PRESIDENT APPOINTED, FEDERAL JUDGE, Retired
US DISTRICT COURT, WASHINGTON, DC
US NAVY, 1958-1961


The Honorable Thomas Penfield Jackson, an outspoken federal judge who sent D.C. Mayor Marion S. Barry to prison, and who declared Microsoft a "monopoly" that needed to be broken apart, died June 15 at his home in the Compton community of St. Mary's County. He was 76. He had cancer, said his wife, Pat Jackson.

A native Washingtonian, he ruled on many high-profile cases during his 22 years on the bench, and became known for his blunt assessments of the lawyers, jurors and defendants who came before him.

The Microsoft trial was called the most important antitrust case before a U.S. court since the Standard Oil breakup of 1911. The landmark case stretched 18 months, from 1998 to 2000, when Judge Jackson ultimately issued his ruling that Microsoft used monopolistic power to violate three antitrust provisions.

Judge Jackson had presided over the perjury trial of Michael K. Deaver, a onetime top aide to President Ronald Reagan. (Reagan appointed Judge Jackson to the federal judiciary in 1982.)

Deaver was convicted of a felony, but Judge Jackson sentenced him to three years of probation — without jail time — and a $100,000 fine.

Thomas Penfield Jackson was born Jan. 10, 1937, in Washington and grew up in Kensington. His father, Thomas Searing Jackson, was a well-known lawyer.

Judge Jackson graduated in 1954 from Bethesda-Chevy Chase High School, where he played on the football team and was editor of the school newspaper.

He was a 1958 graduate of Dartmouth College, then served in the Navy on a destroyer. After graduating from Harvard Law School in 1964, he joined his father's Washington law firm, Jackson & Campbell, which specialized in medical malpractice cases.

In 1976, Judge Jackson won a $2.5 million settlement in a negligence case against a hospital after a baby suffered serious neurological damage at birth. It was the District's first verdict in a medical lawsuit for more than $1 million.

Judge Jackson was a lawyer for President Richard Nixon's 1972 reelection committee.

Among his notable cases, Judge Jackson ruled that Oregon Sen. Robert W. Packwood (R) had to give up his personal diaries to a congressional panel during an ethics probe. Packwood later resigned.

In 1997, Judge Jackson struck down a law allowing presidents the power to veto line items in spending and tax bills, ruling that it violated the constitutional clause on separation of powers.

In one of his final rulings before his retirement in 2004, Judge Jackson ordered a North Carolina farmer, Dwight W. Watson, freed after 16 months in jail. Watson had driven his tractor onto the Mall to draw attention to the plight of farmers.

Judge Jackson's marriages to the former Jean Fitzgerald and Carolyn Gardiner ended in divorce.

Survivors include his wife of 21 years, Patricia King Jackson of Washington and St. Mary's County; two daughters from his first marriage, Leila Kochis of Laguna Hills, Calif., and Austin, and Sarah Jackson-Han of Chevy Chase; a brother, Jeffrey Jackson of Bethany Beach, Del.; and three granddaughters.

(Associated Press) The Washington Post
http://www.washingtonpost.com/local/obituaries/thomas-penfield-jackson-federal-judge-dies-at-76/2013/06/15/0c79ae6e-d5df-11e2-b05f-3ea3f0e7bb5a_story_1.html

PRESIDENT APPOINTED, FEDERAL JUDGE, Retired
US DISTRICT COURT, WASHINGTON, DC
US NAVY, 1958-1961


The Honorable Thomas Penfield Jackson, an outspoken federal judge who sent D.C. Mayor Marion S. Barry to prison, and who declared Microsoft a "monopoly" that needed to be broken apart, died June 15 at his home in the Compton community of St. Mary's County. He was 76. He had cancer, said his wife, Pat Jackson.

A native Washingtonian, he ruled on many high-profile cases during his 22 years on the bench, and became known for his blunt assessments of the lawyers, jurors and defendants who came before him.

The Microsoft trial was called the most important antitrust case before a U.S. court since the Standard Oil breakup of 1911. The landmark case stretched 18 months, from 1998 to 2000, when Judge Jackson ultimately issued his ruling that Microsoft used monopolistic power to violate three antitrust provisions.

Judge Jackson had presided over the perjury trial of Michael K. Deaver, a onetime top aide to President Ronald Reagan. (Reagan appointed Judge Jackson to the federal judiciary in 1982.)

Deaver was convicted of a felony, but Judge Jackson sentenced him to three years of probation — without jail time — and a $100,000 fine.

Thomas Penfield Jackson was born Jan. 10, 1937, in Washington and grew up in Kensington. His father, Thomas Searing Jackson, was a well-known lawyer.

Judge Jackson graduated in 1954 from Bethesda-Chevy Chase High School, where he played on the football team and was editor of the school newspaper.

He was a 1958 graduate of Dartmouth College, then served in the Navy on a destroyer. After graduating from Harvard Law School in 1964, he joined his father's Washington law firm, Jackson & Campbell, which specialized in medical malpractice cases.

In 1976, Judge Jackson won a $2.5 million settlement in a negligence case against a hospital after a baby suffered serious neurological damage at birth. It was the District's first verdict in a medical lawsuit for more than $1 million.

Judge Jackson was a lawyer for President Richard Nixon's 1972 reelection committee.

Among his notable cases, Judge Jackson ruled that Oregon Sen. Robert W. Packwood (R) had to give up his personal diaries to a congressional panel during an ethics probe. Packwood later resigned.

In 1997, Judge Jackson struck down a law allowing presidents the power to veto line items in spending and tax bills, ruling that it violated the constitutional clause on separation of powers.

In one of his final rulings before his retirement in 2004, Judge Jackson ordered a North Carolina farmer, Dwight W. Watson, freed after 16 months in jail. Watson had driven his tractor onto the Mall to draw attention to the plight of farmers.

Judge Jackson's marriages to the former Jean Fitzgerald and Carolyn Gardiner ended in divorce.

Survivors include his wife of 21 years, Patricia King Jackson of Washington and St. Mary's County; two daughters from his first marriage, Leila Kochis of Laguna Hills, Calif., and Austin, and Sarah Jackson-Han of Chevy Chase; a brother, Jeffrey Jackson of Bethany Beach, Del.; and three granddaughters.

(Associated Press) The Washington Post
http://www.washingtonpost.com/local/obituaries/thomas-penfield-jackson-federal-judge-dies-at-76/2013/06/15/0c79ae6e-d5df-11e2-b05f-3ea3f0e7bb5a_story_1.html