Jeff Brown (judge)
{{Short description|American judge (born 1970)}}
{{Infobox judge
| name = Jeff Brown
| image = JBrown 3.jpg
| office = Judge of the United States District Court for the Southern District of Texas
| term_start = September 4, 2019
| term_end =
| appointer = Donald Trump
| predecessor = Melinda Harmon
| successor =
| office1 = Justice of the Supreme Court of Texas
| term_start1 = October 3, 2013
| term_end1 = September 4, 2019
| preceded1 = Nathan Hecht
| succeeded1 = Jane Bland
| appointer1 = Rick Perry
| office2 = Associate Justice of the 14th Court of Appeals of Texas
| term_start2 = 2007
| term_end2 = October 3, 2013
| preceded2 =
| succeeded2 =
| office3 = Judge of the 55th District Court of Texas
| term_start3 = 2001
| term_end3 = 2007
| birth_date = {{birth date and age|1970|3|27}}
| birth_place = Dallas, Texas, U.S.
| death_date =
| death_place =
| death_cause =
| resting_place =
| alma_mater = University of Texas (BA)
University of Houston (JD)
| party = Republican
| residence = Galveston, Texas
| spouse = Susannah Brown
| children = 3
| religion =
| footnotes =
}}
Jeffrey Vincent Brown (born March 27, 1970) is a United States district judge for the United States District Court for the Southern District of Texas and a former justice of the Texas Supreme Court. He was appointed to the U.S. District Court by President Donald Trump.
Early life and education
Brown's father was a police officer. In 1988, Brown graduated from Bishop Lynch High School in Dallas, Texas. He earned his bachelor's degree in English from the University of Texas and his Juris Doctor
Judicial career
From 2001 to 2007, Judge Brown served as a judge of the 55th Texas State District Court in Harris County, Texas. Judge Jeff Brown was appointed to the trial court by Governor Rick Perry in December 2001, won an opposed election to that bench in November 2002, and won re-election in 2006.
From 2007 to 2013, he served as a justice on Texas Fourteenth District Court of Appeals. Governor Perry appointed Brown to the Court in 2007, and he won election to the seat in 2008 and 2012. In 2013, Brown became interim Chief Justice of the court. In 2011, Judge Brown was named Appellate Judge of the Year by the Texas Association of Civil Trial & Appellate Specialists.
On September 26, 2013, Governor Perry appointed Brown to the Texas Supreme Court to fill the seat of Nathan Hecht, who was elevated to chief justice. Brown was elected to the Court on November 4, 2014, and re-elected on November 6, 2018.
In the 2014 Republican primary election, Brown defeated an intraparty challenge from Joe Richard Pool Jr., son of the late U.S. Representative Joe R. Pool, who in the 1960s held Texas' 3rd congressional district seat. Brown received 820,582 votes (71.9 percent) to Pool's 320,558 (28.1 percent).{{cite web|url=https://team1.sos.state.tx.us/enr/results/mar04_169_state.htm?x=0&y=218&id=176 |title=Democratic and Republican primary election returns, March 4, 2014 |publisher=enr.sos.state.tx.us |access-date=March 5, 2014 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://archive.today/20140305180619/https://team1.sos.state.tx.us/enr/results/mar04_169_state.htm?x=0&y=218&id=176 |archive-date=March 5, 2014 }} In the November 4, 2014, general election, Brown defeated the Republican-turned-Democrat Lawrence E. Meyers. Brown polled 2,772,056 votes (60.3 percent) to Meyers's 1,677,341 (36.5 percent). Another 146,511 votes (3.2 percent) went to the Libertarian Party nominee, Mark Ash.{{cite web|url=http://elections.sos.state.tx.us/elchist.exe |title=General election returns, November 4, 2014 |publisher=Texas Secretary of State |access-date=December 16, 2014 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20061108172637/http://elections.sos.state.tx.us/elchist.exe |archive-date=November 8, 2006 }}Ken Herman, "Same guy, different party, loses", Laredo Morning Times, December 16, 2014, p. 4A.
Brown again won election to a full term on the Texas Supreme Court in 2018. With 4,388,052 votes (53.7 percent), he defeated Democrat Kathy Cheng, who polled 3,777,468 (46.3 percent).{{cite web|url=https://enrpages.sos.state.tx.us/public/nov06_331_state.htm?x=0&y=0&id=545|title=Election Returns|date=November 6, 2018|publisher=Texas Secretary of State|access-date=November 11, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181110200011/https://enrpages.sos.state.tx.us/public/nov06_331_state.htm?x=0&y=0&id=545|archive-date=November 10, 2018|url-status=dead}}
His service on the Texas Supreme Court ended on September 4, 2019, when he was commissioned as a federal district judge.
= Federal judicial service =
On March 8, 2019, President Donald Trump announced his intent to nominate Brown to serve as a United States district judge of the United States District Court for the Southern District of Texas.{{cite web |url=https://trumpwhitehouse.archives.gov/presidential-actions/president-donald-j-trump-announces-judicial-nominees/ |title=President Donald J. Trump Announces Judicial Nominees|date=March 8, 2019|via=National Archives|work=whitehouse.gov|access-date=March 8, 2019 }} {{PD-notice}} On March 11, 2019, President Trump nominated Brown to the seat vacated by Judge Melinda Harmon, who assumed senior status on March 31, 2018.[https://trumpwhitehouse.archives.gov/presidential-actions/ten-nominations-sent-senate-2/ "Ten Nominations Sent to the Senate", White House, March 11, 2019] On April 10, 2019, a hearing on his nomination was held before the Senate Judiciary Committee.[https://www.judiciary.senate.gov/meetings/04/10/2019/nominations United States Senate Committee on the Judiciary: Nominations for April 10, 2019] The American Bar Association unanimously rated Brown well qualified for the position.{{Cite web |title=Jeff Brown (Texas) |url=https://ballotpedia.org/Jeff_Brown_(Texas) |access-date=2023-03-24 |website=Ballotpedia |language=en}} On May 9, 2019, his nomination was reported out of committee by a 12–10 vote.{{Cite web|url=https://www.judiciary.senate.gov/imo/media/doc/050919%20Results%20of%20Executive%20Business%20Meeting.pdf|title=Results of Executive Business Meeting – May 9, 2019|publisher=Senate Judiciary Committee}} On July 30, 2019, the United States Senate invoked cloture on his nomination by a 51–37 vote.{{Cite web|url=https://www.senate.gov/legislative/LIS/roll_call_lists/roll_call_vote_cfm.cfm?congress=116&session=1&vote=00243|title=On the Cloture Motion (Motion to Invoke Cloture: Jeffery Vincent Brown, of Texas, to be U.S. District Judge for the Southern District of Texas)|website=United States Senate|date=July 30, 2019}} On July 31, 2019, his nomination was confirmed by a 50–40 vote.{{Cite web|url=https://www.senate.gov/legislative/LIS/roll_call_lists/roll_call_vote_cfm.cfm?congress=116&session=1&vote=00254|title=On the Nomination (Confirmation: Jeffrey Vincent Brown, of Texas, to be U.S. District Judge for the Southern District of Texas)|website=United States Senate|date=July 31, 2019}} He received his judicial commission on September 4, 2019.{{FJC Bio|nid=6840201|inline=yes}} He was sworn into office on September 11, 2019.{{Cite web |url=https://www.txs.uscourts.gov/content/appointment-united-states-district-judge-jeffrey-v-brown-galveston-division |title=Appointment of United States District Judge Jeffrey V. Brown, Galveston Division |date=September 11, 2019 |website=www.txs.uscourts.gov |access-date=September 12, 2019}}
==== Notable rulings ====
In January 2022, Brown enjoined enforcement of a COVID-19 vaccine mandate for federal employees that President Biden's administration had implemented.{{Cite web|last=Durkee|first=Alison|title=Judge Blocks Biden's Federal Employee Vaccine Mandate Nationwide|url=https://www.forbes.com/sites/alisondurkee/2022/01/21/judge-blocks-bidens-federal-employee-vaccine-mandate-nationwide/|access-date=2022-01-21|website=Forbes|language=en}} Noting his belief that people should get vaccinated against COVID-19, Brown explained that the case turned on the question of "whether the President can, with the stroke of a pen and without the input of Congress, require millions of federal employees to undergo a medical procedure as a condition of their employment."{{cite web |title=Feds for Medical Freedom v. Biden (District Court opinion) |url=https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/USCOURTS-txsd-3_21-cv-00356/pdf/USCOURTS-txsd-3_21-cv-00356-0.pdf}} In April 2022, two judges on a three-judge panel of the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit vacated Brown's ruling,{{cite web |title=Feds for Medical Freedom v. Biden (Fifth Circuit opinion)|url=https://s3.documentcloud.org/documents/21580725/feds-for-medical-freedom.pdf}} but in June a majority of active Fifth Circuit judges voted to rehear the cause en banc, thereby vacating the April panel opinion.{{Cite web|url=https://www.ca5.uscourts.gov/opinions/pub/22/22-40043-CV2.pdf|title=5th Circuit Court Vote for a Rehearing En Banc}} In March 2023, the Fifth Circuit, sitting en banc, affirmed Brown's nationwide injunction; Judge Andrew Oldham wrote the opinion for a ten-member majority.{{Cite web |last= |title=5th Circuit Court of Appeals Opinion |url=https://www.ca5.uscourts.gov/opinions/pub/22/22-40043-CV3.pdf }}
In October 2023, in what was the first Voting Rights Act case decided since Allen v Milligan, Brown ruled that a newly adopted map for local elections in Galveston County, Texas, violated § 2 of the VRA by eliminating the county's one majority-minority precinct and thereby making less likely the election of a candidate preferred by a majority of Black and Latino voters.{{cite news |last1=Pilkington |first1=Ed |title=Texas voting map discriminates against Black and Latino residents, judge rules |url=https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2023/oct/13/texas-galveston-county-discrimination-electoral-map-ruling |work=The Guardian |date=13 October 2023}} In November 2023, a unanimous Fifth Circuit panel affirmed Brown's judgment, holding that he had faithfully applied binding circuit precedent. But "the members of th[e] panel agree[d] that th[e] court’s precedent permitting aggregation" of "distinct minority groups like blacks and Hispanics . . . for purposes of vote-dilution claims under Section 2" "should be overturned." The panel "therefore call[ed] for th[e] case to be reheard en banc."{{Cite web |last= |title=5th Circuit Court of Appeals Opinion |url=https://www.ca5.uscourts.gov/opinions/pub/23/23-40582-CV0.pdf }} Later that month, a majority of active Fifth Circuit judges voted to rehear the case en banc.{{Cite web |last= |title=5th Circuit Court of Appeals Opinion |url=https://www.ca5.uscourts.gov/opinions/pub/23/23-40582-CV1.pdf }}
Personal life
Brown and his wife, Susannah, a former schoolteacher, have three children. They reside in Galveston.{{Cite web |title=Judge Brown's Biography |publisher=Southern District of Texas |url=https://www.txs.uscourts.gov/sites/txs/files/JVB%20bio.pdf }}
In 2016, he was awarded the Outstanding Eagle Scout Award by the National Eagle Scout Association.{{cite web|title=About Jeff|url=http://www.justicejeffbrown.com/about-jeff/|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://archive.today/20140111190333/http://www.justicejeffbrown.com/about-jeff/|archive-date=11 January 2014|access-date=11 January 2014|work=Justice Jeff Brown campaign website}}
See also
References
{{reflist|30em}}
External links
- {{FJC Bio|nid=6840201}}
- [https://web.archive.org/web/20131118162816/http://www.supreme.courts.state.tx.us/court/justice_jbrown.asp Texas Supreme Court Profile (archive)]
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Category:American United Methodists
Category:Businesspeople from Texas
Category:Judges of the United States District Court for the Southern District of Texas
Category:Justices of the Supreme Court of Texas
Category:People associated with Baker Botts
Category:People from Kyle, Texas
Category:United States district court judges appointed by Donald Trump