Kappa Journal Post-Conclave Issue (Fall 2017)

KAPPA NEWS: LAW AND SOCIAL JUSTICE

The Honorable Raymond A. Jackson, U.S. District Judge for the Eastern District of Virginia

T he Honorable Raymond A. State University, he earned a Bachelor of Arts Degree, cum laude, in Politi- cal Science and was commissioned an officer in the United States Army, at age 20. At the University of Virginia School of Law, he earned the Juris Doctorate degree and was licensed as an attorney in Virginia. Judge Jackson's career has been dedicat- ed to public service. As a captain in the Judge Advocate General's Corps of the United States Army, he served as Chief Defense Counsel at Fort Bragg, North Carolina, representing soldiers in over 300 courts-martial. During his service at the United States Army Training and Doctrine Command (TRADOC), Fort Monroe, Virginia, he served as both Chief Defense counsel with administrative responsibility for defense counsel at sixteen military installations and head of the Criminal Law Division. After several years in the United States Army Reserve, Judge Jackson was promoted to Colonel and later retired. For sixteen years, Judge Jackson was an Assistant United States Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia. As Execu- tive Assistant United States Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia for six years, he managed the United States Attorney’s office in the South Hampton Roads and Peninsula regions. Jackson (Epsilon Zeta 1968) is a native of Sussex County, Vir- ginia. While attending Norfolk Other duties included service as Chief of the office’s Criminal Division in which he prosecuted and supervised a wide variety of criminal cases. Addition- ally, Judge Jackson worked as Chief of the Civil Division in which he litigated cases and supervised attorneys in repre-

senting the United States in a variety of civil law suits.

In November 1993, President Clinton appointed Judge Jackson to the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia. Of the thousands of lawyers, the United States Congress and Presidents have appointed as United States District Judges, Judge Jackson was the 7 6th African American to be ap- pointed. Judge Jackson has a record of providing legal instruction to students, lawyers and judges. He is an instructor and men- tor judge for newly appointed federal judges. For nearly ten years, he was an adjunct faculty member at the William and Mary School of Law in Williamsburg, Virginia. Additionally, he has taught at the At- torney General's Advocacy Institute in Washington, D. C. and other continuing legal education seminars. During his tenure as a United States District Judge, he has adjudicated hun- dreds of cases and issued a wide variety of legal opinions. His most recent case of significant precedent includes United States v. Kimbrough (2007) in which the United States Supreme Court affirmed his ruling that the Court could consider the unwarranted and harsher disparity in penalty for crack cocaine offenses com- pared to cocaine offenses in deciding that a lower sentence for a defendant charged with a crack cocaine offense was proper. As a member of the Virginia State Bar, Judge Jackson served on the governing body of the Virginia State Bar, Virginia State Bar Council, the Executive Com- mittee, and as Chairman of the Standing Committee on Lawyer Discipline. He is a past president of the Old Dominion

Bar Association, a statewide bar associa- tion. From 2000-2002, he also served as President of the Anson-Hoffman Chapter of the American Inns of Court, a national organization composed of judges, lawyers, law students and law professors organized to promote profes- sionalism, ethics, and civility in the legal profession. His extensive memberships include the Judicial Conference for the United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit; the United States District Judg- es Association, the Virginia Law Founda- tion, the Maritime Law Association, the Norfolk-Portsmouth Bar Association, the South Hampton Roads Bar Associa- tion, and Sire Archon (President) Sigma Pi Phi Fraternity. As a life member of Kappa Alpha Psi Fraternity, he was the Polemarch (President) of the Norfolk Alumni Chapter. He is a recipient of numerous awards and honors. Judge Jackson is married to the Honor- able Gwendolyn Jones Jackson, a Judge in the Norfolk General District Court. They are the parents of two daughters and a son.

Q: What course material prepared you most for a career in the law?

The entire law school curriculum pre- pared me for my legal career. However, I have found the courses on federal civil

184 |  FALL 2017  THE JOURNAL

Publishing achievement for more than 100 years

Made with FlippingBook Online newsletter