Harvard Law Professor Nominated by Obama to 1st Cir.
Call it a Harvard love fest, if you will. President Barack Obama, a Harvard Law graduate, has nominated David J. Barron -- a Harvard College grad, Harvard Law grad and Harvard Law professor -- to the First Circuit Court of Appeals. That's a whole lot of crimson ivy.
These are a few of Mr. Barron's favorite things:
Harvard
Barron received both his B.A. and J.D. magna cum laude from Harvard. In law school, he served on the Harvard Law Review, according to a White House press release.
Barron clerked for Judge Stephen R. Reinhardt of the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit from 1994 to 1995, and for Justice John Paul Stevens of the Supreme Court of the United States from 1995 to 1996.
In 1999, he came back to Harvard Law as an assistant professor.
Justice Department
Apart from being a Harvard Superfan, Barron also served as a lawyer in the Department of Justice.
From 1996 to 1999, Barron worked as an attorney-adviser in the United States Department of Justice's Office of Legal Counsel.
Though he later left the position to join Harvard Law School's faculty, he took leave from his faculty position in 2009 and rejoined the Office of Legal Counsel as Acting Assistant Attorney General under Attorney General Eric H. Holder Jr.
He produced memoranda on a slew of issues including:
- Whether legislation to give Washington, D.C., a voting member of Congress was constitutional;
- Whether Obama's acceptance of the Nobel Peace Prize violated the Constitution's Emoluments Clause;
- Whether the Violence Against Women Act covered same-sex couples; and
- Whether it was legal to assassinate a terrorism suspect without trial.
The last one, involving the intentional killing of Anwar al-Awlaki, a U.S. citizen who'd joined Al Qaeda, landed Barron and the Obama Administration in hot water.
Journalism
During college at Hah-vad, Barron also served as president of the Harvard Crimson.
After graduation, he worked as a reporter for the News and Observer in Raleigh, North Carolina, from 1989 to 1991.
Though he ultimately pursued a life with Lady Justice, his other lady love, wife Juliette Kayyem, is a former editorial columnist for The Boston Globe and a candidate for Massachusetts governor, according to the newspaper.
If Barron's nomination is approved, he would replace Court of Appeals Judge Michael Boudin, who assumed senior status in June.
He would have some mighty big shoes to fill. You may recall that Justice Boudin authored the First Circuit's landmark decision that struck down the federal Defense of Marriage Act in 2012.
Related Resources:
- Barron nominated to U.S. Appeals Court (Harvard Law School)
- Obama Nominates Maine Supreme Court Justice Levy to Federal Bench (FindLaw's U.S. First Circuit Blog)
- 1st Circuit Gets First Judicial Appointment Approval Since June (FindLaw's U.S. First Circuit Blog)