Washington, DC – Mark Udall and Michael Bennet, U.S. Senators for Colorado, today applauded the nomination of Judge R. Brooke Jackson for the United States District Court for the District of Colorado. Udall and Bennet recommended Jackson for the position after a lengthy and detailed selection process. His nomination now goes before the Senate Judiciary Committee.
“Judge Jackson has a well deserved reputation for being and outstanding state court judge and I’m pleased that President Obama has nominated him to the U.S. District Court for Colorado,” Senator Udall said. “Brooke Jackson is eminently qualified, and he is badly needed on the federal court bench, where we have had vacancies for far too long. I hope that my colleagues on the Judiciary Committee will act quickly on his nomination so he can be seated as soon as possible.”
“In his time as Chief Judge of the First Judicial District of Colorado, Judge Jackson has shown to be a thoughtful jurist, one that I believe will serve Colorado and the country well on the federal bench,” Bennet said. “Brooke’s record and qualifications meet the standard on which nominees should be judged, and he should be confirmed, quickly and without delay.”
Judge R. Brooke Jackson is the Chief Judge of the First Judicial District in Colorado, which covers Jefferson and Gilpin Counties in the Denver area. He was appointed to the bench in 1998, and named Chief Judge in 2003. Judge Jackson received his J.D. in 1972 from Harvard Law School and his A.B. in 1969 from Dartmouth College.
Jackson was one of six potential nominees sent jointly by Udall and Bennet to the Obama Administration to fill two judicial vacancies. The Senators relied on advice of a diverse, bipartisan advisory panel made up primarily of lawyers with federal court experience and co-chaired by former Colorado Supreme Court Justice Rebecca Kourlis, and Hal Haddon, a prominent Colorado lawyer. Other panel members were Joseph Garcia, Dale Harris, Diane King, Michelle Lucero, Raymond Moore, Lori Potter, Dan Reilly and Ken Spann. The panel reviewed 37 applications and interviewed the top 20. The selection system was based on a model endorsed by the American Bar Association and embraced increasingly by Senators from other states around the country. As requested by President Obama, the Senators submitted three names for each vacancy.
