The Honorable Charmetra Jackson Parker

The Honorable Charmetra L. Jackson Parker was appointed a magistrate judge by Chief Judge Anita Josey-Herring in May 2022.

Judge Parker was born in Brunswick, Maine, and raised in Pensacola, Florida. She graduated from the University of West Florida, with a Bachelor of Arts in Pre-Law studies, and received her Juris Doctor from Wake Forest University School of Law. While attending Wake Forest University School of Law, Judge Parker was a member of the Moot Court Team.

Upon completing law school and passing the bar, in January 2003, Judge Parker began working as an associate attorney at a small law firm in Baltimore City, where she handled general practice matters and represented children who had been abused or neglected, as a child advocate.

Following her time in Baltimore City, in March 2005, Judge Parker was sworn in as an assistant attorney general for the Office of the Attorney General for the District of Columbia. Judge Parker had numerous assignments during her time with D.C. Office of the Attorney General. In January 2013, she was detailed to the D.C. Office of the Solicitor General handling appeals of abuse and neglect matters, termination of parental rights matters, and adoption matters.

Judge Parker also handled unaccompanied refugee minor cases and supervised attorneys assigned to the Safe Shores Child Advocacy Center. In February 2014, Judge Parker became a section chief in the Child Protection Section of the D.C. Office of the Attorney General, supervising the work of several prosecutors handling abuse and neglect matters. Judge Parker represented the Office of the Attorney General in various roles, including as co-chair of the D.C. Superior Court Education Subcommittee or Court Education Workgroup.

In addition, Judge Parker served on an expert panel training school staff for the Office of the State Superintendent (OSSE) on mandated reporting. She was also an annual guest speaker for several years at Georgetown University Law Center’s Child Welfare Clinic.