Christine Allen Jackson

My passion for law began when I was very young, growing up in North Carolina. My father was a major in the Air Force, and during the integration of schools, my sister and brother needed to be escorted to school. Officials came to our house to deputize my father, and I watched him put his hand on the Bible and take an oath, saying 'so help me God.' They even gave him a gun to escort my siblings to school. I was left behind with my mother, and I had a million questions for her - why did that happen, why did they give him a gun, why don't they know that Linda and Chucky are good kids and they're gonna behave? I asked why somebody didn't just tell them that they're good kids. My mother said to me, 'why don't you grow up and become a lawyer, and you tell them.' From that moment on, I wanted to be a lawyer. I graduated from University of Maryland School of Law in 1980 and served as an Assistant District Attorney for Philadelphia from 1980 to 1988, then as a supervising attorney for Camden Regional Legal Services from 1988 to 2000. In 2000, I was nominated by the governor and confirmed by the Senate to become a Superior Court judge, which was one of my proudest moments - not only a recognition of my skill level, but an opportunity to make major decisions and continue with the profession at a different level. I sat in family court and special civil parts, but the majority of my time was spent in the criminal division. Throughout my career, it was important to me to stay neutral, to fully and completely explain the law to juries, and to administer justice when required. I was amazed to see how intelligent juries are - 12 people getting together from different walks of life and making determinations. I served as a judge until my retirement in 2023.