Candice Jackson

Jackson was raised in the Pacific Northwest, where her parents manage their Ashbrook Medical Family Practice in Orchards, Washington, while her father, Dr. Rick "Ricky Lee" Jackson, also performs as a Christian country music singer.{{Cite web |date=2024-10-27 |title=A hometown for ‘General Hospital,’ ‘One Tree Hill’ stars, musicians |url=https://www.columbian.com/news/2010/apr/19/online-bg-celebs/ |access-date=2024-10-27 |website=The Columbian |language=en-US}} In 1995, she appeared in the TV pilot of Fox's Medicine Ball.{{cite news|last1=Albright|first1=Mary Ann|title=Battle Ground doctor, father of 'General Hospital' actor and Enation band mates, returns to the spotlight|url=http://www.columbian.com/news/2010/apr/19/ricky-lee-jackson/|access-date=14 July 2017|work=The Columbian|date=19 April 2010|language=en}} That year, she interned for Congresswoman Linda Smith. In 1996, when she was a junior, Jackson transferred from a Los Angeles community college to Stanford University, where she wrote for a conservative student publication founded by Peter Thiel, The Stanford Review, as a critic of affirmative action and feminism.{{Cite news|url=https://www.propublica.org/article/devos-candice-jackson-civil-rights-office-education-department|title=DeVos Pick to Head Civil Rights Office Once Said She Faced Discrimination for Being White|last=Waldman|first=Annie|date=2017-04-14|work=ProPublica|access-date=2017-04-28|language=en}} In 1998 she managed her father's unsuccessful run for Congress. She worked for statehouse Senator Joseph Zarelli in 1998 and 1999. Jackson graduated from Pepperdine University School of Law in 2002. She then worked for Judicial Watch.

In April 2004, she wrote in Reason Magazine that she thought there were too many federal crimes.{{cite news|last1=Anderson|first1=William|last2=Jackson|first2=Candice E.|title=Washington's Biggest Crime Problem|url=https://reason.com/archives/2004/04/01/washingtons-biggest-crime-prob|access-date=14 July 2017|work=Reason|issue=April 2004|language=en}} She served as an editorial assistant on the collected essays of libertarian economist Murray Rothbard during a fellowship at the Ludwig von Mises Institute, and wrote two academic papers appraising his work.{{Cite journal|last=Jackson|first=Candice E.|date=2005|title=Our Unethical Constitution|journal=The Journal of Ayn Rand Studies|volume=6|issue=2|pages=405–444|issn=1526-1018|jstor=41560289}}

She authored the 2005 book Their Lives: The Women Targeted by the Clinton Machine, concerning the biographies of Paula Jones, Gennifer Flowers, Kathleen Willey, and Juanita Broaddrick, all of whom reported sexual harassment or abuse by former president Bill Clinton.{{Cite news|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/education/wp/2017/04/02/lawyer-who-highlighted-hillary-clintons-role-in-defending-rape-suspect-tapped-for-civil-rights-post-at-education-department/|title=Lawyer who highlighted Hillary Clinton's role in defending rape suspect tapped for key federal civil rights post|last=Brown|first=Emma|date=April 2, 2017|newspaper=Washington Post|access-date=2017-04-28}} Eric M. Jackson, the book's publisher, was a former colleague of hers on The Stanford Review.{{cite news|last1=Jordan|first1=Phyllis|title=Candice Jackson: In Her Own Words - FutureEd|url=https://www.future-ed.org/work/candice-jackson-in-her-own-words/|access-date=14 July 2017|work=www.future-ed.org|date=10 May 2017}}

In 2015, Roger Stone hired her to produce a video profiling Kathy Shelton, a survivor of a child sexual assault whose assailant was represented in court by Hillary Clinton in the 1970s.{{cite news|url=https://nymag.com/daily/intelligencer/2016/10/how-trump-decided-to-make-clinton-accusers-a-campaign-issue.html|title=How Donald Trump Decided to Make Bill Clinton's Accusers a Campaign Issue|last=Sherman|first=Gabriel|work=Daily Intelligencer|access-date=2017-04-28|language=en}} She has labeled the women who have accused Trump of sexual assault of being "fake victims".

Jackson coordinated the appearance of several of the women who have accused Bill Clinton of sexual assault in a press conference before the October 9, 2016, presidential debate between Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton.{{Cite news|url=https://www.politico.com/magazine/story/2016/11/donald-trump-wins-2016-214438/|title=Inside Trump's Stunning Upset Victory|date=November 9, 2016|work=POLITICO Magazine|access-date=2017-04-28}}

In April 2017, Betsy DeVos, President Donald Trump's new United States Secretary of Education, named Jackson Deputy Assistant Secretary in the Department's Office for Civil Rights, where she acted as Assistant Secretary while that higher, Senate-confirmed appointment was vacant.{{cite news|last1=Green|first1=Erica L.|title=2 Education Dept. Picks Raise Fears on Civil Rights Enforcement|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2017/04/04/us/politics/carlos-muniz-candace-jackson-education.html|access-date=14 July 2017|work=The New York Times|date=5 April 2017|page=A11}}

In June 2017, Jackson issued a memo that reduced investigators' inquiries over systemic issues and stopped requiring regional offices to centrally report complaints on disproportionate minority discipline or campus sexual assault.{{cite news|last1=Green|first1=Erica L.|title=Education Dept. Says It Will Scale Back Civil Rights Investigations|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2017/06/16/us/politics/education-department-civil-rights-betsy-devos.html|access-date=14 July 2017|work=The New York Times|date=17 June 2017|page=A19}}

Jackson has been critical of the prior administration's attempts to address rape culture on college campuses.{{cite news|last1=Green|first1=Erica L.|last2=Stolberg|first2=Sheryl Gay|title=Campus Rape Policies Get a New Look as the Accused Get DeVos's Ear|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2017/07/12/us/politics/campus-rape-betsy-devos-title-iv-education-trump-candice-jackson.html|access-date=14 July 2017|work=The New York Times|date=13 July 2017|page=A1}} She has said those accused of rape on college campuses have not been treated fairly. On July 13, 2017, Jackson arranged for DeVos to meet students accused of sexual assault, in addition to those who say they were assaulted, and professional advocates for both groups.

In July 2017, Jackson said in an interview that alcohol or the end of relationships are the cause of "90%" of campus sexual-assault claims leading to Title IX investigations. The comment prompted the Washington Post editorial board to call for Jackson's resignation, saying that she had promoted sexual-assault myths and that "someone who doesn't think sexual assault on campus is a real problem in the first place is not qualified to do that sorting."{{cite news|title=Myths about sexual assault on campus from the Department of Education|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/myths-about-sexual-assault-on-campus-from-the-department-of-education/2017/07/14/6c0e5b4e-6808-11e7-8eb5-cbccc2e7bfbf_story.html|newspaper=The Washington Post|date=14 July 2017}} Following an outcry, Jackson apologized, called her comment "flippant" and stating that "All sexual harassment and sexual assault must be taken seriously."Fernanda Zamudio-Suaréz, [http://www.chronicle.com/blogs/ticker/civil-rights-official-says-sexual-assault-policies-ignore-rights-of-the-accused/119310 Civil-Rights Official Apologizes for Saying 90% of Campus Rape Cases Stem From Regret], Chronicle of Higher Education (July 12, 2017).

Jackson is a lesbian and as of 2017 had been married to her wife for over a decade; she is a mother of twins.{{cite news|last1=Green|first1=Erica L.|title=Some Hires by Betsy DeVos Are a Stark Departure From Her Reputation|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2017/06/02/us/politics/betsy-devos-education-secretary-hiring-diversity.html|access-date=14 July 2017|work=The New York Times|date=3 June 2017|page=A12}} She has praised President Trump for his stances on gay rights as the "first Republican nominee in history to be openly inclusive of the LGBT community. Trump is expanding this party."{{cite web|title=Tweet|url=https://twitter.com/CEJacksonLaw/status/821884567426658306|website=Twitter|access-date=29 July 2017}}{{cite web|title=Tweet|url=https://twitter.com/CEJacksonLaw/status/794050626032308226|website=Twitter|access-date=29 July 2017}}

Her brothers, Jonathan and Richard Lee Jackson, are in a band called Enation, while Jonathan also appears as Lucky Spencer on General Hospital. She had her own private law practice in Vancouver, Washington. Jackson is a sexual assault survivor.

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Category:1978 births

Category:Living people

Category:People from San Bernardino County, California

Category:United States Department of Education officials

Category:21st-century American lawyers

Category:Stanford University alumni

Category:Pepperdine University School of Law alumni

Category:American LGBTQ lawyers

Category:LGBTQ appointed officials in the United States

Category:LGBTQ people from Washington (state)

Category:American lesbians

Category:21st-century American LGBTQ people