In conversation, Jackson works to counter that image, perhaps unintentionally. He's a poor kid from Montana. Played sports. Tried to get into the Army. Worked at a blue-collar job and "liked the guys."
One of his proudest moments, Jackson says, was his 1993 induction into the American College of Trial Lawyers, a group that comprises many of the country's best trial lawyers. You can't just join; you have to be nominated by the members. "They place a huge emphasis on character and integrity," he explains.
Charles Brooks pleaded guilty to sexually assaulting a child.
Charles Brooks pleaded guilty to sexually assaulting a child.
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Jackson is one of the most accessible judges in the Jefferson County courthouse. He's friendly in the hallways and likes interacting with the public. He surprised the people who'd criticized him over the Brooks decision when he called them back and tried to explain his position. "We don't necessarily agree, but at least they know I gave it a lot of thought."
He's still thinking about it. The public's perception is based more on the newspaper's slant than on the facts, he says. He accuses the paper of misleading the public by using the term "rapist" and saying Brooks "raped" the girl when, as he pointed out in his editorial reply, "there was inappropriate behavior and touching."
But the truth of the matter is that while Brooks did not complete the act of sexual intercourse, he was guilty of more than just inappropriate behavior and touching. By his own admission, he'd placed the head of his penis inside the girl's vagina and only then decided he'd better not go any further.
But even some of Jackson's detractors concede that Jackson was trying to look at the long term when he sentenced Charles Brooks -- trying to help him before prison turned him into a more dangerous monster. And he says he's not soft on crime.
The month after the Brooks decision -- before it exploded in the press -- Jackson sentenced a man who had exposed himself to a little girl and offered her money to watch him masturbate to the maximum for the crime: twelve years. There was no touching at all in that case, he points out, but the pre-sentencing report indicated that the man had once raped a young girl and had spent ten years in prison for that crime. By contrast, Brooks had no prior record for sexual assault and held a steady job.
"Maybe I made a mistake," Jackson says, "but despite what I've just been through, I'd make the same decision. If I didn't, what kind of judge could I be?"
