Ross Carl "Rocky" Anderson II (born September 9, 1951) is an American attorney, writer, activist, and civil and human rights advocate.

Prior to serving as mayor, Anderson practiced law for 21 years in Salt Lake City, during which he was the 1996 Democratic nominee for Congress in Utah's Second Congressional District.

After graduating from Ogden High School,[14] Anderson attended the University of Utah, during which time he served as Treasurer for the Beta Epsilon chapter of Sigma Chi Fraternity[15] and worked at various jobs, including as a truck driver, a roofer, and a gas station manager.

He often represented individuals suing corporations or government entities, including plaintiffs in the following cases: Anderson helped to spearhead the reform of Utah's child custody laws.

[48] After winning a contentious primary election against Kelly Atkinson by a margin of 11%,[49] Anderson ran for Congress as the Democratic nominee in Utah's 2nd congressional district in 1996 against Republican Merrill Cook.

Anderson ran for Mayor of Salt Lake City in 1999, defeating 10 other candidates in the primary campaign, before winning 60% of the vote in the general election against opponent Stuart Reid.

He conducted a successful national campaign to require that airports across the country screen all checked luggage,[57] expanded the area's light rail system,[58] significantly expanded protected open space,[59] implemented an innovative and highly successful restorative justice program[60] and created a city wide after-school and summer youth program, YouthCity.

[63] State Senator Chris Buttars of West Jordan publicly denounced former Mayor Rocky Anderson for having "attracted the entire gay community to come and live in Salt Lake County" after a Dan Jones poll indicated strong support for allowing domestic partnerships.

[77] While serving as mayor, Anderson informed and inspired other municipal officials about the importance of educating constituents about climate change and of taking measures to significantly reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

[78] Anderson later researched, produced, and narrated a multi-media piece (still available on YouTube) regarding the need for tenacious, effective leadership to protect against further disastrous climate chaos.

[87] In December 2001, state and federal officials organized a raid at the Salt Lake City Airport to enforce immigration laws against undocumented employees, who were arrested, imprisoned, and fired.

Thirty-two percent of Anderson's appointments to City boards and commissions, and one-third of the staff in the Mayor's Office, were individuals from ethnic minorities.

[94] Along with Jon Huntsman Sr., Anderson co-convened the Alliance for Unity, a non-partisan group of religious and community leaders working to build bridges between diverse people throughout Utah.

[96] One of Anderson's key achievements was working effectively with the Utah State Legislature and Mitt Romney in making certain that public safety needs would be adequately financed.

He successfully lobbied President Clinton to grant a commutation of a lengthy prison sentence imposed on a Salt Lake City man who had already served several years in a federal penitentiary for his first and only conviction for violating drug laws.

He told DARE officials: "I think your organization has been an absolute fraud on the people of this country ... For you to continue taking precious drug-prevention dollars when we have such a serious and, in some instances, growing addiction problem is unconscionable.

[108][109] Under Burbank's leadership, the department continued to align with Anderson's focus on restorative justice and innovative reforms, including diverting offenders into treatment and counseling programs rather than imposing custodial sentences.

Anderson praised Burbank's efforts to foster trust within the community and address systemic issues in policing, which complemented the city's broader criminal justice reforms.

[109] Instead of pushing for more minor offenders to be sent to jail or prison, Anderson constructed innovative restorative justice programs, which earned Salt Lake City a nomination for a second World Leadership Award.

[111] Anderson promulgated an administrative rule which stipulated that when it considered bids, the city should give preference to companies that paid a living wage to their employees.

[128] After almost eight years as mayor of Salt Lake City, Anderson decided that he would not run for re-election, and that he would instead devote himself to educating, motivating, and mobilizing people to push elected officials and others to take action to prevent or stop major human rights abuses.

[129] Anderson has stressed the importance of people at the grassroots level advocating for progressive change, stating, "We keep expecting elected officials will do the right thing, and the fact is they never do unless they're pushed.

High Road was a bottom-up, grassroots-based organization founded "to make it clear there will be short-term political costs for those who continue to ignore these kinds of problems ... Every time a congressperson or senator comes home and hold a meeting, there [should be] a group there pushing on the same issues", according to Anderson.

[133] The organization had a broad-based membership, with an Advisory Committee composed of prominent human-rights, environmental and political activists, as well as artists, actors, and writers, including Ed Asner, Harry Belafonte, Lester Brown, Hillary Brown, Ben Cohen, Daniel Ellsberg, Ross Gelbspan, Susan Joy Hassol, Mark Hertsgaard, Mimi Kennedy, Paul Rogat Loeb, Edward Mazria, Bill McKibben, Yoko Ono, Gus Speth, Winnie Singh, Sheila Watt-Cloutier, Elie Wiesel, and Terry Tempest Williams.

[135] Anderson testified before the U.S. House Judiciary Committee during a hearing on September 25, 2008, concerning executive branch abuses of power,[136] and spoke at rallies organized by High Road for Human Rights in which he called for accountability for torture.

Anderson also pointed to what he described as Obama's change of position after he received the Democratic presidential nomination on the question of immunity for telecom companies that cooperated with the Bush Administration's wiretapping program.

[142] Deeming himself to be "non-partisan" in his critiques of policy, Anderson has subsequently gone on to fiercely criticize the Obama Administration in numerous areas, stating: I don't know what people were expecting, all this hope and change nonsense ...

Let's not enforce our laws[145]On August 11, 2011, major news media in Utah reported that Anderson had denounced the Democratic Party and had resigned his membership.

On June 12, 2007, following a meeting in a City Council workroom, Anderson was involved in a physical and verbal confrontation with a real-estate developer Dell Loy Hansen.

A multi-part documentary by Rhea Gavry and Doug Monroe about Rocky Anderson, including discussions with Daniel Ellsberg, Ralph Nader, Katrina vanden Heuvel and many others, ten years in the making, is now available for viewing.