Jeff Brown (judge)
Jeff Brown | |
---|---|
Judge of the United States District Court for the Southern District of Texas | |
Assumed office September 4, 2019 | |
Appointed by | Donald Trump |
Preceded by | Melinda Harmon |
Justice of the Supreme Court of Texas, Place 6 | |
In office October 3, 2013 – September 4, 2019 | |
Appointed by | Rick Perry |
Preceded by | Nathan Hecht |
Succeeded by | Jane Bland |
Justice of the Texas Court of Appeals for the 14th District | |
In office 2007 – October 3, 2013 | |
Judge of the 55th Texas District Court in Harris County | |
In office 2001–2007 | |
Personal details | |
Born | Dallas, Texas, U.S. | March 27, 1970
Political party | Republican |
Spouse | Susannah Brown |
Children | 3 |
Residence | Galveston, Texas |
Alma mater | University of Texas University of Houston Law Center |
Occupation | Attorney; Judge |
Jeffrey Vincent Brown (born March 27, 1970) is a District Judge for the United States District Court for the Southern District of Texas and former Associate Justice of the Texas Supreme Court.
Early life and education
Brown's father was a police officer. He became an Eagle Scout at age 16.[1] 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 law degree with high honors from the University of Houston Law Center, at which he served as one of the editors of the Houston Law Review. He served as a law clerk to Texas Supreme Court Justices Jack Hightower and Greg Abbott, the subsequent governor of Texas.[2] He became certified in civil trial law and practiced with the Houston firm of Baker Botts L.L.P.[3]
Judicial career
From 2007 to 2013, he was a justice on Houston's 14th Court of Appeals. Prior to that, he was the judge of the 55th Texas State District Court.
Brown ran unsuccessfully for the Place 3 position on the Texas Supreme Court in the 2010 Republican primary. He finished in fifth place with 188,238 votes (16.8 percent).[4]
Brown ran in a 2014 special election in order to keep his position on the Texas Supreme Court.[3] In the Republican primary election held on March 4, 2014, 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).[5]
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.[6][7]
Brown 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).[8]
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 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.[9] On March 11, 2019, President Trump nominated Brown to the seat vacated by Judge Melinda Harmon, who took senior status on March 31, 2018.[10] On April 10, 2019, a hearing on his nomination was held before the Senate Judiciary Committee.[11] On May 9, 2019, his nomination was reported out of committee by a party-line 12–10 vote.[12] On July 30, 2019, the Senate voted 51–37 to invoke cloture on his nomination.[13] On July 31, 2019, his nomination was confirmed by a vote of 50–40.[14] He received his judicial commission on September 4, 2019. He was sworn into office on September 11, 2019.[15]
Personal life
Brown and his wife, Susannah, a former schoolteacher, have three children. They reside in Galveston.
In 2016, he was awarded the Outstanding Eagle Scout Award by the National Eagle Scout Association.[1]
References
- ^ a b "About Jeff". Justice Jeff Brown campaign website. Retrieved 11 January 2014.
- ^ "Gov. Perry Appoints Brown to Supreme Court of Texas". Office of the Governor Rick Perry. September 26, 2013. Retrieved 11 January 2014.
- ^ a b "Justice Jeff Brown". The Supreme Court of Texas. Retrieved 11 January 2014.
- ^ "2010 Republican primary election returns". sos.state.tx.us. Retrieved December 7, 2015.
- ^ "Democratic and Republican primary election returns, March 4, 2014". enr.sos.state.tx.us. Archived from the original on March 5, 2014. Retrieved March 5, 2014.
- ^ "General election returns, November 4, 2014". Texas Secretary of State. Archived from the original on November 8, 2006. Retrieved December 16, 2014.
- ^ Ken Herman, "Same guy, different party, loses", Laredo Morning Times, December 16, 2014, p. 4A.
- ^ "Election Returns". Texas Secretary of State. November 6, 2018. Retrieved November 11, 2018.
- ^ "President Donald J. Trump Announces Judicial Nominees". whitehouse.gov. March 8, 2019. Retrieved March 8, 2019. This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain.
- ^ "Ten Nominations Sent to the Senate", White House, March 11, 2019
- ^ United States Senate Committee on the Judiciary: Nominations for April 10, 2019
- ^ Results of Executive Business Meeting – May 9, 2019, Senate Judiciary Committee
- ^ 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), United States Senate, July 30, 2019
- ^ On the Nomination (Confirmation: Jeffrey Vincent Brown, of Texas, to be U.S. District Judge for the Southern District of Texas), United States Senate, July 31, 2019
- ^ "Appointment of United States District Judge Jeffrey V. Brown, Galveston Division". www.txs.uscourts.gov. September 11, 2019. Retrieved September 12, 2019.
External links
- Jeff Brown at the Biographical Directory of Federal Judges, a publication of the Federal Judicial Center.
- Texas Supreme Court Profile
- Campaign website
- 1970 births
- Living people
- 21st-century American judges
- American United Methodists
- Businesspeople from Texas
- Eagle Scouts
- Judges of the United States District Court for the Southern District of Texas
- Outstanding Eagle Scouts
- People from Dallas
- People from Houston
- People from Kyle, Texas
- Texas lawyers
- Texas Republicans
- Texas Supreme Court justices
- United States district court judges appointed by Donald Trump
- University of Texas alumni
- University of Houston Law Center alumni