Bruce William Nickerson

Bruce William Nickerson (born June 21, 1941) is a civil rights and gay rights attorney in California. He is also leading authority on lewd conduct law in the United States. He currently operates a solo legal practice in San Carlos, California.

Nickerson is generally recognized as one of the foremost law experts on lewd conduct and police sting operations targeting gay men. Openly gay himself, he has argued in front of the California Supreme Court and U.S. Federal Circuit courts regarding civil rights issues affecting gay people. Last year, he was interviewed by Bill O'Reilly on FOX News regarding a series of cases which he has been arguing on behalf of several hundred defendants related to a sting operation targeting gay men in Fresno, California.

Education
Nickerson attended Modesto High School in Modesto, California. He holds an A.B. in Economics, with honors, from Stanford University and a Doctorate in Jurisprudence from Golden Gate University. Nickerson was a champion debater while at Modesto.

Career
Nickerson has operated a solo legal practice since his joining the California Bar, though has often affiliated himself with attorneys addressing civil rights issues and lewd conduct cases. His focus on lewd conduct emerged after pursuing several cases addressing such conduct and freedom of speech issues at adult bookstores in the early 1980s in and around the Bay Area of California.

Critics
Given Nickerson's stance and successful track record on gay issues and civil rights, he has been the subject of many critics, including Bill O'Reilly on FOX news. (YouTube Video Clip available at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HzXjKHD4Qsw)

Articles
Nickerson successfully argued Baluyut v. Superior Court, (1996) 12 Cal.4th 826, which established discriminatory prosecution as a defense in police sting operations which target gay public conduct and ignore identical straight public conduct.

Additional interests
Nickerson is an avid world-traveler and photographer, having visited six continents and dozens of countries. He has particularly keen interests in hiking, bridges, and waterfalls. He completed the entire John Muir and Inca Trails in the mid-90s, as well as the Grand Canyon rim-to-river-to-rim hike in 2002. He has expressed interest in visiting Indonesia (Borobodur), Pakistan (Nanya Parbat), and Manitoba (for the annual Polar Bear Migration) in the next several years. Mr. Nickerson also is an accomplished organist and enjoys giving classical music concerts in his home which contains a pipe organ.