Writer. Mother. Feminist.
Jacqueline St. Joan is a writer, former judge, lawyer, mother, and longtime advocate for women and social justice. Over the course of a life spanning courtrooms, classrooms, feminist organizing, and family, she has followed a persistent question: how do we live with integrity when our convictions put us at odds with the people and institutions around us?
Her work has taken many forms, from legal scholarship and poetry to fiction, journalism, and now memoir. Across them all runs a fascination with the complicated ways people navigate power, identity, love, loss, and change.
Your Verdict: A Judge’s Reckoning with Law and Loss
In Your Verdict: A Judge’s Reckoning with Law and Loss, Jacqueline St. Joan looks back on a life spent navigating judgment in many forms: from the courtroom, from family, from society, and from within.
From her interracial marriage in 1967 and the family estrangement that followed, to her years as a lawyer and Denver judge presiding over cases involving domestic violence, abortion access, protest, and public controversy, St. Joan traces the convictions that shaped her life and the costs of living by them.
Honest, searching, and deeply personal, Your Verdict asks what it means to exercise judgment without losing compassion, to live according to your principles, and to decide for yourself what makes a life well lived.
Jackie, in Her Own Words
In 2024, Jacqueline St. Joan was inducted into the Colorado Women’s Hall of Fame, recognizing a lifetime of work at the intersection of law, feminism, advocacy, and social justice. In the video profile below, produced by the Colorado Women’s Hall of Fame, Jackie reflects on the experiences and convictions that have shaped her life, from her work as a lawyer and judge to her advocacy for women and survivors of violence. It offers a glimpse into the woman behind the courtroom, the activism, and the writing.
As Seen In:
Upcoming Events
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Reading - Colorado Authors League - Funding the Barb Lundy Memorial Scholarship
October 10
10:00 am - 4:00 pm
Barnes & Noble, 960 S. Colorado Blvd., Glendale -
Denver Women's Press Club Reading
November 12
5:30 pm - 7:30 pm
1325 Logan St., Denver - Snacks and drinks will be provided -
Reading and Signing
November 14
12:00 pm - 2:00 pm
Books Are Awesome Bookstore, 11211 S. Dransfeldt Rd., Unit 101, Parker
November 28, 2:30 pm: Reading and Signing
Park Hill Library, 4705 Montview Blvd., Denver
February 1, 2027, 5:00 pm: Reading and Signing
William E. Doyle Inn of Court, University Club, Denver
March 12, 2027, 1:00 pm - 2:30 pm: Reading and Signing
Koebel Public Library, 5955 S Holly St., Centennial
January 19, 2027, 6:30 pm: Reading with SETH Harris
Boulder Bookstore, 1107 Pearl St., Boulder, sponsored by the Colorado Poetry Center
February 5, 2027, 12:00 pm - 1:30 pm: Windsor Gardens Book Club
595 S. Clinton, Aurora
Books for Sale
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Your Verdict: A Judge's Reckoning with Law and Loss
Your Verdict: A Judge’s Reckoning With Law and Loss is Jacqueline St. Joan’s deeply personal examination of judgment: rendered from the bench, delivered within families, and ultimately reclaimed through a lifetime of reflection. Available for purchase here.
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![The Shawl of Midnight]()
The Shawl of Midnight
Nafeesa grows up knowing almost nothing about the women in her family, whose lives have been marked by imprisonment, exile, violence, and loss. Guided by her dying grandfather's final request, she journeys from Pakistan to Mumbai and Kashmir to uncover her family's hidden history, discovering difficult truths about identity, family, and what it means to find home. Available for purchase here.
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![My Sisters Made of Light]()
My Sisters Made of Light
My Sisters Made of Light follows three generations of a Pakistani family navigating the political, social, and religious complexities of their homeland. Through Ujala's story, the novel explores the devastating impact of honor-based violence against women and her determination to help others escape it, despite the risks to her own safety. Available for purchase here.
