Johns Hopkins Hospital.[4] She received her A.B. from Harvard College in 1976 and her Juris Doctor from Harvard Law School in 1979.[5]

Career

After graduating from law school, Jackson served as a law clerk to Judge Harrison Lee Winter of the United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit from 1979 to 1980. From 1980 to 1986, she served as an assistant United States attorney for the District of Columbia, where she received Department of Justice Special Achievement Awards for her work on high-profile murder and sexual assault cases in 1985 and 1986. From 1986 to 1994, Jackson was an associate and then a partner at Venable, Baetjer, Howard and Civiletti.[6]

From 2000 until her appointment as a federal judge, Jackson was a member of the law firm Trout Cacheris & Solomon PLLC in Washington, D.C. where she specialized in complex litigation, criminal investigations and defense, criminal trials, civil trials, and appeals. In 2009 Jackson represented nine-term Representative for Louisiana's 2nd congressional district William J. Jefferson in his corruption trial.

Jackson has served as a legal commentator for Fox News, CNN, NBC, and MSNBC.[7][5]

Federal judicial service

On June 17, 2010, President Barack Obama nominated Jackson to fill a seat on the United States District Court for the District of Columbia that was vacated by Judge Gladys Kessler, who assumed senior status in 2007.[6] She was unanimously rated "well qualified" for the post by the American Bar Association's Standing Committee on the Federal Judiciary (the committee's highest rating).[8] Her nomination lapsed at the end of the 111th Congress;[9] Obama renominated her on January 5, 2011, at the beginning of the 112th Congress.[10] The United States Senate confirmed Jackson on March 17, 2011, by a 97–0 vote.[11] She received her commission the next day. She assumed senior status on May 1, 2023.[5]

Selected opinions

Labor law

In Chamber of Commerce v. National Labor Relations Board (2012), Jackson ruled that the National Labor Relations Board had the statutory authority to promulgate a federal regulation requiring the posting of workplace posters informing workers of the right to organize and collectively bargain, but also struck down the portions of the regulation in which the NLRB made a "blanket advance determination that a failure to post [the notice] will always constitute an unfair labor practice" and tolled the statute of limitations in unfair labor practice actions involving a failures to post.[12][13][14] The next year, the D.C. Circuit vacated the NLRB rule, finding that it contravened Section 8(c) of the National Labor Relations Act, the provision protecting most employers' speech.[14]

In 2015, Jackson ruled against a coalition of businesses who challenged an NLRB rule expediting union elections.[15][16]

EPA & Spruce Mine permit

Also in March 2012, Jackson overturned a decision by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) that revoked a permit for the Spruce 1 mine project in Logan County, West Virginia, on the ground that the EPA did not have power under the Clean Water Act to rescind the permit.[17] That ruling was reversed by the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit in April 2013.[18] On September 30, 2014, Jackson ruled in the EPA's favor, allowing its veto of the permit to stand.[19]

Jesse Jackson Jr.

Jackson presided at the August 2013 sentencing of former U.S. Representative Jesse Jackson Jr. and his wife, Sandi Jackson. After accepting guilty pleas to misuse of campaign funds, she sentenced Representative Jackson to 30 months and his wife to 12 months in prison.[20]

Bishop of D.C. v. Sebelius

In December 2013, in the case of Roman Catholic Archbishop of Washington v. Sebelius, Jackson ruled for the Department of Health and Human Services under Secretary Kathleen Sebelius and against the Roman Catholic Diocese of Washington in its constitutional test case challenge to the contraceptive mandate under the Affordable Care Act as applied to the church's District of Columbia employees.[21] The United States Department of Health and Human Services and other agencies made accommodations for religious organizations, under which such organizations did not have to "provide, pay for, or facilitate access to contraception" if they certify their objection to doing so.[21][22] Jackson rejected the archdiocese's argument that the act of "self-certifying" in itself constitutes a substantial burden on the archdiocese's right to freely exercise religion.[22]

Benghazi wrongful death case

In May 2017, Jackson dismissed a wrongful death suit filed against former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton by the parents of two of the Americans killed in the 2012 attack on the American diplomatic compound in Benghazi, Libya, on the basis of the Westfall Act.[23]

Paul Manafort and Rick Gates

In October 2017, Jackson was assigned to preside over the criminal case that Special Counsel Robert Mueller brought against Paul Manafort and Rick Gates as part of his investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 election cycle. She accepted their "not guilty" pleas, granted bail, confiscated their passports, and ordered them held under house arrest. She also warned defense lawyers not to discuss the case outside of court.[24] On June 15, 2018, after the prosecution accused Manafort of attempted witness tampering, Jackson revoked his bail and sent him to jail until his upcoming federal trials.[25] On February 23, 2018, Gates pleaded guilty to one count of false statements and one count of conspiracy against the United States.[26] The plea bargain to which Gates agreed included his cooperation with the Mueller investigation.[27] On September 14, 2018, Manafort pleaded guilty to two counts of conspiracy against the United States and his plea bargain similarly included an agreement to cooperate with Mueller's investigation.[28] But on February 13, 2019, Jackson ruled that Manafort had lied to Mueller's office, to the FBI, and to a grand jury after having pleaded guilty regarding his interactions with Konstantin Kilimnik, a man the FBI believed had ties to Russian intelligence agencies. Jackson ruled that the Special Counsel was no longer bound by the original terms of Manafort's plea, which included the prosecution having committed to advocating a sentence reduction for him.[29] Trump pardoned Manafort on December 23, 2020, the same day he pardoned Roger Stone.[30]

Alex van der Zwaan

On April 3, 2018, Jackson sentenced a former associate of Gates, Dutch attorney Alex van der Zwaan, who practiced in London, to one month in prison and a $20,000 fine.[31] Van der Zwaan had pleaded guilty to a single count of making a false statement to investigators regarding alleged Russian interference in the 2016 United States elections.[32] Upon release he was deported to Holland.[33] In December 2020, Trump pardoned him.[34]

Roger Stone

In January 2019 Jackson was assigned the case of Roger Stone, who had been an informal advisor to 2016 presidential candidate Donald Trump, after a grand jury had indicted Stone on seven counts including making false statements, obstruction of justice, and witness tampering.[35] On February 15, 2019, Jackson imposed a limited gag order on Stone and his attorneys.[36] On February 18, Stone posted an Instagram photo of Jackson.[37] Stone took his post down and apologized, but on February 21, Jackson tightened the terms of his gag order, saying, "From this moment on, the defendant may not speak publicly about this case—period."[38][39] In February 2020, the Department of Justice prosecutors recommended a seven-to-nine-year federal prison sentence for Stone. Trump characterized the recommendation as unfair and "a miscarriage of justice". But the Department of Justice under Attorney General William Barr recommended a shorter sentence, indicating that it should be "far less." Irate, the four lead prosecutors resigned from the case.[40] Trump criticized Jackson's earlier judicial rulings on Twitter.[41] On February 20, 2020, Jackson said before Stone's sentencing: "He was not prosecuted, as some have claimed, for standing up for the president. He was prosecuted for covering up for the president." Jackson denied that Stone was being punished for his politics or his allies.[42] She sentenced him to 40 months in federal prison and a $20,000 fine.[43] Stone's lawyers moved to disqualify Jackson; Jackson denied the motion on the basis of lack of "factual or legal support" for it.[44] Jackson criticized Trump's personal attacks on the Stone jury foreperson after the verdict.[45] Trump tweeted, "There has rarely been a juror so tainted as the forewoman in the Roger Stone case. Look at her background. She never revealed her hatred of 'Trump' and Stone. She was totally biased, as is the judge. Roger wasn't even working on my campaign. Miscarriage of justice. Sad to watch!"[45]

Trump commuted Stone's sentence in July 2020, shortly before Stone was scheduled to report to federal prison. He pardoned Stone on December 23, 2020, four weeks before Joe Biden was sworn in.[30]

Mueller investigation memo

In May 2021, Jackson found that the Justice Department under Barr had inappropriately failed to release a memo by the Special Counsel about alleged obstruction of justice. Her opinion described Barr as having summarized "what he'd hardly had time to skim, much less study closely, [which] prompted an immediate reaction, as politicians and pundits took to their microphones and Twitter feeds to decry what they feared was an attempt to hide the ball."[46] Former U.S. Attorney Joyce Vance believed that Berman could refer Barr for investigation by the Office of Professional Responsibility or to the Justice department's Inspector General, with possibilities of censure, disbarment or prosecution. Either the IG or the OPR could further refer the case to the DOJ's Public Integrity Section, which could initiate an investigation and/or prosecution.[47]

Affiliations

Jackson served on the board of the Washington D.C. Rape Crisis Center and has also been a member of the Parent Steering Committee of the Interdisciplinary Council on Developmental and Learning Disorders.[7]

Personal life

Jackson was married to Darryl W. Jackson, a lawyer and a senior Republican political appointee.[48] He worked in Office of Export Enforcement as Assistant Secretary of Commerce for George W. Bush in 2005 after leaving the Arnold & Porter firm.[49] They have two sons, one of whom is Matt Jackson, who won 13 consecutive games on Jeopardy!, earning $411,612.[50][51] While appearing on the trivia show, he said, "My mom is white, liberal and Jewish, and my dad is black, Christian and conservative."[2][48]

In her spare time, Jackson writes music and sings.[51]

See also

References

  1. ↑ "Questionnaire for Judicial Nominees" (PDF). United States Senate Committee on the Judiciary. September 15, 2010.
  2. 1 2 3 Heil, Emily (October 7, 2015). "Washington 'Jeopardy' contestant Matt Jackson is a pop-culture sensation — and the son of a federal judge". The Washington Post. Retrieved October 8, 2015. The 23 year-old contestant's father is Washington attorney Darryl Jackson, who was a Commerce Department official under former President George W. Bush.
  3. ↑ Martindale-Hubbell Law Directory, Vol. 17 (Martindale-Hubbell, 2001).
  4. ↑ Nawrozki, Joe (February 9, 2004). "Dr. Barnett Berman, 81, internist, Army veteran". Baltimore Sun. Archived from the original on February 19, 2019. Retrieved February 21, 2019.
  5. 1 2 3 Amy Berman Jackson at the Biographical Directory of Federal Judges, a publication of the Federal Judicial Center.
  6. 1 2 "President Obama Names Three to United States District Court, 6/17/10". White House Office of the Press Secretary (Press release). June 17, 2010. Retrieved October 5, 2022.
  7. 1 2 "ATTORNEYS, Amy Berman Jackson". Trout Cacheris PLLC. Archived from the original on February 4, 2010. Retrieved March 28, 2011.
  8. ↑ "RATINGS OF ARTICLE III JUDICIAL NOMINEES: 11TH CONGRESS" (PDF). Standing Committee on the Federal Judiciary. American Bar Association.
  9. ↑ "PN1868 — Amy Berman Jackson — The Judiciary, 111th Congress (2009–2010)". Congress.gov. June 17, 2010.
  10. ↑ "PN26 — Amy Berman Jackson — The Judiciary 112th Congress (2011–2012)". Congress.gov.
  11. ↑ "On the Nomination (Confirmation Amy Berman Jackson, of the District of Columbia, to be U.S. District Judge)". United States Senate.
  12. ↑ "Judge Clears Rule on Union Posters at Work". The New York Times. Associated Press. March 3, 2012. Retrieved October 5, 2022.
  13. ↑ Kevin Bogardus (March 2, 2012). "Judge: NLRB can require employers to display union posters". The Hill.
  14. 1 2 Abigail Rubenstein (August 21, 2013). "Biz Groups Urge DC Circ. Not To Reconsider NLRB Poster Rule". Law360.
  15. ↑ Wiessner, Daniel (July 30, 2015). "Business groups lose challenge to NLRB election rules". Reuters. Retrieved October 5, 2022.
  16. ↑ Chamber of Commerce v. National Labor Relations Bd., 118 F. Supp. 3d 171 (2015).
  17. ↑ Broder, John M. (March 24, 2012). "Court Reverses E.P.A. on Big Mining Project". The New York Times.
  18. ↑ Broder, John M. (April 24, 2013). "Court Backs E.P.A. Veto of Mining Permit". The New York Times.
  19. ↑ Ward, Ken Jr. (September 30, 2014). "EPA wins another round on Spruce Mine veto". The Charleston Gazette. Archived from the original on October 6, 2014. Retrieved October 5, 2022.
  20. ↑ Fuller, Matt (August 14, 2013). "Jesse Jackson Jr. and Wife Sentenced to Jail Time". Roll Call.
  21. 1 2 Zajac, Andrew; Rosenblatt, Joel (December 23, 2013). "Judge Rejects Catholic Church Challenge to Obamacare Birth Control Coverage". Bloomberg. Retrieved October 5, 2022 – via insurancejournal.com.
  22. 1 2 "Roman Catholic Archbishop of Washington v. Sebelius" (PDF). December 20, 2013. Retrieved October 5, 2022. 1:13-cv-01441-ABJ
  23. ↑ DuVall, Eric (May 27, 2017). "Judge dismisses wrongful death suit against Clinton over Benghazi". UPI. Retrieved October 5, 2022.
  24. ↑ Lucas, Ryan (November 2, 2017). "Manafort And Gates To Remain Restricted To Their Homes, Judge Says". NPR. Retrieved November 4, 2017.
  25. ↑ Voreacos, David; Dennis, Steven T.; McLaughlin, David; Harris, Andrew M. (June 15, 2018). "Manafort Heads to Jail After Judge Faults Witness Tampering". Bloomberg.com. Retrieved June 15, 2018.
  26. ↑ Breuninger, Kevin (February 23, 2018). "Former Trump campaign official Rick Gates pleads guilty to lying and conspiracy against the US". CNBC. Retrieved February 23, 2018.
  27. ↑ Confessore, Nicholas; Meier, Barry (June 16, 2017). "How the Russia Investigation Entangled a Manafort Protégé". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved October 30, 2017.
  28. ↑ LaFraniere, Sharon; Vogel, Kenneth (September 14, 2018). "Paul Manafort Agrees to Cooperate With Special Counsel; Pleads Guilty to Reduced Charges". The New York Times. Retrieved September 15, 2018.
  29. ↑ Spencer S. Hsu (February 13, 2019). "Federal judge finds Paul Manafort lied to Mueller probe about contacts with Russian aide". The Washington Post.
  30. 1 2 Kelly, Anita; Lucas, Ryan; Romo, Vanessa (December 23, 2020). "Trump Pardons Roger Stone, Paul Manafort And Charles Kushner". National Public Radio. Retrieved May 9, 2021.
  31. ↑ Tillman, Zoe (April 3, 2018). "A Lawyer Who Admitted Lying To The Special Counsel's Office Was Just Sentenced To One Month In Jail". Buzzfeed. Retrieved May 8, 2021.
  32. ↑ Viswanatha, Aruna; Quentin Wilber, Del (February 20, 2018). "Associate of Gates Pleads Guilty to Lying to Mueller Team". The Wall Street Journal. Retrieved May 8, 2021.
  33. ↑ Polantz, Katelyn; Kopan, Tal (June 5, 2018). "Only person to serve time in Mueller investigation deported". CNN. Retrieved May 8, 2021.
  34. ↑ Haberman, Maggie; Schmidt, Michael S. (December 23, 2020). "Trump Pardons Two Russia Inquiry Figures and Blackwater Guards". The New York Times. Retrieved May 8, 2021.
  35. ↑ Harris, Andrew M.; Kocieniewski, David; Voreacos, David (January 25, 2019). "Trump Associate Roger Stone Arrested in Florida as Part of Special Counsel Probe". Bloomberg. Retrieved January 25, 2019.
  36. ↑ Polantz, Katelyn (February 15, 2019). "Judge puts gag order on Roger Stone and attorneys". CNN. Retrieved February 21, 2019.
  37. ↑ Campbell, Andy (February 18, 2019). "Roger Stone Attacks Judge Presiding Over His Case In Bizarre Instagram Post". Huffington Post. Retrieved February 21, 2019.
  38. ↑ Polantz, Katelyn (February 19, 2019). "Judge calls new hearing on gag order after Roger Stone's inflammatory post". CNN. Retrieved February 21, 2019.
  39. ↑ Re, Gregg (February 21, 2019). "Judge rips into Roger Stone, bars him from speaking publicly on case: 'There will be no third chance'". Fox News. Retrieved February 23, 2019.
  40. ↑ Clark, Dartunorro; Kosnar, Michael; Gregorian, Dareh; Winter, Tom (February 11, 2020). "All four Roger Stone prosecutors resign from case after DOJ backpedals on sentencing recommendation". NBC News. Retrieved October 5, 2022.
  41. ↑ Chiu, Allyson (February 12, 2020). "Trump attacks federal judge, prosecutors in Twitter tirade defending Roger Stone". The Washington Post. Retrieved February 20, 2020.
  42. ↑ O'Donnell, Noreen (February 20, 2020). "'Made of Steel': Judge Amy Berman Jackson Sentences Roger Stone After Trump's Attacks". NBC. Retrieved February 22, 2020.
  43. ↑ Phillips, Kristine; Johnson, Kevin; Wu, Nicholas (February 20, 2020). "Truth still matters': Judge sentences Roger Stone to 40 months in prison for obstructing Congress' Russia investigation". USA Today. Retrieved February 22, 2020.
  44. ↑ Bowden, John (February 23, 2020). "Judge denies Roger Stone's motion to disqualify her". The Hill.
  45. 1 2 Polantz, Katelyn (February 25, 2020). "Judge Amy Berman Jackson criticizes Trump's attacks on Roger Stone juror". CNN. Retrieved May 9, 2021.
  46. ↑ Tucker, Eric (May 4, 2021). "Judge orders Justice Dept. to release Trump obstruction memo". The Washington Post. Associated Press. Retrieved May 5, 2021.
  47. ↑ Vance, Joyce (May 7, 2021). "Judge Amy Berman Jackson's rebuke opens door to DOJ accountability". MSNBC. Retrieved May 11, 2021.
  48. 1 2 Hsu, Spencer S. (March 11, 2019). "Paul Manafort is about to face another sentencing judge: Amy Berman Jackson". Washington Post.
  49. ↑ "Darryl Jackson -- Department of Commerce". On October 7, 2005, the United States Senate confirmed President Bush's nomination of Darryl W. Jackson, of the District of Columbia, to be Assistant Secretary of Commerce for Export Enforcement
  50. ↑ Ellis, Johnathan (October 14, 2015). "'Jeopardy!' mastermind Matt Jackson loses in classiest way possible". Mashable. Retrieved February 20, 2020.
  51. 1 2 LaFraniere, Sharon (February 20, 2020). "Judge in Roger Stone Trial Confronts a High-Pressure Decision". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved February 20, 2020.
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