Robert E. Blackburn

Robert Edward Blackburn (born April 12, 1950) is a Senior United States District Judge of the United States District Court for the District of Colorado.

For the US representative from Kentucky (1929–1931), see Robert E. Lee Blackburn.
Robert E. Blackburn
Senior Judge of the United States District Court for the District of Colorado
Assumed office
April 12, 2016
Judge of the United States District Court for the District of Colorado
In office
March 6, 2002 – April 12, 2016
Appointed byGeorge W. Bush
Preceded byZita Leeson Weinshienk
Succeeded byDaniel D. Domenico
Personal details
Born (1950-04-12) April 12, 1950
Lakewood, Colorado
EducationWestern State College of Colorado (BA)
University of Colorado Law School (JD)

Personal life and education

Blackburn was born in Lakewood, Colorado. He received a Bachelor of Arts degree from Western State College of Colorado in 1972. He received a Juris Doctor from the University of Colorado Law School in 1974. He was in private practice in Las Animas, Colorado, from 1975 to 1980. He was a deputy district attorney of Sixteenth Judicial District Attorney's Office, Colorado from 1980 to 1986. He was a county attorney of Bent County, Colorado, from 1980 to 1988. He was a Municipal judge, Town of Kim, Colorado, from 1985 to 1988. He was a judge on the Sixteenth Judicial District of Colorado from 1988 to 2002.

Federal judicial service

Blackburn was nominated to be a United States District Judge for the United States District Court for the District of Colorado by President George W. Bush on September 10, 2001, to a seat vacated by Zita Leeson Weinshienk. He was confirmed by the United States Senate on February 26, 2002, and received his commission on March 6, 2002. He assumed senior status on April 12, 2016.

Jurisprudence in practice

Individual rights
See also: United States v. Fricosu

Blackburn has argued that the Fifth Amendment protection from individuals being compelled to testifying against themselves does not apply to testimony which is required to decrypt a protected data source in order to provide prosecutors with evidence. He suggests that the convenience of prosecutors in acquiring evidence in this manner overrules the otherwise inalienable right to avoid being "compelled in any criminal case to be a witness against himself". [1] Critics have argued that since the password to an encrypted data source is a part of the defendant's mind, compelled testimony to reveal it is a direct violation of the Fifth Amendment.[2]

References
  1. Judge: Americans can be forced to decrypt their laptops, cnet.com, January 23, 2012, retrieved January 24, 2010
  2. BRIEF OF AMICUS CURIAE ELECTRONIC FRONTIER FOUNDATION IN SUPPORT OF DEFENDANT FRICOSU’S OPPOSITION TO GOVERNMENT’S APPLICATION UNDER THE ALL WRITS ACT REQUIRING DEFENDANT TO ASSIST IN THE EXECUTION OF PREVIOUSLY ISSUED SEARCH WARRANTS (PDF), eff.org, July 8, 2011, retrieved January 24, 2010
Legal offices
Preceded by
Zita Leeson Weinshienk		 Judge of the United States District Court for the District of Colorado
2002–2016		 Succeeded by
Daniel D. Domenico
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