Biden nominates Jerry Blackwell for federal judge in Minnesota

President Joe Biden on Wednesday nominated Jerry Blackwell to be the next federal judge in Minnesota, elevating the Minneapolis attorney who gained international esteem for his role in the prosecution of former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin for the killing of George Floyd.

Should the longtime corporate lawyer's nomination clear the U.S. Senate, Blackwell will further bolster a long legal resume that includes successfully winning the first pardon for a posthumous applicant in state history. He achieved national recognition in 2021 for his help prosecuting Chauvin, highlighted by Blackwell delivering the state's opening statements and stirring closing rebuttal remarks before a jury found Chauvin guilty.

"Jerry Blackwell is widely respected and loved within the Minnesota legal community," said U.S. Sen. Amy Klobuchar, D-Minn., who helped convene the selection committee that eventually recommended Blackwell. "His extensive trial experience — including the successful prosecution of the murder of George Floyd — makes him an excellent choice to be a U.S. District Court Judge. As a member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, I look forward to working with my colleagues on both sides of the aisle to confirm him."

Blackwell would become the second Minnesota federal judge appointed by Biden. The Senate confirmed Biden's first nominee, Kate Menendez, last year.

Biden nominated Blackwell to fill an opening created after Judge Susan Richard Nelson assumed senior judge status.

Blackwell is a founding partner of the Blackwell Burke firm in Minneapolis, and his career has largely been spent in private practice. He has been at his firm since 2006 and received his juris doctorate from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in 1987. He has not previously served as a judge.

Before joining the Chauvin prosecution, Blackwell helped secure the state's first posthumous pardon in the case of Max Mason, a Black circus worker convicted by an all-white jury of raping a white woman in Duluth in 1920 despite no evidence of a crime.

"He's brilliant, thoughtful and fair, not to mention a pioneer among African American attorneys," Ellison said in a statement. "It's hard to imagine how anyone could be better qualified for the federal bench."

In an interview with TheGrio on Tuesday, the Rev. Al Sharpton called Biden's decision to nominate Blackwell a "good choice." Sharpton said that he and his National Action Network worked with Blackwell during the Chauvin trial.

Blackwell is the founder of the Minnesota Association of Black Lawyers and the Twin Cities Committee on Minority Lawyers in Large Law Firms.

U.S. Sen. Tina Smith, D-Minn., joined Klobuchar in convening the committee that recommended Blackwell and two other undisclosed candidates.