Born in
Brigham City,
Utah, Jensen received an
Artium Baccalaureus degree from the
University of California, Berkeley in 1949 and a
Bachelor of Laws from the
UC Berkeley School of Law in 1952. He served in the
United States Army as a Corporal from 1952 to 1954. He was in private practice in
Oakland, California, from 1954 to 1955. Jensen was a deputy district attorney of
Alameda County, California, from 1955 to 1966. Jensen received a
LEAA grant to develop DALITE (District Attorney's Automated Legal Information System), a case management software program, like
PROMIS (Prosecutor's Management Information System), developed by
Inslaw. He was an assistant district attorney of Alameda County from 1966 to 1969. He was the District Attorney of Alameda County from 1969 to 1981. As district attorney Jensen oversaw prosecutions involving members of the Black Panthers and also the
Patty Hearst prosecution. He was the Assistant Attorney General of the Criminal Division of the
United States Department of Justice from 1981 to 1983. He was the
United States Associate Attorney General from 1983 to 1985, and the
United States Deputy Attorney General from 1985 to 1986. In 1987 he was briefly considered for FBI director, but he withdrew his name from consideration. ==Federal judicial service==