Bruce William Nickerson

Bruce William Nickerson (June 21, 1941 – February 5, 2022) was an American civil rights and gay rights attorney in California. He was also an authority on lewd conduct law in the United States. Nickerson operated a solo legal practice in San Carlos, California, and was affiliated with Carlos Scott Lopez-Gelormino, a clinical psychologist and human rights attorney.

Biography
Nickerson attended Modesto High School in Modesto, California. He received an A.B. in Economics, with honors, from Stanford University and a Doctor of Jurisprudence from Golden Gate University.

Nickerson operated a solo legal practice after passing the California Bar, and 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 San Francisco Bay Area. Nickerson successfully argued Baluyut v. Superior Court, (1996) 12 Cal.4th 826, where there was no appearance for Respondent, which case established discriminatory prosecution as a defense in police sting operations which target gay public conduct and ignore identical straight public conduct.

Nickerson was recognized as having "made a sort of mini-career out of defending these cases" on lewd conduct and police sting operations targeting gay men. Openly gay himself, he had argued in front of the California Supreme Court and Federal Circuit courts regarding civil rights issues affecting gay people.

Given Nickerson's stance and successful record on gay issues and civil rights, he was the subject of many critics. These included Bill O'Reilly, who interviewed Nickerson on Fox News in 2007 regarding a series of cases that Nickerson had been arguing on behalf of several hundred defendants related to a sting operation targeting gay men in Fresno, California.

Nickerson died in February 2022, aged 80. He was survived by two former wives, his civil partner, and two sons.

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 was an avid world-traveler and photographer, having visited six continents and dozens of countries. He had particularly keen interests in hiking, bridges, and waterfalls. He completed the entire John Muir and Inca Trails in the mid-1990s, finished the Grand Canyon rim-to-river-to-rim hike in 2002, and rafted down the Grand Canyon in 2011 (for his 70th birthday). Just a few years before he died, he had also recently visited the Everest and Ama Doblin Base Camps in Nepal (with oxygen support) via helicopter (2019), the Borobudur ruins (Indonesia), and the temple of Pagan (Myanmar) (2013). Additional travels included a trip to central Guyana (to Kaieteur Falls) (January, 2010); to Nanga Parbat's Rupal Face in Pakistan and within 30 km of the Annapurna Sanctuary in Nepal (though had to turn back on the Annapurna Base Camp Trail due to his horse's inability to complete the journey) (September, 2010); and to Manitoba for the annual Polar Bear Migration (late 2011). His ability to complete additional trips largely depended on his continued recovery from a coronary bypass operation and a car accident in May, 2009, which affected his left lung. Nickerson was also an accomplished organist, a member of the American Guild of Organists, and enjoyed giving classical music concerts in his home which contained a pipe organ. The most recent of these concerts took place in his home in mid-2012, complemented by a reunion of close family members—including his two ex-wives, ex-boyfriend, and ex-boyfriend's husband in April 2013. He was hoping to have another concert sometime in 2022 when his local church has completed a restoration of its organ, but died before this could occur.