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Jessica Peck first walked through the Independence Institute's front doors in 2001 and has proudly never looked back. While a busy law practice and two energetic kids keep her away too often these days, she remains committed to furthering the Institute's free market message whenever and wherever possible. You can email her at Jessica@JessicaCorry.com or visit her Web site at www.JessicaCorry.com.
Highlighted as one of Colorado's most influential women by the Denver Examiner and named one of Colorado's top political "Movers and Shakers" by the Colorado Statesman, Jessica's media highlights include the Wall Street Journal, the Times of London, Washington Post, Rolling Stone, NPR, MTV's "Choose or Lose" series, MSNBC, and FOX News, in addition to many others. In 2010, she has been lauded by 5280 magazine for her "eloquently fierce intelligence," and by Westword as a "PR force to be reckoned with." She was named March 2010's "Freedom Fighter of the Month" by High Times magazine for her role in creating a national movement of conservative mothers dedicated to ending marijuana prohibition, and in late 2009, she was nominated by the Atlantic's Andrew Sullivan for the Yglesias Award, a national honor given annually to "writers, politicians, columnists or pundits who actually criticize their own side . . . . and generally risk something for the sake of saying what they believe."
Over the last decade, Jessica has emerged as a leading policy expert on a diversity of land use issues, including extraterritorial condemnation. Through her role as director of the Institute's Property Rights Project, she has written multiple nationally cited publications including, "At the Crossroads of Condemnation: The Debate Over the Use of Eminent Domain For Private Development & Open Space," "Tower Tussle: The Colorado Battle Over Extraterritorial Condemnation," and "From New London to Telluride and Beyond: Legal Developments Surrounding Eminent domain in Colorado from 2004-2009." She previously served as a board member for Colorado Citizens For Property Rights, and has helped champion state legislative changes designed to strengthen the rights of property owners facing condemnation disputes. She has addressed a multitude of national and international audiences on various legal issues, including the American Dream Coalition, the Libertarian National Convention, the Latino Congresso, and the Bundastag in Berlin, Germany.
In 2003, Jessica began serving as the founding director of the Institute's Campus Accountability Project, a campus watch dog effort devoted to exposing censorship, fiscal waste, mission creep, and discrimination on Colorado's college campuses. In April 2010, she was awarded the prestigious Robert Novak Fellowship by the Phillips Foundation, an award under which she is currently completing her first full-length book, tentatively titled Victim Nation, a work she hopes will serve as a wakeup to her fellow parents about America's ailing higher education system.
Today, Jessica also serves as special counsel to Hoban & Feola, Attorneys at Law, LLC, where her practice interests include land use law, including eminent domain and zoning; election/campaign finance law; constitutional law; medical marijuana law, regulatory issues; and governmental affairs.
Jessica holds a Juris Doctor from the University of Denver's Sturm College of Law, where she was awarded a full-tuition scholarship for her demonstrated commitment to public interest law. In addition, she studied international law, including international commercial arbitration and European Union law, at the University of the Netherlands Antilles in Curacao. She holds a Master's Degree with honors in Government from the Johns Hopkins University, where she served as commentary editor for The Johns Hopkins Journal of American Politics, and a Journalism degree with honors from the University of Colorado.
Jessica began her career as a press secretary in the U.S. Senate, working for Senators Fred Thompson, R-Tenn., and Olympia Snowe, R-Maine, and for the U.S. Senate Governmental Affairs Committee. As an undergraduate, she served in CU's Athletic Media Relations department, where she crafted media strategy and oversaw game day press conference management. She also held freelance and internship positions with major media networks, including CNN, ESPN, and PBS, in addition to National Journal's CongressDaily and numerous Colorado newspapers. Previous national fellowships include those hosted by Georgetown University's Institute on Political Journalism, the Washington Center for Politics & Journalism, and Gannett's Pulliam Fellowship.
Jessica is still actively engaged in the media as a political analyst, writing a featured column for the Colorado Springs Gazette, as well as blogs for the Huffington Post and Human Events. From 2007 to 2009, she wrote for The Denver Post's PoliticsWest.com. During 2008's Democratic National Convention, she provided daily political analysis for NBC's Denver affiliate. She can frequently be seen on FOX's "Fox Box," a weekly political comedy series, and on Colorado Public Television's "Devils Advocate with Jon Caldara."
