Jerry W. Blackwell

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Jerry Blackwell
(Jerry W. Blackwell).jpg
Personal details
Born
Jerry Wayne Blackwell

1962 (age 60–61)
Mooresville, North Carolina, U.S.
EducationUniversity of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (BS, JD)

Jerry Wayne Blackwell (born 1962)[1] is an American lawyer who is the nominee to serve as a judge of the United States District Court for the District of Minnesota.

Education

Blackwell earned a Bachelor of Science from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in 1984 and a Juris Doctor from the University of North Carolina School of Law in 1987.[1][2]

Career

Blackwell worked as a partner at Robins Kaplan LLP in Minneapolis from 1987 to 1996 and Nilan Johnson Lewis from 1996 to 2000. From 2000 to 2006, he was a partner at Blackwell Igbanugo in Edina, Minnesota.[3] The firm was one of the largest Black-owned law firms in the country.[4] In 2006, he co-founded Blackwell Burke.[5]

Notable cases

  • In 2020, Blackwell obtained a posthumous pardon of Max Mason, a Black man who was falsely convicted and executed in Duluth, Minnesota, for the claimed rape of a White woman in 1920.[9]
  • Blackwell was a special assistant state attorney general for the prosecution team during the trial of Derek Chauvin.[10][11] Blackwell served pro bono and delivered the opening statement and closing argument for the prosecution.[12] In closing, Blackwell said to the jury "You were told, for example, that Mr. Floyd died because his heart was too big. You heard that testimony. Now having seen all the evidence, having heard all the evidence, you know the truth. And the truth of the matter is – that the reason George Floyd is dead is because Mr. Chauvin’s heart was too small."[13]

Nomination to district court

On June 15, 2022, President Joe Biden nominated Blackwell to serve as a judge of the United States District Court for the District of Minnesota in the seat vacated by Judge Susan Richard Nelson, who assumed senior status on December 31, 2021.[14] On July 27, 2022, a hearing on his nomination was held before the Senate Judiciary Committee.[15] On September 15, 2022, his nomination was reported out of committee by a 13–8 vote, with 1 senator passed on the vote of his nomination.[16][17] His nomination is pending before the United States Senate.

Personal life

Blackwell is an expert beekeeper. He spends some of his free time tending to his beehives on his farm in Jordan, Minnesota.[18]

References

  1. ^ a b "Questionnaire for Judicial Nominees" (PDF). United States Senate Committee on the Judiciary. Retrieved July 26, 2022.
  2. ^ "Jerry W. Blackwell". Retrieved June 15, 2022.
  3. ^ Sam Black, "Disputes lead to split of top black-owned law firm", Minneapolis/St. Paul Business Journal, November 19, 2006.
  4. ^ Wagner, Rose (June 15, 2022). "Seven new judicial nominees put Biden over the 100-pick marker". www.courthousenews.com. Retrieved June 15, 2022.
  5. ^ "President Biden Names Nineteenth Round of Judicial Nominees". The White House. June 15, 2022. Retrieved June 15, 2022.
  6. ^ "Prince: 5 years after his death, how the Purple One lives on". Star Tribune. Retrieved July 19, 2022.
  7. ^ "The Prince 'Purple House' in Chanhassen is leveled". prince.org. Retrieved July 19, 2022.
  8. ^ Voruganti, Harsh (July 18, 2022). "Jerry Blackwell – Nominee to the U.S. District Court for the District of Minnesota". The Vetting Room. Retrieved July 19, 2022.
  9. ^ Shropshire, Terry (March 30, 2021). "Who is Jerry Blackwell, the prosecutor in Derek Chauvin's murder trial?". Rolling Out. Retrieved July 19, 2022.
  10. ^ "Biden's Planned Nominee Would Be DC Circuit's First Latino (2)". news.bloomberglaw.com.
  11. ^ "Jerry W. Blackwell, prosecutor in the Derek Chauvin trial, to speak with Jones and Lovelace on Race, Policing, and Activism". Duke University School of Law. Retrieved June 15, 2022.
  12. ^ "Biden nominates prosecutor who helped convict Derek Chauvin to become a federal judge".
  13. ^ "Derek Chauvin's 'heart was too small,' prosecutor says in last word to jury". news.yahoo.com. Retrieved July 19, 2022.
  14. ^ "Nominations Sent to the Senate" (Press release). Washington, D.C.: The White House. June 15, 2022. Public Domain This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain.
  15. ^ "Nominations". Washington, D.C.: United States Senate Committee on the Judiciary. July 26, 2022.
  16. ^ "Results of Executive Business Meeting – September 15, 2022" (PDF). United States Senate Committee on the Judiciary. Retrieved September 15, 2022.
  17. ^ Alder, Madison. "DC, Fifth Circuit Nominees Advanced by Senate Judiciary Panel".
  18. ^ "Meet the prosecutor who helped convict Derek Chauvin". MPR News. Retrieved July 19, 2022.
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