Amarillo criminal defense attorney Jeff Blackburn, a titan of the courtroom and a pillar of the West Texas legal community, has passed away.
Blackburn’s passing was announced via social media on Tuesday night by the lawyer’s family. According to his family, Blackburn passed away after a bout with cancer. “He left with a clear mind, a strong spirit, and fully at peace with himself and the world,” a post from Blackburn’s son read on Tuesday night.
A local legal legend, Blackburn was best known as one of the leading criminal defense lawyers in the Texas Panhandle. However, Blackburn’s work was not confined solely to Northwest Texas; Blackburn founded the Innocence Project of Texas and served as the organization’s chief counsel for many years. For his heroic criminal defense work, Blackburn won numerous awards, including the State Bar of Texas’ Defense Lawyer of the Year Award in 2002-2003.
In addition to his legal work, Blackburn was a noted advocate for citizens’ rights and civil rights. In 2004, Blackburn represented a number of Tulia residents who had been ensnared in a discredited drug sting operation, winning his clients a $5 million settlement. His work on this case led to what was the largest mass pardon in United States history.
In 2016, Blackburn represented clients in a federal lawsuit over the legality of the operations of the Amarillo Municipal Court, which the attorney argued had operated as a defacto debtors’ prison. That same year, Blackburn founded the Amarillo Taxpayers PAC, which successfully defeated five bond items proposed by the Amarillo City Council, which would have raised Amarillo property taxes to historic levels.
Blackburn was a graduate of the University of Houston and had practiced law since 1983. Blackburn was board certified in criminal law by the Texas Board of Legal Specialization. At the time of his passing, Blackburn was practicing law alongside local attorneys Adam Tisdell and Leah Housler, according to a post made to his Facebook page last week. Blackburn was 65 years old.