John Q. Barrett

John Q. Barrett is a Professor of Law at St. John's University in New York City, where he teaches Constitutional Law and Legal History. He also is Elizabeth S. Lenna Fellow and a board member at the Robert H. Jackson Center in Jamestown, New York, and he serves on the Expert Advisory Committee of the International Academy Nuremberg Principles in Nuremberg, Germany. Professor  Barrett has been named a "Professor of the Year" by St. John's law students and received a Faculty Outstanding Achievement Medal from the University. He is a graduate of Georgetown University and Harvard Law School.

Justice Robert H. Jackson: Professor Barrett is writing a biography of the late U.S. Supreme Court Justice and Nuremberg prosecutor Robert H. Jackson (1892-1954). This work will include the first inside account of Justice Jackson's service, by appointment of President Truman, as the chief prosecutor at Nuremberg, Germany, of the principal surviving Nazi leaders during 1945 and 1946.

The Jackson List: Professor Barrett sends periodic emails to over 18,000 subscribers who are interested in Justice Jackson and related topics. To read archived copies of some Jackson List posts, click here. To join the Jackson List, which does not display recipient identities or email addresses, send a "subscribe" note to barrettj@stjohns.edu.

That Man: An Insider's Portrait of Franklin D. Roosevelt.  Professor Barrett discovered and edited Justice Jackson's previously unknown, never published, now acclaimed book That Man:  An Insider's Portrait of Franklin D. Roosevelt (Oxford University Press). That Man, Jackson's intimate, eloquent memoir of FDR from their first meeting as young men in 1911 through their close working relationship and friendship during the New Deal years and World War II, is available in paperback. That Man, a Book of the Month Club main selection, has been reviewed prominently, is quoted regularly, and is assigned in college and university courses.

Recent Highlights:  On February 2, Professor Barrett gave a lecture at Albany Law School's celebration of the 100th anniversary of Robert H. Jackson's graduation (click here for video).  On December 6, Professor Barrett was the Public Affairs luncheon lecturer, speaking about Justice Jackson and Nuremberg, at the New York City Bar Association.  On November 9, he spoke about Nuremberg at the U.S. Department of State, on a panel sponsored by the Office of War Crimes Issues.  On October 21, he delivered a lecture, "Nuremberg's Legacy in Principles," in Court Room 600 at the Palace of Justice in Nuremberg, Germany.  On October 4, he delivered a James McCormick Mitchell lecture at the University at Buffalo School of Law.

Before joining the St. John's faculty, John Q. Barrett was Counselor to U.S. Department of Justice Inspector General Michael R. Bromwich. From 1988-1993, Barrett was Associate Counsel in the Office of Independent Counsel Lawrence E. Walsh (Iran/Contra).  From 1986-1988, Barrett served as a law clerk to Judge A. Leon Higginbotham, Jr. of the United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit.

In addition to teaching Constitutional Law, Professor Barrett has taught Criminal Procedure; seminars on American Judicial Biography, the Hughes and Stone Courts (1930-46), and the Nuremberg Trial; Introduction to Law & the Legal Profession; Professional Responsibility; and White Collar Crime.  He also has taught Constitutional Law modules in St. John's Summer Prep Program for College Students and Nuremberg courses in summer programs at the University of Potsdam Law School in Germany and at ISDE/University of Barcelona in Spain. 

Professor Barrett speaks regularly on the Supreme Court, Justice Jackson, Nuremberg, Franklin D. Roosevelt, and other legal and historical topics in public venues and to community, campus, religious, corporate, legal profession and other audiences and groups throughout the United States and abroad. Professor Barrett also is a regular national media commentator on legal and historical issues.

Professor Barrett is a member of the Supreme Court Historical Society, a member New York City Bar Association, where he chairs the Legal History Committee, and a supporter of The Parent-Child Home Program and the National Association for Urban Debate Leagues.

Last updated February 7, 2012.

John Q. Barrett