Janis Graham Jack

Jack was born in Los Angeles, California. She received a registered nursing degree from St. Thomas School of Nursing (part of the University of St. Thomas) in 1969, a Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of Baltimore in 1974, and a Juris Doctor from South Texas College of Law in 1981. She was in private practice in Corpus Christi, Texas from 1981 to 1993.

On November 19, 1993, Jack was nominated by President Bill Clinton to a new seat on the United States District Court for the Southern District of Texas created by 104 Stat. 5089. She was confirmed by the United States Senate on March 10, 1994, and received her commission on March 11, 1994. She assumed senior status on June 1, 2011.

In June 2005, Jack threw out about 9,000 suits against US Silica corp.[1]

In 2015, Jack ruled in favor of plaintiffs in a class action suit on behalf of 10,000-plus foster children in care of the State of Texas. With much of her ruling sustained on appeal, Jack continues to supervise the case as late as 2020, holding the State in contempt of court and often expressing “disgust“ at the State of Texas’s failure to care for foster children as well as a grocery store chain would care for produce.[2]

• Janis Graham Jack at the Biographical Directory of Federal Judges, a public domain publication of the Federal Judicial Center.