Jessica Peck Corry is a Denver-based attorney, public policy analyst, and political strategist. She has been named a “PR force to be reckoned with” (Westword), one of Colorado’s top political “Movers and Shakers” (Colorado Statesman), and highlighted as one of Colorado’s most influential women (Denver Examiner).
Other recent honors and recognition include the following:
• Named by U.S. Civil Rights Commission to serve on its Colorado Advisory Committee (June 2010).
• “Taking the lead on defending medical marijuana dispensaries,” (Highlands Ranch Herald, June 2010).
• Awarded Robert Novak Fellowship, Phillips Foundation (May 2010), an award under which Jessica is completing a book titled Victim Nation.
• A “heavy hitter” in medical marijuana law (Westword, May 2010).
• Lauded for possessing an “eloquently fierce intelligence” (5280 magazine, March 2010).
• “Freedom Fighter of the Month” High Times magazine (March 2010) for helping lead a national movement of conservative mothers dedicated to ending marijuana prohibition.
• 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” (December 2009).
Jessica’s legal and political efforts have been featured by media across Colorado and around the globe, with highlights including the Wall Street Journal, the Times of London, Washington Post, Rolling Stone, L.A. Times, CNN, USA Today, PBS, NPR, MTV’s “Choose or Lose” series, MSNBC and FOX News. She writes a featured opinion column for the Colorado Springs Gazette and her blog on western political issues was published by The Denver Post’s PoliticsWest.com from 2007 to 2009. In addition, she contributes commentary to a variety of political news sites, including Human Events, the Huffington Post, and FaceTheState.com. During 2008’s Democratic National Convention, she provided daily political analysis for Denver’s NBC affiliate. She frequently appears on FOX’s “Fox Box,” a weekly political comedy series.
Jessica serves as special counsel to Hoban & Feola, a boutique Denver law firm, where her practice interests include land use law, election and campaign finance law, governmental affairs, constitutional law, and public policy. In addition, Jessica serves as president of Triple C Strategies, a Denver political consulting firm she founded in 2006, and as a public policy analyst with the Independence Institute, where she her research interests include higher education, property rights, and popular culture.
Jessica is the author of several nationally cited publications, including “At the Crossroads of Condemnation: The Debate Over the Use of Eminent Domain For Private Development & Open Space.” In 2009, she has authored “An Academic Arms Race: The catastrophic rise of taxpayer-funded salaries at the University of Colorado and its peer institutions,” and “From New London to Telluride and Beyond: Legal Developments Surrounding Eminent domain in Colorado from 2004-2009.”
Jessica frequently addresses national and international audiences. In July 2009, she spoke to the American Council on Germany at the Bundastag in Berlin, where she addressed issues surrounding national and ethnic identity in a global economy. Other recent notable audiences include the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws (NORML),
In addition to her current U.S. Civil Rights Commission post, Jessica has held leadership positions with more than 20 diverse civic organizations. In 2008, she served as executive director of the Colorado Civil Rights Initiative, a statewide campaign organized to abolish race and gender discrimination in public hiring, public contracting, and public education. In 2006, as the Front Range Director of Colorado Citizens For Property Rights, she helped champion legislative changes designed to strengthen the rights of property owners facing condemnation disputes. Jessica serves on the University of Colorado’s Blue Ribbon Diversity Commission, where she is a leading voice for fiscal accountability and transparency.
In recent years, Jessica has become a national leader in the movement to legalize and regulate marijuana. She is the co-founder of “Guarding Our Children Against Marijuana Prohibition,” serves on the board of the NORML National Women’s Alliance, and regularly speaks to Republican and conservative organizations to make the case that prohibition harms our communities far worse than marijuana itself ever could.
At the age of 25, Jessica ran as a Republican for the Colorado Senate, where despite being outspent more than four-to-one, she garnered nearly 47 percent of the vote against a two-term incumbent. Jessica began her career as a press secretary in the United States Senate, working for U.S. Senators Fred Thompson, R-Tenn., and Olympia Snowe, R-Maine, and for the U.S. Senate Governmental Affairs Committee.
Jessica holds a Juris Doctor from the University of Denver’s Sturm College of Law, where she was awarded a full-tuition public interest scholarship, 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. She has studied international law and journalism, including civil rights, international commercial arbitration, and international law, at Charles University in Prague, Czech Republic, and the University of the Netherlands Antilles. The youngest of four children from a single parent family, Jessica worked full-time as a student to fund her undergraduate and graduate studies.
Jessica’s national fellowships include the Pulliam Fellowship at The Indianapolis Star, a Georgetown University political journalism fellowship, and the Washington Center for Politics & Journalism Fellowship. She has 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.
Jessica is the proud parent to two young daughters. She is an avid traveler, having visited nearly 40 countries around the world. The Corry family lives in Denver’s Cheesman Park neighborhood.
