James Davis "Jimmy" Blacklock (born August 28, 1980) is an American attorney and judge currently serving as an associate justice of the

Texas Supreme Court The Supreme Court of Texas (SCOTX) is the court of last resort for civil matters (including juvenile delinquency cases, which are categorized as civil under the Texas Family Code) in the U.S. state of Texas. A different court, the Texas Court of ...

Background

Blacklock was born in

Missouri City, Texas Missouri City is a city in the U.S. state of Texas, within the metropolitan area. The city is mostly in Fort Bend County, with a small portion in Harris County. As of the 2020 census, the city had a population of 74,259, up from 67,3 ...

, where he attended public school throughout his primary education. He graduated from the

University of Texas at Austin The University of Texas at Austin (UT Austin, UT, or Texas) is a public research university in Austin, Texas. It was founded in 1883 and is the oldest institution in the University of Texas System. With 40,916 undergraduate students, 11,07 ...

with a

Bachelor of Arts Bachelor of arts (BA or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts degree course is generally completed in three or four year ...

degree in history. He then went to

Yale Law School Yale Law School (Yale Law or YLS) is the law school of Yale University, a private research university in New Haven, Connecticut. It was established in 1824 and has been ranked as the best law school in the United States by '' U.S. News & Worl ...

and clerked for Judge

Jerry Edwin Smith Jerry Edwin Smith (born November 7, 1946) is an American attorney and jurist serving as a United States circuit judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit. Early life and education Born on November 7, 1946, in Del Rio, ...

of the

United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit The United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit (in case citations, 5th Cir.) is a federal court with appellate jurisdiction over the district courts in the following federal judicial districts: * Eastern District of Louisiana * M ...

Career

After clerking for Judge Smith, Blacklock was appointed to the

Civil Rights Division The U.S. Department of Justice Civil Rights Division is the institution within the federal government responsible for enforcing federal statutes prohibiting discrimination on the basis of race, sex, disability, religion, and national origin. T ...

within the

United States Department of Justice The United States Department of Justice (DOJ), also known as the Justice Department, is a federal executive department of the United States government tasked with the enforcement of federal law and administration of justice in the United Stat ...

by President

George W. Bush George Walker Bush (born July 6, 1946) is an American politician who served as the 43rd president of the United States from 2001 to 2009. A member of the Republican Party, Bush family, and son of the 41st president George H. W. Bush, he ...

. Before his tenure as a judge, Blacklock served as General Counsel to then

Texas Attorney General The Texas attorney general is the chief legal officer
of the

Greg Abbott Gregory Wayne Abbott (born November 13, 1957) is an American politician, attorney, and former jurist serving as the 48th governor of Texas since 2015. A member of the Republican Party, he served as the 50th attorney general of Texas from 2002 ...

and continued to serve Governor Abbott as general counsel until his appointment to the Texas Supreme Court on January 2, 2018.

Electoral history

Blacklock was up for election for the first time on November 6, 2018. He defeated Democratic challenger Steven Kirkland, a district court judge in Harris County (

Houston Houston (; ) is the most populous city in Texas, the most populous city in the Southern United States, the fourth-most populous city in the United States, and the sixth-most populous city in North America, with a population of 2,304,580 i ...

), with 53.16% of the statewide votes. The statewide turnout in this race was 51.74%.

Notable Cases

In August 2021, Blacklock, writing for the Texas Supreme Court, ruled that the Texas Constitution "authorize each egislativechamber to compel the attendance of absent members, by physical compulsion if necessary." The ruling was in response to Texas House Democrats fleeing the state to deny the chamber the quorum needed to vote on a controversial election bill. In February 2022, Governor Abbott ordered the

Texas Department of Family and Protective Services The Texas Department of Family and Protective Services (DFPS) is responsible for investigating charges of abuse, neglect or exploitation of children, elderly adults and adults with disabilities. Prior to its creation in 2004, the agency had been c ...

(DFPS) to investigate child abuse claims filed against parents who might be providing their transgender children with gender-transition procedures. After the ensuing legal battle, Blacklock wrote for an unanimous Court to strike down a state-wide injunction issued by a federal judge blocking investigation into parents of transgender youths, but he also ruled that the governor did not have the authority to order such investigations. However, Blacklock and two other justices dissented from the Court's decision to block investigation into Doe's family, who had initiated the lawsuit against Abbott.

Personal life

Blacklock lives in Austin with his wife and their three daughters, where they are members of All Saints Presbyterian Church.

References

External links

Campaign website

Biography at Supreme Court of Texas
1980 births Place of birth missing (living people) Living people 21st-century American lawyers 21st-century American judges Federalist Society members George W. Bush administration personnel Texas lawyers Texas Republicans Justices of the Texas Supreme Court United States Department of Justice lawyers University of Texas at Austin College of Liberal Arts alumni Yale Law School alumni {{Texas-state-judge-stub